"How many are you running

in worship attendance these days?"

From the beginning of my ministry,

nearly three decades ago, that question must have been asked thousands

of times. I have probably asked that question a few hundred times myself.

It's one of the signs of success for a pastor in these modern times. In

fact, it may the single most important indicator of success in normal

religious circles.

The people featured on the

covers of religious magazines? Pastors of growing churches. The keynote

speakers at denominational gathering? In all likelihood, pastors of growing

churches. People asked to serve on important committees or interviewed

on Christian television? You guessed it pastors of growing churches.

There's nothing wrong with

growth of course, I regularly pray for it myself. But, like thousands

of others, I, too, have fallen into the, "How many are you running?"

trap. Somewhere along the line, a growing church came to mean much more

to me that any other sign of success.

I recall a time not so long

ago when my resume proudly proclaimed that, in one year, a church I once

pastored grew 623 percent! Of course, the resume neglected to mention

that the church grew from six people on a Sunday to around 75 twelve months

later. It sounded much more successful to say "623 percent."

It was the truth but it wasn't entirely truthful, if you know what I mean.

Part of the danger in playing

the numbers game is the possibility that the people filling the pews cease

to be people and become statistics, instead. Their importance lies, not

in their having intrinsic value, but in simply being present to be counted.

The all-controlling factor becomes the annual growth chart.

I sorrowfully recall one particular

winter when the snow fell heavily one Saturday night. People could have

made it to church, but I knew that most would simply stay home. The thought

of a low Sunday that might dent our stats terrified me. I recoiled at

the thought of seeing a dip in our upwardly mobile attendance chart. I

canceled the services that Sunday rather than risk having only half the

congregation present. It was much more attractive to me to figure the

statistics on an average of 51 good Sundays, rather than on 52 weeks with

a bad Sunday.

I also noticed that, when attendance

was up, I was up. When attendance was down, then so was I. In one church

I served, we grew, in less than 10 years, from a small, barely viable

church to a congregation that ranked seventh in the state out of 215 churches

of that denomination. But it wasn't enough. That left six churches ahead

of us. Numbers are cruel taskmasters. One never has enough of them.

When we began our current congregation

with 19 people a few years ago, I counted attendance for the first four

months then quit. We were probably averaging 30 or 40 people at the end

of that time and I stayed continually anxious. I made a conscious decision

that, no longer, would I, or the leadership, be ruled by the Sunday worship

attendance. I was weary of being up and down at the mercy of the statistics.

So, we didn't count the attendance for over a year.

Then we discovered that banks

and other lending institutions like those kinds of statistics when they

consider making a loan. So, in deference to our potential future lenders,

I appointed someone to count and record the weekly attendance. I forbade

them, however, to tell me how many we had in church unless I specifically

requested that information. So, free of the tyranny of the stats, I have

been mostly "up" regardless of the numbers.

I regularly ignore the monthly

statistics sheet that I am supposed to mail in and just pastor the church,

much more conscious of the people than I am of the numbers. It's been

quite liberating and I have more joy in the work than I have ever had.

And, somehow, the church has steadily grown. In fact, we had 171 in church

last Sunday but who's counting?

[David Epps is rector of Christ

the King Church in Peachtree City. He may be contacted at [email protected]

or at www.ChristTheKingCEC.com.]

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