Quality before Quantity

As for church membership, the statisticians of the religious bodies often depend for their figures on the unchecked estimates of local pastors. As for church attendance, so confidently said to be increasing, no real statistics exist at all. Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,807867,00.html#ixzz0df51wDgu

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What is staggering is that this Time article addresses the stats and figures of churches that may be inflated to some degree in order to establish a "movement" among houses of worship in America. We call it the "mega-church movement," but growth by numbers alone doesn't mean that our people are growing. My opinion is that some larger congregations make good hiding places for those who simply follow the crowd. Jesus had the mutlitudes following Him as He headed towards Jerusalem. Yet, He taught and trained twelve and in some instances as many as seventy whom He sent out to conduct the work. I guess the 80-20 rule still applied in biblical times. What we learn is that churches need to captialize on the opportunity to provide and promote quality rather than simply seeking to imitate "mega-church"movers and shakers with quantity.

Quality leads to sustaining quantity. If there is no quality, the quantity will eventually depart. Then, church leaders will either have to gather more to replace the departed or rethink their approach to how they manage and lead their flock. I believe quality is the key. Provide quality by offering the truth and the whole truth. Teach and train people based upon biblical principles and empower them to reach out to others. Based upon their quality experience, these individuals wil become your spokespeople for your worship services, small groups and Sunday school. If you lack quality, do not expect the large numbers to hang around long. They'll be gone when the next big thing hits town.