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The old joke is that Baptists like to count the “three B’s” – baptisms, budgets and behinds in seats. While we know that the health of any given congregation cannot be measured solely by these numbers, they do provide helpful metrics of how a church is faring spiritually. Living things grow, and local churches are no different.
The good news for our association of churches is that we are seeing positive trends in these areas. As one might expect, average worship attendance and baptisms in GCBA are up sharply from the depths of the Covid pandemic. However, even beyond the “Covid rebound,” the reality is that average worship attendance and baptisms in GCBA last year were the highest they have been since 2017. Total giving, which stayed strong throughout the pandemic, is up as well. Praise God for what He is doing!
Anecdotally, as I travel around the association and visit our congregations, I sense this positive momentum. There are many exciting things happening in our churches. While we are grateful for how the Holy Spirit is moving, we celebrate both humbly and cautiously. There are questions:
Will our churches build upon this positive momentum with continued evangelistic growth? Will those who have been added to the church be effectively discipled? Will the numeric growth of our churches lead to more congregations being planted and revitalized in Greene County?
While we celebrate what God is already doing, let us also pray that this is merely the beginning of a true move of God in our place and time.
P.S. Please help us track what’s going on in our churches by completing and turning in the Annual Church Profile this summer.
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