Here is an interesting fact about AG churches that some of you may or may have not known.
4300 (34.8%) of our churches are 1 to 49 – accounting for 7.1% of our Sunday a.m. attendance
3545 (28.7%) of our churches are between 50 and 99 – accounting for 13.9% of our Sunday a.m.
2464 (19.9%) of our churches are between 100 and 199 – accounting for 19% of our Sunday a.m.
Another way of looking at it: 83.4% of our churches account for 40% of our Sunday a.m.
Have you ever been frustrated with the number of people you needed to implement the programs developed from Springfield? If you are in this 83.4% you probably have. It isn't that our children's and youth ministries don't offer quality and excellence, they do!. But many small churches are abandoning Rangers, Girls Only, Radiant Life and other ministries because they are labor intensive. This is being addressed. I believe that within the next 12 months you will begin to see these ministries offer new formats for small church situations. If your like me, you want to offer ministry with a Pentecostal distinctive to it, yet is doable in the small church situation.
I would hope that they take a look at these churches ACMR's and determine what the average children attendance for a church 0 - 50 and 51 - 100, etc. would be and reformat according those stats. I would also hope that they find some pastors and leadership of healthy small churches to gain input and knowledge from in this process.
Nevertheless,I am looking forward to this. Not that I have anything against anyones else's programs or ministries. But have our Pentecostal distinctiveness presented to our children and youth is more important now than ever.
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