By Dr. Franklin Dumond

The role of numbers and counting in the life of a church leader, though often criticized, remains important. The effective leader has a penchant for numbers, since most of those numbers represent people or indicate a measure of their discipleship.

Are numbers necessary?

A quick look at the Bible illustrates the historical importance of numbers. There is even an Old Testament book called Numbers! The New Testament records the numbers of people who had lunch with Jesus—4,000 on one occasion; 5,000 on another—and even how they sat in groups of 50 (Luke 10:14).

Necessary Numbers

A few numbers rank with such importance that every church leader should be abreast of them. Ranked by importance these would include:

1. Average weekly worship attendance
2. Average weekly Small Group/Sunday School attendance
3. Number of First Time Guests
4. Conversions: Last year and year-to-date
5. Baptisms: Last year and year-to-date
6. Members Received: Last year and year-to-date
7. Average Weekly Income: Last year and year-to-date

Most of these numbers should be maintained in a multi-year graph so trend lines can be easily identified.

Behind the Scenes Numbers

Some of the most important numbers only rarely make a ‘public’ appearance. That is, they are generally not communicated openly, despite their importance. The leader of a growing congregation will undoubtedly be aware of:

1. The size of the crowd

“If everyone had been here…” is a statement often made to console us on low attendance days or to celebrate a full house that would have been beyond capacity if everyone had been present.

The crowd is composed of those folks who attend at least once in a while. One convenient measure of the crowd is to identify those folks who attend at least once every 6-8 weeks.

Why is it so important to know the size of and the identity of the crowd? The size of the crowd indicates the potential the church has to grow and impact people. The identity of those who make up the crowd indicates who it is that we are most likely to win to faith in Christ and faithfulness to His church.

2. Total weekly participation

In the Family Based Church, everyone attends everything. These churches function like an extended family, and are generally smaller in size. It is not uncommon for activities to be cancelled if several cannot attend.

A Program Based Church will have a more developed and diverse program where no one attends everything but everyone attends something. For example, it is not uncommon for a Program Based Church to offer small groups for adults, youth groups for teens, and children’s ministries at times other than Sunday morning. Often folks who cannot attend on Sunday morning will nevertheless participate in one or more of the weekday or weeknight ministries of the church.

Total weekly participation, then, is a measure of who attended at least one ministry activity in a given week. It is determined by a cross reference of attendance reports so that everyone who attends at least once in the week is counted.

3. Percentage of the congregation present for five years or less

“I’m on my third congregation!” reported the pastor of a middle sized church. Having been pastor there for nearly 20 years he had discovered first hand that church folks are mobile. They move away. They drop out. Others drop in. Every year there are funerals!

Other measures of tenure could be used. A very important one is the percentage of folks who have become part of the congregation since the current pastor arrived.

Each of these measures the likelihood of leading change and maintaining relevance. Change is most likely when enough newer folks with newer ideas come into leadership roles. The pastor is most likely to lead change when a large percentage of the congregation has come into the church since he began his ministry.

Numbers will not track themselves. Use of some church management software or the development of a spreadsheet will make the task easier. In the church of 200 or fewer a good notebook and clipboard will cover most of the bases. Volunteer office helpers can do much of the record keeping. Whatever system is used, however, must ring true to the old adage “We count people because people count!”