Another year's end....

Half an hour ago we stood on the front deck and watched a few thousand dollars’ worth of fireworks light up the Bay. When I commenced ministry in 1959 we usually saw in the New Year with a “Watchnight Service.”

That’s not all that’s changed in fifty years. I’ve been thinking about year endings and recalled the comprehensive annual statistics that our denomination used to demand. The very first item on the list was not the number of members, nor the number of communicants nor Sunday School “scholars”. It was – could you guess? – “Number of Churches”. And right after that: “Number of Other Preaching Places”.

Fifty years ago our denomination had over 720 places where worship was celebrated, one for every 40 or so members. So the great majority of them were very small congregations, intimate and resourceful.

Perhaps those kinds of congregations are what we need to rebuild in this very different age…?

Read more at Where are our Small Churches?