Even more CIA that that. Stats on how many churches and how many Preachers per District. No mention of size of churches.
Avg is 80 ministers in a District.
Avg is 47 churches
Avg population of the States is 4,600,000
I have no further questions yer Honor.
__________________ "It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity." Dave Barry 2005
I am a firm believer in the Old Paths
Articles on such subjects as "The New Birth," will be accepted, whether they teach that the new birth takes place before baptism in water and Spirit, or that the new birth consists of baptism of water and Spirit. - THE PENTECOSTAL HERALD Dec. 1945
"It is doubtful if any Trinitarian Pentecostals have ever professed to believe in three gods, and Oneness Pentecostals should not claim that they do." - Daniel Segraves
I used to think numbers were an important measuring stick, and I realize that numbers are a useful measure. However, I have also come to realize anyone can use numbers to say whatever they want them to say. Politicians do it all the time.
We live in a day where "brand" loyalty is a lot less important to most Christians. It used to be that families stuck with family in whatever church they grew up in. Today each family unit could be attending a completely different denomination.
I have said that to say this; I believe there are a lot more people being saved in the UPCI than is reflected in their membership. Just because someone gets saved in the UPC doesn't mean they will live the rest of their lives in the UPC. Retaining members may be the greater challenge!
I do think that the UPCI hands out ministerial credentials too freely. I personally think that no one should be granted ministerial credentials until they have proven to the granting ministerial body that they actually have a ministry.
Credentials a ministry doth not make! I have two outstanding young men (one is my son) working with me in our church who have awesome ministries, but neither one has credentials with a ministerial body. They are not interested in getting credentials at the moment. Yet, I see churches with men holding credentials sitting around doing nothing yet claiming they have a ministry.
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