We had a discussion at a recent church council meeting regarding our declining worship attendance. The general direction of the conversation focused on what we need to do get more people to worship. The goal seemed to be finding ways to increase the number of weekly worshipers (and the resulting increase in offerings).

I know that I often find myself thinking the same thing. One of the first things I do after worship is step into the usher’s closet to see how many people were at worship. I keep track of attendance on the computer at the office, noting differences in attendance by year, by month, by seasons. I spend time trying to make sense of why our worship attendance is what it is. Sometimes I have to step back and realize that I am almost consumed by those numbers, as if worship attendance somehow validates my ministry and the ministry of the congregation.

But as I reflected on the council discussion, I began to think that the goal of increasing worship attendance is not at all the goal we should be striving for! Our calling as a congregation is not to have as many people as possible attending worship on Sunday morning.

Our call, what God expects of us, is to proclaim the gospel in word and deed. Our focus is not to put people in the pews, but for us to get out of the pews. Our call is tell others of the love of God and to love others in the name of God. The end result may be the same. But what is different is the attitude.

With a goal of increasing worship attendance, our attitude is one that focuses on ourselves. We are concerned about statistics that reflect on us or concerned about finances. But, with a focus on proclaiming the gospel in word and deed - a true evangelistic attitude - our concern is for other people in our community. A true evangelistic spirit is one that recognizes the importance of sharing the good news of God’s love with those who may not know it or believe it. A true evangelistic spirit is one that is concerned with the welfare of others.

I will be encouraging the council and the congregation to make the year 2007 a year of evangelism. I hope to focus our time and our energies on being truly evangelistic, reaching out in love to share the gospel in word and deed....and let God worry about the statistics.

In Christ,

Pastor Knowles