Background Data for Mission
The Background Data for Mission newsletter helps United Methodist leaders sort through the new and integrate it with the old. It explores the latest in technology, demographic trends, and contemporary approaches to worship, church education, and evangelism.
Last month we looked at two churches that are reaching more people, younger people, and more diverse people. This month will continue this theme.
Prof. Lovett Weems is widely quoted as saying that The United Methodist Church in the US needs "more people, younger people, and more diverse people."
1968 marked shifts and realities that we must take into account today regarding clergy appointments in urban communities or cross-racial appointments in the same communities.
Metrics. This was definitely among the most popular word at Bishops Week this year. At one point I started counting how many times this word was used.
Much attention these days is being given to measuring how well churches and pastors are doing. We hear more about measuring disciple making and vitality.
This issue will again compare demographics of the general population in each conference with The United Methodist Church statistics.
"It's the Book of Acts," says Joseph Bishman, district superintendent of the Shawnee Valley District in West Ohio Annual Conference.
One way of measuring UMC statistics is market share, or the percentage of the population using a product or service.
Every year about this time, this newsletter compares the most recently released official UMC church statistics for the USA.
As we begin the new year and the new decade, much media attention is focused on what may lie ahead.
As we have passed from Thanksgiving into Advent, perhaps some thankful reflection on the state of The United Methodist Church is in order.
Church folks tend to echo the pundits in their hopes for better financial times around the corner. But what if the good times take a long time to arrive?
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