St. Paul’s is growing! Last Sunday we welcomed three new members into the St. Paul’s family. Along with our Confirmation class and other adults, that makes 18 new members so far in 2018.
The most common way to measure the size of a congregation these days is called ASA – average Sunday attendance. In the last few years, though, more church leaders have recognized a different measurement called AMA – average monthly attendance which recognizes that many people aren’t able to be in worship every Sunday but are still an active part of the congregation. AMA is the number of unique individuals in worship over one month (so I count as one even though I’m here for 12 services every month and my mom counts as one even though she is here only one time each month). To be clear, I wish that we were all able to be in the building every Sunday (or Monday or Wednesday for Presence worship). I also recognize that’s not the world we live in. So here’s the point: measured by our AMA, St. Paul’s shrunk slightly from June through October 2017, but has been growing since then to a slightly larger size than last June.
That’s only one way that we measure growth, of course. We’ve also grown in our financial giving, our service to others, and our commitment to small group study (especially during Lent). I’m grateful for all the ways that we have experienced growth individually and collectively. Keep up the good work! I hope to see you on Sunday!