Church Exodus

People make much, sometimes, of people who leave the Church. An elder of another Church once said to me gravely: "I hear that so-and-so has left your Church." I said that it wasn't just so-and-so. Masses of people had left. It was in the nature of the ministry. OBSERVATION: I once made a comparison between a 1997 Church address list and a 2011 Church address list. 84.5% of the surnames that were there in 1997 were missing in 2011. That's just 14 years. However, the Church in 2011 was fuller, and younger, and richer, and more diverse -- a testimony to God's grace. See also Numbering The Congregation.