Transient Congregation

Someone was late for an appointment once, in 2011 -- so I picked up an old Church address list in my vestry. I was amazed to see that, since 1997, only 34 out of 220 surnames -- 15 percent -- remained on the list. That was rather stunning -- although for an urban congregation, really quite normal. Most of these people left us through the "natural causes" of death and moving away. Many were removed when we tightened our membership requirements in the late 90's. OBSERVATION: Looking on the bright side, though, influx was far greater than those who were moving out. The way I see it is that God Himself sustains His Church.