People make much, sometimes, of those who leave the Church under one's ministry. My late wife would say to such people: "But you missed a few. Here, let me help you." Then she would recite a list of names who were not there. I saw her in action once. People were stunned into silence. An elder of a neighbouring Church once said to me gravely: "I hear that so-and-so has left your Church." I said he had missed a thing or two. Under my ministry, we had (at that time) lost 84.5% of the Church. Except that a lot more people had joined than left. The Church was fuller, younger, wealthier, and more diverse. OBSERVATION: The 84.5% was over 14 years. In fact, for an urban Church (the ministry I refer to), our turnover was low. A neighbouring Pentecostal Church, Life Church, reported 50% turnover every eighteen months, and our own associate Church, Winning Souls Ministries, reported 80% per annum. By far the most people left our Church through "natural causes", which is death or moving away. And a qualification: while numbers may reflect some things, the Church is not necessarily about numbers.
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