My Second Major Ministry: Just The Numbers

One may see yesterday's post about my first major (suburban) ministry of ten years. During my second major (urban) ministry of nearly twenty years, most numbers went up. I have calculated it conservatively here, as I did yesterday, so that actual increases are likely to be higher. There was a tendency, too, for other Churches to decline in this time. Again I am listing spiritual ministry only:

• Sunday attendance increased about 50% to 100%, depending on the phase
• Our all-week attendance (including Sundays) increased about 50%
• A Youth group went from weak to strong
• A Young Adults' group went from zero to modest
• A Church Choir went from zero to modest (repeatedly re-inventing itself)
• A Sunday School went from weak to modest
• A Women's Association went from modest to strong
• A women's Bible study group went from dormant to strong
• A Sunday prayer group went from zero to small
• A workers' Bible study went from zero to modest or strong, depending on the phase
• A minister's Bible study went from zero to strong, but paused when my wife died
• A Coloured Women's Association closed (it was thought to be outdated)
• An Associate Church went from zero to modest or strong, depending on which phase it was in (not included in the all-week attendance above)

OBSERVATION: I wasn't the only one present during these ministries of course. Feel free to add any comments below. I might have overlooked a thing or two, too. It is obvious that this second major ministry was far more fluid than the first (see yesterday's post), as is surely true of urban ministry in general -- like filling a bucket with holes in! It may be an altogether different experience to the steady progress of a suburban or rural Church.