Aug 26, 2022 |
Rector's Blog, The More You Love
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul
Rector's Blog, The More You Love
There’s a book on my shelf that says on the cover, “The more you love music, the more music you love.” I have found that to be truer and truer since letting go of the numbers game.
Since becoming a parish priest, I have been obsessed with church growth. I have been obsessed with attendance numbers, with membership numbers, with pledge numbers. These have historically been the markers of “success” for a congregation and I, of course, want to be successful. And our church – Church of the Redeemer – wants to be successful too. We want to grow.
We even put it in our Vision Statement! And to our credit, for what it’s worth, we were growing in the years leading up to the pandemic: In attendance, membership, and giving, we were growing. We were successful.
And then the pandemic.
Since becoming a parish priest, I have been obsessed with church growth. I have been obsessed with attendance numbers, with membership numbers, with pledge numbers. These have historically been the markers of “success” for a congregation and I, of course, want to be successful. And our church – Church of the Redeemer – wants to be successful too. We want to grow.
We even put it in our Vision Statement! And to our credit, for what it’s worth, we were growing in the years leading up to the pandemic: In attendance, membership, and giving, we were growing. We were successful.
And then the pandemic.
