Guarding the back door

Recently, I provided the Western Australian Conference Executive Committee with a report on the past ten-years of church and company membership trends. As the Executive Committee are making strategic plans for the future, it is important for them to know which areas are growing and which may require more support.

I am pleased to be able to share that over the past ten years - January 2013 to July 2023 - there has been a growth of almost 1000 members. In 2013, there were 5,974; by July 2023, there were 6,968 members. Furthermore, it is possible that by the end of 2023, we may even reach the 7,000-member mark. This, I believe, is worth celebrating.

As you may be aware, the growth of the Conference is made up of all the incoming memberships minus the outgoing memberships. Our incoming memberships include baptisms, professions of faith and transfers into the Conference. Outgoing membership includes transfers outside the Conference, deaths and membership removals.

Graph 1

For the most part, Graph 1 and 2 demonstrate that our churches and companies have been growing. Some have had a drop in membership. When looking over the past ten years, it is essential to remember that a church could have had an increase in membership over the past few years, but that may not be enough to sway the trend of previous years. Regrettably, some of our country churches have lost membership as their local communities lose residents. This is because of job shortages, youth leaving for the city to study at university, etc.

Graph 2

Graphs 1 and 2 show the numbers in growth and decline, whereas Graphs 3 and 4 show the rate of growth or decline for the companies and churches over the past ten years. This helps us to see a more accurate picture. Our larger churches should have more actual baptisms. By looking at the rate of growth or decline as a percentage, we see a more accurate picture of churches that are relative to their size.

Graph 3

By looking at the growth rate of our companies, we see that the three fastest-growing companies are surprisingly from our remote North with Karalundi leading the way. We also see (in Graph 4) that Maida Vale Church has seen a 62% growth rate. The next three fastest growth rates occurred in the South and South-East of Perth: Armadale, Rockingham and Filipino International Fellowship (FIF).Interestingly, these three churches have grown considerably from immigration into the Conference.

In presenting these graphs to the Executive Committee, I had to apologise to them for misleading them, as I now apologise to you. In order to share the statistics in Graph 4, I had to remove one church. Including their results made the graph difficult to read. Graph 5 is the exact same graph with just one church added.

Graph 4

Joondalup Church, since starting in 2013 with ten members, has grown by 391% Praise God!

At Joondalup Church, it is interesting to note that their baptism vs transfers are very similar to that of the Conference as a whole. They have had approximately two baptisms for every one transfer. But, there is one startling piece of data that contributes to their growth rate. It’s not that the number of people joining the church is different, though this is still strong. What sets Joondalup Church apart is that in ten years, they have only lost four members.

While others may have had similar results in their numbers of baptisms, transfers in and profession of faiths, no other churches can claim such a low number of deaths/ transfers out or membership removals.

Graph 5

This has got me thinking. While it is true that we have no say in losing some of our members to death or transferring out of the state, can we do more to protect those who are ‘leaving out the back door’?

Indeed, many members are still yet to return to church after the Covid pandemic. For others, it has been other moments in life keeping them away. Have you noticed who they are? Do you pray for them? Is there more you can do to encourage them to return?

Some people are still approaching the back door, perhaps with one hand on the handle. Is there anything we can do for them? At the very least, we should pray and spend time with them outside of the worship hour.

The heart of measuring membership in the Adventist Church is not about mere numbers. Each number represents a person, a child of God. Our Heavenly Father does not wish to lose any of his children. Perhaps, as their spiritual siblings, we could do more, pray more, notice more, help more, and support more. Perhaps we could allow our hearts to break just as God’s does when one decides to no longer be part of the family. It’s not a rash decision they make, but one that forms over a period of time. Perhaps we could pray to have a similar experience to that of Joondalup Church. To have less leave.