Nearly 2,800! Twice!

On Easter Sunday 2008, just 14 people fewer than the week before attended Bible Center's morning services. Both weeks were right around 2,800 in attendance. These are unique weeks. It is hard to make a lot of judgments about attendance trends.

As a matter of fact, this next Sunday, March 30th, does not help much either. Two Sundays ago was a first Sunday in the new building. We had friends and family members of the Bible Center congregation join us who do not even live in Charleston. We had folks who came just to see our new building and will return to their local church. Easter is always our largest Sunday in terms of attendance. It is no wonder that each of these weeks fell just shy of 2,800 people.

This next Sunday will throw any evaluation of attendance trends as well. Just as Easter Sunday is the largest crowd of the year, the following Sunday is always the lowest attended Sunday. The timing of Spring Break and everybody going to church for Easter causes the Sunday after Easter to be the weakest Sunday in terms of attendance. Last year we had about 2,200 on Easter and not quite 1600 the following Sunday. This is normal for us and for most churches. But, it further complicates our attempts to see attendance patterns emerging.

So what do numbers mean anyway? First and foremost, they represent lives of real people. Numbers help with future planning, but that is secondary to people themselves. Numbers are people with whom we have the opportunity to share the Gospel and show the love of Jesus. Thank God for that opportunity over the last few weeks!