How Do You Measure the Health of a Congregation?

In her remarks to Executive Council last week, Julia Ayala Harris, the President of the House of Deputies, mentioned that the median Sunday Attendance at Episcopal Churches is 38-41. Here in WNY we are at about 31 but rising. Many of our congregations are seeing a small uptick in attendance at their principal worship service (mostly this is on Saturday evening or Sunday morning). I mentioned this to someone, and they were surprised, indicating that they have been wringing their hands that they are only getting about 20 people or so a week. We like to measure things; we like a tangible way to determine if we are doing a “good job.” From report cards in elementary school, to job performance evaluations at work, to counting how many votes we received running for a position at our church, in our village or at Rotary, we use numbers to reflect our success. How do we measure ethe success of the lives helped through our People and pet food pantries? Or Thrift Stores, or lunch programs, or Ashes to Go? The 1990’s musical Rent posited the question, “how do you measure a year in the life?” (Seasons of Love By Jonathan Larson Copyright Universal Music Corp. and Finster and Lucy LLC ). There are many ways to measure the ways our congregations effect the people in our pews and outside our doors, Sunday attendance is not one of them, but alas, it’s what we have.

A good portion of our diocese consists of rural congregations, toiling in the fields of God’s beauty.
This photo was taken along Rt. 20A.

So, what is my point? Well, this Diocese that works hard and believes fiercely in this region has a median Sunday attendance below the median attendance of the wider Episcopal Church. But the important number to consider is 31, the median attendance for all 51 of our congregations. Don’t worry as much about how many people are in your pews, most of us are hanging around the 20-40 area, worry more about how many people you serve outside your doors. That is the number that reflects the power of the Gospel. I believe in you and in us. I believe we have the power to change the world, one person at a time.

Canon Cathy Dempesy-Sims