David Fitch Summary

David Fitch is discussing the issue of how we are so focused on numbers in our churches today. He stated that as much as him and other ministers tried to avoid bringing numbers in evangelical meetings, somehow and somewhere, numbers will come in the conversations. He presented his argument by stating both the good and the bad side of numbers in our churches. But he was most focused on the, what I will call the bad side of it. He stated that numbers, meaning mentioning the number of attendees for a particular church, became a way for churches to measure success. Partially because we as an individuals and as an Americans, we are attracted to big numbers. But, our goal as a church and as christians, should not be about how big we are, but instead,

I mean, that is what we are being taught everyday and everywhere. From schools to the streets to the jobs. That is why there is an urge to get bigger in our work, get the highest degree in your field of study. But, never in my lifetime, have I thought about churches. What numbers mean, financially to individualistic. All I know was that bigger is better. Which, nothing is wrong with being big. But Fitch’s question that he asked in the reading resonate with my mind for a minute. The question goes, is it more important to focus on being big as church or being small and living as the body of Christ? This question had me thinking for awhile. I personally come from a big church, where it seems like everything is going well or there is progress. When I came to Calvin, I decided to go to a different church here for two weeks. It was a very small church with about 55 people. It didn’t fit my “style at all” because it wasn’t big enough for me. But, I never thought about what role the church is playing as the body of christ until I read this article. Reading this article re-open my mind and my eye that it is not about numbers or how big a particular church is, but it is about what its members are doing together as the body of christ. It is about how the community of believers are being transformed by the renew of their mind. Numbers should not be a measure of success to us as a