This
gives a wealth of statistics, but perhaps most interesting is that, over this
five period, over 2000 people joined our local Anglican churches, of which
half had never worshipped at any church before. During this time, somewhat over 1000
people had either left or died.
In his
introduction to the report, Bishop Tim, the Bishop of Leicester, wrote: “On any
reading of the Gospels, it is clear that it is the task of Christians to make
disciples. We are called to invite others into the fellowship of those who
follow Jesus Christ. From time to time
it is important to pause and consider how well we are doing that. In recent
years, our Department of Mission and Ministry has been in the lead in the
Church of England in enabling us to understand our statistics for mission and
in producing some of the very best training programmes to help us respond to
the challenge of Church growth.
We all
know that in the end it is not in our own strength that this work is done, but
in the power of the Holy Spirit. Statistics change and times and opportunities
change. But year by year the information which we receive about the fruit of
our mission becomes increasingly important in helping us understand what God is
calling us to do and giving us the tools to do it.
I very
much hope you will take these figures seriously and consider carefully how they
are enabling each of our parishes and mission partnerships to become more
effective in responding to the task which Jesus Christ has given us in our day.”
