By the Numbers: Zion's Numbers and the New Testament

Have you stopped and considered that the book of Acts in the New Testament uses statistics to glorify God? It shows how the Holy Spirit grew the Church both qualitatively and quantitatively, so that human readers like us can understand.

In Acts, we see the growth of giving as people realize the fullness of a relationship with Christ and his Church in their lives. Acts says that whenever there was a need, people would sell their property and provide for each other and for the work of the whole Church. Paul talks about different churches throughout the world raising money to help each other. The whole New Testament is filled with numerical details about conversions, attendance, and financial transactions. We are even told what percentage of his wealth Zacchaeus the tax collector gave back to the people from whom he stole.

I suppose the Bible does this because God created us with a propensity to understand things by measuring them.

As promised in my previous blog and at services this morning, here are financial and membership statistics for Zion. It does us well to remember that they are only numbers. May God be glorified in all that we do at Zion.
Some things to keep in mind:
1. We “cleaned the books” in 2008, removing many people who no longer live in our city or who indicated that they were already attending other churches. Such bookkeeping adjustments are necessary from time to time for the sake of transparency.
2. We decided to go back 10 years for historical perspective. To get the information beyond 10 years is a real chore.
3. Financial numbers are rounded. The information comes from the treasurer’s reports. It does not reflect income, only giving from members.
4. Thanks for reading. God bless you.


Membership
Ttl members (00): 995
Ttl members (01): 1061
Ttl members (02): 1038
Ttl members (03): 1145
Ttl members (04): 1168
Ttl members (05): 1232
Ttl members (06): 1174
Ttl Members (07): 1243
Ttl Members (08): 782


Attendance
Year: 2000 397
2001 373
2002 360
2003 352
2004 358
2005 362
2006 334
2007 355
2008 366


Average Calendar Year Giving:
2000 $439,000
2001 $465,000
2002 $483,000
2003 $515,000
2004 $532,000
2005 $585,000
2006 $680,000
2007 $700,000
2008 $631,000