I’m forced to wonder what it would.be if churches could clean up their membership roles. Lots.of duplication and people who are as dead as a Chicago voter________________
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I’m forced to wonder what it would.be if churches could clean up their membership roles. Lots.of duplication and people who are as dead as a Chicago voter________________
I suspect it would be the same across most denominations, as people have a tendency to overstate rather than understate for appearance sake________________“Hell will be filled with people that didn’t cuss, didn’t drink, and may even have been baptized. Why? Because none of those things makes someone a Christian.”
Without a doubt, great ministry is going on around the world in the Church of God. However, counting members in a denomination (any and all) is more an act of faith than mathematics. The Church of God in Christ, for example, has claimed to be the largest Pentecostal body in the USA. Since it is overwhelming an African American church (I don’t know if they have any white or Hispanic congregations at all), their membership would be upwards a a forth of the American American population. While other such examples abound, membership is a benchmark, but if I remember right at one time about four out ten Americans were Methodist. That may have been 100 years ago or more, but its not something they claim now.
If membership is defined as a tithe paying, regular attendee, then there is no way that number approaches 8 million. Of course, like most things in today’s church, the definition of a church member is evolving. I saw one study (not cog) that said membership was defined as attending once a month. Everyone knows that removing members is frowned upon for a variety of reasons. That alone tells me there is no accurate accounting of active members________________“Hell will be filled with people that didn’t cuss, didn’t drink, and may even have been baptized. Why? Because none of those things makes someone a Christian.”
Membership is over 8 million now?Aren’t you glad you joined when it was free?
When do you stop being a member?Shouldn’t we have a limit?Shouldn’t we call them – visit them – or something – after a year (or sooner) and find out what the issue is if they stop coming?We can’t just keep it going into perpetuity?OMAMOnce member always member.Say it ain’t so________________
OMAM
Has the COG partnered with another overseas denomination recently?GBI, the Bethel Church of Indonesia is huge and has grown rapidly. I haven’t been there in a long time but it was exploding in growth when I was there. But the denomination is a split off a split off a (not sure how many steps) one of the denominations founded by some ethnic Dutch missionaries sent out from a church that had Bethel in the name from the Pacific Northwest within a decade or two of Azusa Street. One of the denominations they founded was The Pentecostal Church of Indonesia (GPDI). I think GBIS split from that, or something else split and then GBI split from that, I think.In the 50’s somewhere along the journey, they started partnering with the COG.Maybe 10 years ago, I heard that GPDI partnered with FourSquare, which I suppose suddenly got to be a much larger denomination.It’s ironic since the GPDI folks I met didn’t go to movies, the men wore long-sleeved white shirts to church, and they were very conservative. A lot of the GBI folks in the city seemed like Charismatics. The COG seems more conservative about dress and the Foursquares I’ve been to seemed more like Charismatics in style. I’ve never been to a GPDI. My wife was baptized in one of them and spoke in tongues there for the first time. I hear a lot of people in GPDI fast before Pentecost, spend their time tarrying for the Holy Ghost, hoping to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues at the Pentecost service.I asked someone at a Charismatic service, which could be a modern A/G or COG service for style and sermon content, if they were Charismatic or Pentecostal. I asked what the difference was. They said Pentecostals cried a lot. Apparently, that is common with GPDI. Some GBI churches in Indonesia were calling themselves ‘Karismatik’ on the signs, and there was an A/G ‘Charismatic Worship Service’ there too. It seems like Pentecostal is a title for GPDI and a certain style of service that involves a lot of weeping, and probably has more expectations of traditional Holiness rules.I don’t know if any of them have Holiness movement ideas of ‘zap’ sanctification as one-time event.
Not really a fair statement though. If you put attendees that are not members the numbers would be Much higher than 8 million. As you know many comes to church but just never joins.
EXACTLY!!________________
First, clean up the books. If they don’t attend, they aren’t official members. (In truth, if they don’t tithe, it seems they aren’t members either.)Second, the full name and address of EVERY MEMBER of a church must be submitted to HQ. Third, these names are cross-referenced with all other names submitted. If there is a duplicate, and we find it is the same person, the church where they are NOT attending regularly must remove the name.
My hearing has determined a couple times where I would attend Church. Thered came a time I could not understand our pastor. I tried sitting in different areas. That did not work. WE visited other churches and tried the FourSquare in our town. I understood every word the pastor said. We tried again and the same. We attended for awhile and decided to support the church we attended we joined the church. I notified the COG and requested our names be removed.A few years later the 4 Square pastor retired and I could not understand his voice. We returned to our old COG and a new pastor was there and I understood him better than the 4 square pastor. We decided to re join the COG.Clerk said no need we never took your names off the roll. .I remember when WE COG folk kidded the ‘nominal’ churches of having a lot of dead members on their rolls. LOLI wondered if I was still a member of churches in Burlington, Valdese, Albemarle, Belmont, (NCs), Biloxi MS, Moberly, MO, Eustis, FL and Rutherfordton. LO________________Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/