Attendance is something to be celebrated for many reasons. First and foremost, it is a wonderful picture of the growth of God’s Kingdom. Existence Church exists to be an inclusive, mission-oriented church that expands God’s Kingdom.
Attendance is something to be celebrated for many reasons. First and foremost, it is a wonderful picture of the growth of God’s Kingdom. Existence Church exists to be an inclusive, mission-oriented church that expands God’s Kingdom. Second, it demonstrates our ability as a church to take seriously our job as followers of Christ. If we are acting on and living out the responsibility of our identity in Christ, people will be drawn to our lifestyle and will join us in pursuing Jesus each day. Over each of the last 2 years, Existence Church has grown on average by 60%! I believe this has everything to do with men and women wholeheartedly loving Jesus and doing their best to live like Him. Bottom line - people are drawn to it!
Another reason to celebrate the increased attendance is that we will soon outgrow our first home! Just as a husband and wife will outgrow a one-bedroom apartment when they have a child, so will we outgrow our facility as lives are changed and people become committed to following Jesus with the Existence Church community.
Based on our two-year growth rate, by the spring of next year we will be building God’s Kingdom along with over 500 people. By the spring of 2010 this number will grow to over 750 people. In three years, Existence Church will be represented by over 1,000 men, women and children advancing God’s Kingdom!
While these numbers are exciting and encouraging, they present a new challenge: SPACE! Research indicates that a church’s attendance growth stops when its auditorium/sanctuary reaches 70% of its capacity. This means that even if we had three active services, our growth would most likely stop at a little over 500 people.
Based on our vision and ministry expectations we are excited and convinced that as a church, we must move forward in preparation for Chapter Two of the story of Existence Church.
Of all the Existence Church ministries, the Kid’s Ministry may be that which will realize the most growth in the next 3 to 5 years. Over the last year alone we have seen an increase of over 150% in our Kid’s Ministry. We see no signs of this growth slowing down.
Currently, our children’s facilities are designed to serve a maximum of 15 kids per service. As the above chart demonstrates, we are all but there! If we continue to grow at the current rate, we will have over 100 kids in the Kid’s Ministry within the next three years, many of which may be yours as you marry and grow your own family!
These are staggering numbers, but this also contributes to the concern regarding space. Over the next three years we estimate that we will see over 100 families visit our church, but not continue to attend; not because they didn’t love the warm smiles, the spirit-filled worship and the Christ-centered teaching, but because we did not have adequate space to provide for their family. If we want to continue to grow as a church, we will need to develop children’s facilities that can meet the needs of our growing community.
We are confident that God has led men and women into this community that have a Kingdom vision. Based on our belief in the way we feel God leading our church, we are confident it is time to start moving forward in preparing for Chapter Two of the story of Existence Church.