Church Family,
I am finding my doctoral work to be valuable for both our church and me. I want to share the fruit of research I have recently completed. I shared this information among the elders, and they thought it would be encouraging and educational to pass it along to you. Indeed, statistics like this do not tell the whole story, but they reveal some insight into our church and community.
Five Years of Steady Growth
Crestview has seen meaningful growth over the last five years. Attendance and membership have increased by 14% from 2017 to 2020. If the analysis is expanded to 10 years, the average attendance of 160 in 2020 is a 78% climb from the church’s average attendance of 90 in 2010. The COVID pandemic of 2020 and 2021 has hindered everyday church life, but the healthy culture and practices in place before the pandemic have helped the church persevere in unity and stability.
Church membership is slightly larger than attendance, indicating that church members are generally active in the church's life. The steady addition of members is occurring alongside the conscientious removal of members due to relocation, inactivity, death, and church discipline. Baptisms are up slightly in 2020 and 2021, but most of the church growth these past five years has come from relocations rather than new conversions. In addition to 166 members, the church also cares for 38 unbaptized children and around 25 regularly attending non-members.
Gospel Opportunities Abound Within a 3-mile Radius of Crestview’s Campus
Demographic information for the area within a 3-mile radius of the Crestview campus provides insight into our local context. This area is our mission field. The population of this focus area is 26,007, the City of Griffin is 23,487, and Spalding County is 67,306. The county has experienced population growth of 4.0% since 2010. Marital status in the focus area is 31% married, 43% never married, 14% divorced, 5% separated, and 7% widowed.
On average, two out of three residents in the focus area do not have an education above the high school level. The average household income within the focus area is $46,998, compared to the state average of $85,543, and 22.6% of families live below the poverty level. Single-parent homes outnumber two-parent homes two to one. The race and ethnicity of residents within the focus area are black 54.4%, white 34.1%, Hispanic 5.8%, Asian 0.6%, and other 1.9%.
Data reveals a population with elevated religious recognition that sometimes does not translate into involvement with a religious community. Christianity (Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant) is preferred by 64.8% of residents, non-Christian religions 6.8%, and no religious preference is 28.6%. However, 62.7% of residents are not involved in a religious community, up from 59.2% in 2012. The focus area has a facade of nominal, cultural Christianity yet, in reality, needs gospel engagement.
Conclusion
While there is much to be thankful for in the growth of Crestview, we live in a community that has significant gospel needs. How are you engaging our community? How is our church engaging our community? The answers to these questions will shape the next five years of Crestview's story.
For His Glory,
Pastor Thomas