Shaping the Future of BBC Saturday Morning

Article by

Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org

All church members are invited—indeed, urged—to come to the all-church assessment from 8:30-1:00 on Saturday, April 16. Cliff Anderson, from the BGC Home Missions Board, will be leading us. There will be small group assessment teams and large group information times. Rolls and coffee will be available from 8:00 a.m. (no lunch). If you must leave early, that’s o.k.

The purpose of the day is to launch a long-range planning effort that will provide direction for ministry and site development over the next five years and beyond. The first step is to find out what our strengths and weaknesses are. Part of the process for determining God’s will for your life is deciding what you are good at. So with churches.

If there are things you are dissatisfied about, this will be a great non-threatening time to get them out into the open with all the other things that people will mention.

One of the things to ponder is how we are doing in our giving. Here are some 1982 statistics that should be considered.

“Regular” Givers During 1982 Toward Local Budget Items
(Does not include Project ’84 and “over and above” gifts)

Age Group
Giving Units
Total Given by This Age Group
Average Gifts per Unit
under 12
5 (1%)
$75.01 (0%)
$15.00
12-18
14 (3%)
274.47 (0%)
19.61
19-29
147 (32%)
80,608.11 (26%)
584.35
30-39
37 (8%)
41,979.00 (13%)
1,134.57
40-49
29 (6%)
27,634.47 (9%)
952.91
50-64
48 (11%)
48,863.75 (16%)
1,017.99
65+
170 (37%)
107,507.50 (35%)
632.40
unknown
7 (2%)
1,842.80 (1%)
 
TOTAL
457
308,785.11
263.26


Amount Given in 1982 Number of Units Giving That Amount
$1 - 49
59 (13%)
50 - 249
120 (26%)
250 - 499
84 (18%)
500 - 999
92 (20%)
1,000 - 1,999
75 (16%)
2,000 - 2,999
16 (4%)
3,000 - 3,999
7 (2%)
4,000 - 6,999
3 (0.75%)
7,000+
1 (0.25%)

There are some very encouraging and discouraging things in these figures. Can you find them?

Looking with you to God’s future,

Pastor John