What Numbers Tell Us

It's weird, worshiping right now online when we can't see people. I think it's as strange for our congregation as it is for those of us leading worship on Sunday morning. We're coming up on the sixth Sunday of online-only worship. How's worship doing? We can sit and assess the quality of the music, how well the video feed was, how well the audio sounded, if the words matched up, and so forth. But, are we reaching people?

Numbers can be helpful, but only when we think about the story, they tell us. The story is what the pastors sat down to talk about this week, as we reflected on Easter. We looked at charts, lists, and numbers, and thought about what it all meant. These numbers excited us, and we had to share them with you.

Over the past 5-weeks, 86% of those who participated in worship watched live. Most watched from their computer, and many are saying good morning in the chat windows every week.

We had 4 countries and 36 states log in, adding up to 2,765 unique devices (IP addresses).

What's most interesting is what we learn when we go deeper past these numbers. Every Sunday, we stand in the back of the room and count everyone's heads as you sit in your seat. Everyone is asked to fill out a Connect Card for those worshipping in the pews and online. Some of you are wonderful at filling this out, and some of you don't like to.

If we only count the devices that log onto Livestream, that would be like us walking in the parking lot, counting the number of cars, but never walking inside and counting people. Then we would hope that people would tell us who attended so we could add them.
That would be crazy, right!

So, we've been using the information given, to help us make an educated estimate of persons watching since we can't see people and count. For all the numbers out there, we are taking VERY detailed records, so every count and calculation is recorded.

We had 601 unique devices online for Easter. 19% of people filled out an online card, giving us an average of 1.8 persons per home. (Notice I said average. Some people had 1 person watching and some had 5. This average changes from week to week. We've used the data given to calculate this number.)

That leaves 484 homes where we didn't hear from anyone. We then multiply this number by the average 1.8 to get an additional 376 people. When we add the numbers back together, then include our Facebook viewers, and the people physically in the room to help lead worship, we end up with 1174. Clear as mud, right?

We know this isn't a perfect science. As a congregation, you've asked that we be transparent and upfront, so we want to honor that with these numbers.

Continue to pray for our church and our community. Our prayer is that we're connecting with people who will consider worshiping with us when this situation is over. Pray and ask God to help us know how to minister to these potential church members. If you pray with me on Facebook, you'll hear me ask God daily for a revival in our church and our city. I ask you to pray with me.

Continue your participation. Whatever you're doing, keep it going. Our church is running strong, even if we can't see it. I believe God is doing incredible work under the surface, and a great harvest is coming. Keep doing what you're doing at home to prepare your hearts for our church's future.

Let us know how we can help. Reach out if you need anyone at the church. We are here and active every day. I can't wait to worship with you this Sunday!