Actscelerate.com

Church of God membership over 8 million

Acts Mod Posts: 25305 **1/28/23 4:46 pm**

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.
_________________
Doctor of Bovinamodulation

Acts-celerater Posts: 787 **1/30/23 3:12 am**

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.”
Voddie Baucham

Without a doubt, great ministry is going ...

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1994 **2/1/23 6:10 pm**

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.

I think of David, when God told him not to number the armies of Israel for his own vanity sake. David disobeyed, and judgement in the form of a pledge sweep the country. What ever the count the armies were less then when they were numbered.

Membership and attendance has taken a real hit from the pandemic

Friendly Face Posts: 256 **3/29/23 8:20 pm**

If churches were honest with their numbers I think we would be looking at a big decrease. Many small churches have closed. Most open churches have lost some attenders. The membership numbers reported by denominations were inflated before the pandemic. Now they are likely way off.

Acts-celerater Posts: 787 **3/29/23 8:44 pm**

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.”
Voddie Baucham

Acts-perienced Poster Posts: 11849 **4/5/23 11:22 pm**

Membership is over 8 million now?

Aren't you glad you joined when it was free? Smile

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 16646 **4/7/23 10:05 am**

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?

OMAM

Once member always member.

Say it ain't so.
_________________
Whether you like it or not, learn to love it, because its the best thing going today!

Re: Church of God membership over 8 million

Friendly Face Posts: 426 **4/17/23 11:12 am**

OMAM

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1607 **4/18/23 3:09 pm**

We might not be OSAS but we are definitely OMAM... till death do us part! lol

Acts-perienced Poster Posts: 11849 **4/29/23 12:57 pm**

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.

GPDI pastors baptism formula translates as, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, which is in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" possibly a vestage of the Oneness controversy.

Lee Roy Brown

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6042 **4/29/23 5:55 pm**

Re: Church of God membership over 8 million

Friendly Face Posts: 218 **6/22/23 10:41 am**

There's a simple fix....

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6042 **6/28/23 8:38 am**

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.

IF NOTHING ELSE, we should never take in another member without HQ requiring us to submit their full name and address, etc.

01000001 01100011 01110100 01110011 Posts: 24285 **6/28/23 9:49 am**

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. Wink

.

I remember when WE COG folk kidded the 'nominal' churches of having a lot of dead members on their rolls. LOL

I wondered if I was still a member of churches in Burlington, Valdese, Albemarle, Belmont, (NCs), Biloxi MS, Moberly, MO, Eustis, FL and Rutherfordton. LOL
_________________
Some facts but mostly just my opinion!
jacsher@aol.com
http://shipslog-jack.blogspot.com/