BP- Questions

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>>>>> "Mark" == Mark W Bassett <mbasset@pcnet.com> writes:

    Mark> On Sun, 8 Oct 1995 00:55:20 -0500, you wrote:
    >> Where did you get these percentages (0.017%-0.025%), and can
    >> they be backed up by some kind of statistical survey or
    >> something?

    Mark> These numbers are generally discussed. I've talked to people
    Mark> who say that they have done the math. What I've done points
    Mark> this way.

    >> I have long suspected such a consistent figure existed, but I
    >> had always thought it ought to be considerably greater, like in
    >> the 1% range.  You figure seems too small to me.

    Mark> A church of 500 in a town of 50,000 is unusual. There are
    Mark> certainly a lot of dynamics at work here. Far more than a
    Mark> simple %.

    Mark> For example, churches of 500 are rare in general. Many mid
    Mark> size cities support three or more good size churches. It is
    Mark> not possible to assume that, if one folded, the remaining
    Mark> would absorb the left over population, or grow to that
    Mark> extent.

    Mark> Rural churches tend to have a much higher % by a fact of 3-4
    Mark> simply because the median size figure (i.e. in some respects
    Mark> a church pastorable by a man of moderate ability) is just
    Mark> larger with respect to the total population which it draws
    Mark> from.

I have attended churches in 2 small towns in Kentucky where the
percentage was 1% in a town of 1400, and 4% in a town of 5000.

I have heard Bro. Cornwell say that they must knock on 1000 doors to
get one visitor.  He did not say how many visitors it took to get one
siant. 

In the sales field, I have heard figures of 0.1% percent to 3% as the
yeild on "cold calls".

Historical evidence tells us that the church at Corinth ran about
30,000.  How big was the city at that time?

On the day of Pentecost, 3000 were saved.  Is 3 million a good
estimate of the population of Jerusalem during that feast?

    Mark> Also, there is a "comfortable size". This is one of the
    Mark> growth impediments, but at a certain size, people
    Mark> subconsciously (I hope it remains subconcious, or at least
    Mark> unspoken!) just dont WANT the church to grow, because the
    Mark> growth represents uncomfortable challenges.

This is the so called clique phenomenon, but it is also the critical
mass problem.  I have observed the same thing in industrial
corporations.  When a company grows to somewhere between 150 and 200,
it must change the way it operates from a small business to a medium
sized one.  If it does not, it either stagnates and stops growing, or
fails altogether.  The problem here seems to be one of management
style.  When managers that are used to calling all the shots
personally get overloaded by size, if they do not learn to delegate,
then they cannot grow.  If they fail to grow, yet take on
responsibilities that assume they will grow, then they fail.  It
happens all the time.

    Mark> All in all, what does the % mean? I have NO CLUE! :)

One does not need to know what it means to use the knowledge of its
existence as a planning tool.  One needs to know what it means to
become the exception to it.

    Mark> But, we *do* know that there are definite points of
    Mark> challenge. After all, statistics tell us of unnamed forces,
    Mark> and icebergs perceptable by the small tip. If we're smart,
    Mark> we'll believe the larger part is there, though invisible.

    Mark> Interesting sucject though isn't it, Bro. Robert.

    Mark> -- The Whole Gospel to the Whole World - Life Tabernacle UPC
    Mark> "Preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching those things
    Mark> which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no
    Mark> man forbidding ... " - Acts 28:31

-- 
--"Hear now my reasoning, and harken to the pleadings of my lips." [Jb 13:6]--
Robert J. Brown  (Bob/Rj)   rj@eli.wariat.org  1 708 705-0370 (vmail/fax/data)
Elijah Laboratories Inc;  759 Independence Drive;  Suite 5;  Palatine IL 60074
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