In ten years’ time we will be a growing church with an increasing membership.
The numerical decline of the United Reformed Church is unsustainable. And yet a significant number of local congregations are growing in number – and other denominations are experiencing local growth points too. Whilst our growth must be qualitative in terms of our spirituality and fellowship, we should be bold enough to seek quantitative growth too. With resources such as the Vision4Life evangelism year, God is Still Speaking and Fresh Expressions at our disposal we have every reason to be hopeful that our denomination can grow again. We must also explore and embrace new forms of the emerging church.
We will know if we are on the right track by:
- The number of new members in a congregation.
- Growth in URC membership by 2020.
- The number of churches exploring Fresh Expressions or new ways of being church.
