In reply to Gretchen Ahrens.

Gretchen,

You are correct that objective statistics such as these are only one part of a larger picture. The purpose of this article annually is to report the summary of what was collected from congregations the previous year. These are used in various ways, including representation at LCMS district and national conventions, ministry resource planning, and understanding important trends in the church. They are also used by various ministry areas as they perform deeper analysis into outcome data and to help find leading indicators that may be situational.

God’s Blessings!
D. Scott Kostencki – Manager, Rosters and Statistics