Priority 4

Breaking down barriers, building bridges with our neighbors

Derribar barreras y crear puentes con nuestros vecinos

The only outward-facing priority — it is about people who are not members yet. The cleanest public proxy is professions of faith, kept distinct from transfers.

The line this scorecard takes

Transfers don't count here. A church can grow entirely by absorbing a closed church's roll. Isolate the people who are genuinely new.

New people from the community

Outcome · laggingPublic
New believers vs. transfers in · 2024
Professions of faith (478) · 35%Transfers in (882) · 65%

Only the reed slice is the bridge being crossed. The rest is members moving between churches.

2,11047820152024

Professions of faith (478) isolated from transfers in (882 from other churches/denominations). New people crossing the bridge — not members shuffling between churches.

Net membership trend

ContextPublic
Professing members67,179-44% from 119,755 in 2015
119,75567,17920152024

Total professing members. Context, not the test — a church can grow membership entirely by absorbing a closed church's roll.

Community Partnership Share

Process · leadingConference
Blank — and that is the finding. Share of churches reporting an active community partnership (food, schools, immigration, neighborhood orgs). Requires charge-conference or survey reporting.

New Faith Communities

Outcome · laggingConference
Blank — and that is the finding. New faith communities started — and still alive 2–3 years on. Requires the conference's new-church/new-place records.
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