The Census Report includes all Resident Members in the Total Names in Database number but the detailed analysis includes only the Active Resident Members. Of the Total Names 111 are not currently flagged as Active.

Of the 570 Active Resident Members only 542 have dates of birth recorded in their membership record. Included in the 542 are 106 persons under age 18. Included in the 570 are 467 adults over age 20.

Of the 62 persons joinging during 2008 18 were under age 18 and 44 were over age 18.

The average age of the 542 persons with recorded dates of birth is 48.44.

Interestingly, 53% of the 549 persons with recorded dates of joining have been members less than 10 years.

It is likely that the Resident Member Households in Charlotte and Colorado Springs represent folks recently moved and will be updated to Non-Resident Members soon.

The 62 new Resident Members in 2008 ties the highest year for new members in a decade (2000 also had 62 new members). The year 2000 was followed by two more years of similar growth. More important than the total new members is the net new members. Net new members are total less those who became Non-Resident, memberships moved, and deaths. For 2008 the net increase was 36, the most in a decade and the first double-digit net growth year since 2002.

We currently have 331 members classified as Non-Resident members .... that is, members who have geographically relocated. Several on our list of NR members I recognize being folks that I know have joined other churches, sometimes in other denominations. So, some unknown number of our NR members should be switched to Former Member status. We are very limited in discovering exactly who those folks are, however.

For the purpose of this post let us assume that one-third of our NR members are in fact members of other churches. Further, let us assume that is normal for most churches. That would mean that thousands of folks in Pitt County are being carried as NR members by churches geographically located elsewhere and are not yet members of a church here. That would help explain why surveys show so many more folks answer "belief in God" questions positively than participate in local churches.

Discovering them would be cool.

Of the 62 new Resident Members during 2008, 16 were by baptism. Of those 16, 2 were adults.

One way to think about church census data is that it provides perspective on the 'footprint' of a church. That is, it is one gauge of the scope of community impact. TMBC's 'footprint' is larger than our census data suggests. Not included in our census data are our Chinese and Hispanic initiatives. Our Chinese SS Class had a high attendance of 52; average attendance of 14; and has around 30 people who participate regularly (see http://www.tmbc.org//index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=0&func=view&catid=5&id=&id=28&catid=5 ). Our Hispanic Mission has around 70 adults participating. There are children associated with both groups, a significant number for the Hispanics. So our 'footprint' is over 100 folks larger than our census data indicates.

Confirming other 2008 Census Data, there was also significant growth in contributors during 2008. Total operating fund contributors increased from 504 to 562 while Resident Member contributors increased from 371 to 400. Soon we will have comparative contributions stated in dollar amounts. While the total dollars contributed will likely be impacted by the general economic conditions the increase in the number of contributors suggests an increased pool of member prospects during 2008 which is a positive going into 2009.