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Date Posted: 09:19:34 10/13/04 Wed
Author: John
Subject: ICC membership numbers
In reply to: Chirs 's message, "Re: membership numbers" on 01:59:27 10/13/04 Wed

We had similar arrangements to hand in stats up the pyramid all the way to Boston, then later Los Angelos. The worldwide statistics, though, were usually an altered or incomplete form of what churches sent in.

For example, the local church would count "fallaways" - those that left the ICC and "moveaways" - those that moved to another ICC congregation. The difference was called "net growth" and negative growth usually meant a change in leadership ordered from LA, the World Sector Leader, or the Geographic Sector Leader. Exceptions to this were personal friends of WSLs, GSLs, or Kip or the Gempels. Folks have been saying for years that those with negative growth were also 'reassigned' to work for HOPE worldwide.

The stats compiled centrally in LA were never made public. However, in 1999, the worlwide stats were breifly available on the icoc main website. This allowed everyone to see for themselves that the ICC was losing people at a tremendous rate. Almost every church in the US, North America, and Europe had negative growth.

The other way that statistics were perverted from LA was when we were fulfilling the Evangelization Proclomation. We wanted to have a church in every country of the world containing a city of at least 100,000 people by the year 2000. This goal also included a church in all 50 states. In order to claim the vistory of this goal in the summer of 2000, LA allow church statistics to be one and two years out of date. They claimed churches with a membership of zero, and claimed churches with a membership of one. This was according to the 1999 stats that were accidentally made public.

For example, the congregation in Fargo, North Dakota disbanded in 1999. The planting failed and the members were scattered to Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa. However, when the proclomation was declared "Mission Accomplished", it was stated that we had a church in all 50 states. The church in South Dakota failed in 98. There never was a church in Mississippi - that state was claimed because a few college students in northern Miss commuted a couple hours to the Memphis, TN church.

In the beginning, as you said, the numbers were published. In part this was done because the Boston churches had not separated from other Churches of Christ. After they separated, stats were available for a couple years, then the highlights were given at Missions COnferences every year. When the so-called fallaway numbers went up quickly, they just stopped mentioning them.

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Replies:

UBF and "moveaways" -- Chris, 14:31:08 10/13/04 Wed