By Carl S. Dudley — Faculty Emeritus, Hartford Seminary
This book is like the old story of the farmer who found a large ostrich egg and brought it home to his chicken coop where he called all the hens together. When he showed them the large ostrich egg, he announced, “Well girls, I just wanted you to see what others are doing.”
Comparative Statistics 2006 is an opportunity for each of us to see what others are doing. It offers tough reality testing, which may not be comfortable for congregations (or anyone) to do. Of course, statistics do not constitute the total reality, sometimes not even the most important part. But these numbers do provide a variety of windows on church, where money or members or modes of leadership can be compared within and among particular populations.
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