I try and report each quarter on the same set of metrics. That way we can see how we’re doing over time. The numbers aren’t important. The people and the ministry is. The numbers just help us discern how we’re doing.
Sunday morning service attendance
The word church translates the Greek word ekklēsia. Ekklēsia is a compound of two Greek words. The first word, ek, means out. And the second word, klēsia, means to call. Church is the called out ones. The assembly. Our church assembles on a Sunday. Morning. At 9:30am. It is the most important activity in our community life.
From 1 November 2025 to 8 February 2025, our attendance, on average, was 207 souls in the building (up from 206). The average number of cars was 102 (down from 107). Our member attendance, which we carefully track, was 128 (up from 120, or 73% of the membership base).
Undesignated giving
To give is an act of worship. It is a tremendous privilege. Not a heavy burden. It should be anonymous. Cheerful. Sacrificial. Very often it is our wallet which acts as the litmus for our heart. Undesignated giving is the normal offerings of the congregation. It excludes amounts given to specific people or ministries (benevolence, missions, interns).
From 1 November 2025 to 31 January 2025, our undesignated giving was TBC% of budget.
Small group Bible study attendance
Our mission is to Reach Benoni with the gospel, and equip all for life. One of the key mechanisms where that equipping happens is in small group Bible studies.
We have 10 weekly small group Bible studies. And 2 monthly Bible studies. Of our 177 members, 93 (down from 113) attend a small group Bible study, or 53 (down from 68%).
New members
On 1 November 2025 we had 176 members on our main roll. Over the last quarter we’ve lost one member. And we gained 1 new member taking our membership to 176.
Baptisms
Our mission is to Reach Benoni with the gospel, and equip all for life. One of the ways we test if we are reaching our city is to monitor baptisms. Baptisms represent new converts making a firm, public commitment of personal faith.
We have 3 baptisms scheduled over the next few weeks and months.
Volunteer involvement
The Holy Spirit gifts the church. Every believer is empowered to contribute within the life of the community. In a healthy body each individual functions as he or she is gifted. We’ve moved across to a new rostering system which makes it hard to reconcile the numbers.
Up to 132 of our members serve at least once a month in a Sunday morning service. That is 74%. And 84 serve in a ministry during the week. That is 47%.
Prayer
We have a number of ways you can engage in the prayer ministry at Benoni Baptist Church. Our ladies gather on Zoom at 5:45am on Friday mornings. Our Wednesday evening Bible study has a dedicated time for prayer. We have a Sunday evening Zoom prayer meeting. And prayer is an important element at our evening Service. We had have a week of prayer at the beginning of January. And we have a Sunday morning prayer meeting at 9:10am in the meeting room.
We’re tracking concurrent connections on our Zoom prayer meeting, which is present at 12 (we’re aiming for 24).
A vision for the future
What do these numbers mean? They mean God is at work. They mean Christ is keeping His promise. They mean the Spirit is alive in His people. Growth is never the end. Growth is the means. The end is God’s glory. We’ve stated our vision as, We’re dreaming to plant a conservative, evangelical Baptist church with our healthy DNA in Benoni.
We believe we will be ready when Sunday attendance reaches 320. We’re 72% there. We believe we will be ready when finances increase by 40%. We’re 71% there. We believe we will be ready when the Lord provides a competent shepherd with godly character who shares our DNA. We’re 0% there. We believe we’ll be ready when a suitable venue is secured. We’re 0% there.