One Year Later: 40 Days of Purpose

Last October we launched our first 40 Days of Purpose Spiritual Growth Campaign, and it was amazing. We heard tons of stories of people meeting Christ, getting connected, experiencing healing, and more. We also launched our small groups ministry, which was virtually non-existent before then.

During October 2007 our attendance more than doubled when compared with October 2006. We also launched 20 small groups and had over 150 people in them. It was pretty sweet.

The question is always what happens next?

Bill Donahue, one of the speakers at the Small Groups Conference this weekend, talked about the importance of having a strong infrastructure and system in place so that you can sustain ministry. As Bill put it, too often "40 Days of Purpose is followed by 40 weeks of chaos." I have been in churches like that!

So what has happened at St. Paul's in the last year?

Here are a couple of statistics that jump out at me:

• In October 2008, we are running 10% above our October 2007 attendance numbers. That means we have been able to keep all the gains of the campaign, while still adding to it! At first glance, 10% growth does not look that impressive compared with the 100% growth from the year before. Both growth is not linear. It ebbs and flows and we use things like campaigns to create moments of explosive growth and then focus on sustaining that growth in a healthy way. So keeping all the growth from the campaign and adding to it is actually a pretty sweet thing!

• Prior to the campaign we never had more than 30 people in small groups and it was usually less than that. During the campaign we had about 150 in groups. This semester we have 15 active groups with about 125 people in them. That means we grew from Sept '07 to Sept '08 by over 300% and we kept over 80% of our number from the campaign. That is awesome!

• In one year we have doubled the number of people serving on a regular basis!

• Our monthly giving increased over 150% in Sept 2008 over Sept 2007.

I could share more, but I think you get the idea. One year out I would give the campaign a solid A in terms of effectiveness across the board.

That is one reason I am excited that this spring we will be launching a follow-up 40 Days Campaign during Lent called 40 Days of Community. If 40 Days of Purpose asks teh question "what on earth am I here for?", 40 Days of Community asks "what on earth are WE here for?"

It is going to be a fun Spring at St. Paul's!