In October, parishes all over the country are asked to record numbers ar services and fill in their "Statistics for Mission" form.
The Lightwave Community collects data too and we share it as part of the reporting to our funders ievery year.
There are several words for counting in Hebrew limnot, lifkod, lispor, lachshov. But when God, commands a census in Exoodus and Numbers, none of these terms are used. Instead the phrase used is naso/se’u et rosh, literally, “lift the head.” This is not a counting where the emphasis is on the size of the number. It is an act of care - lifting of the head to look into the face of each one to see that no-one goes unnoticed. A bit like the teacher who counts to check that everyone whom s/he took on the school trip has arrived safely back on the bus home. This is a counting because each and every one counts.
So when we fill in our data forms, it is important to remember this: We are not counting to claim strength in numbers. We are counting in order to care. We want to notice if we are reaching people in a particular age group – or if people who come to our foodbank are finding our offer of a small group bible study helpful. We want to notice if people are getting lost along the way. The Lightwave data collections is designed to help us notice things which will help us to share God’s love.
Thankyou for all you are doing to notice and record this data.
We count because each and every person counts and is precious to God.