World Magazine reveals that the number of participants that many churches report don’t add up in an article entitled, “Numbers Racket” in the December 1, 2007 issue. You can read part of the story here, but you must be a subscriber to read all of it. If you don’t already subscribe to this excellent magazine, this is an excellent opportunity to do so.

Here is an interesting quote from the article:

Dan Gilgoff covers the evangelical movement for U.S. News & World Report and is the author of The Jesus Machine. He told WORLD that in his experience, megachurch pastors “notoriously inflate membership” numbers. The reasons? “Media attention, political influence, and money,” Gilgoff said (emphasis added).

Somebody should address this situation, maybe by submitting a resolution or something to call attention to inflated church rolls and calling for integrity in the way the numbers are reported. 😉