Notwithstanding economic perplexities and the turmoils of war, God's work on earth goes steadily forward. Nothing can stop the flow of His love and His gospel message to those who are in need. During the year 1943 some sections of the world field have shown remarkable advancement in church activities and membership growth. While considerable areas have been out of touch with the home bases, yet consecrated national leadership in these fields gives promise that results are being obtained which cannot now be recorded in the usual tabulated form.
In the absence of current reports from some General Conference divisions, the statistical summaries compiled year by year have been made up from these sections to include the latest available figures for number of churches, memberships, tithes, offerings, etc. In this way the former level is maintained until contact with these countries can again be established and current information secured. It is not improbable, when these fields are able again to report, that substantial progress will be apparent during the interim of silence.
At the close of 1943 the available figures listed 9,282 Seventh-day Adventist church organizations in the world field with a membership of 544,710, of which 201,111 members were in North America, and 343,599 in overseas divisions. There were 2,675 churches in North America, and 6,607 outside. By General Conference divisions, the Seventh-day Adventist church memberships listed at the close of 1943 were as follows:
|
Division 1943 Membership |
Division 1943 Membership |
|||
|
Australasian |
22,081 |
Division 1943 Mem'ship |
||
|
Central European |
42,387 |
Southern African 44,527 |
||
|
China |
19,721 |
Southern Asia |
7,793 |
|
|
Far Eastern |
35,015 |
Southern European |
33,325 |
|
|
Inter-American |
47,473 |
Russian |
16,513 |
|
|
North American |
201,11 |
Gen. Conf. Missions |
8,363 |
|
|
Northern European |
28,927 |
|||
|
TOTAL |
544,710 |
|||
|
South American |
37,474 |
|||
BAPTISMS.—One of the factors in which those who watch for church advancement are especially interested is the number of members who are taken into church fellowship through baptism. Baptism is the gateway to the church and represents the major feature year by year in the growth of the organization. In a church body such as the Seventh-day Adventist, whose fundamental background fosters an aggressive missionary activity in its entire membership, one naturally looks for a fairly proportionate growth in the annual number of new adherents as the constituency increases over a period of time.
A listing of the number of Seventh-day Adventist baptisms in the vvorld field in recent years, beginning with 1931, gives an average of 34,729 baptisms annually. Of this number, 11,641 represents the yearly aggregate in the United States and Canada, and 23,088 in overseas territories. During this same period church memberships have grown in North America from 120,560 at the beginning of 1931 to 201,111 at the close of 1943; and memberships outside of North America have advanced from 193,693 to 343,599. The increase in church membership in the world field for this thirteen-year period was approximately 75 per cent; but a perplexing feature is the fact that the gross numbers of baptisms during the closing years of this period were less than at its beginning.
Because of incomplete reports, full dependence cannot be placed on either the number of baptisms recorded for overseas divisions in recent years or the church memberships; but the more accurate returns in North America reveal unfavorable trends.
Comparisons between the number of persons taken into the church by baptism and the church memberships in 1933 show that for each 1,000 members in the United States and Canada at the beginning of that year there were 94 new members baptized during the year ; the annual average for the period from 1931 to 1943 was 74 baptisms to every i,000 members already in the churches ; and for 1943 alone there were 54 baptisms for each 1,000 members. If the year 1943 had been as fruitful in baptisms as was 1933, more than 18,500 new members would have been added to the churches in North America by this rite instead of the io,- 700 which the records show for 1943.
The tabulation following gives the number of recorded baptisms each year beginning with 1931, and the average baptisms annually for every one thousand church members registered at the beginning of each year;
|
1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 AVERAGE 13 YEARS |
Baptisms in Overseas Divisions 24,281 27,008 25,113 23,687 23,494 24,123 21,984 23,195 23,155 22,344 20,102 20,490 21,172 23,088 |
Baptisms in North 10,626 10,836 12,711 11,974 11,580 9,889 9,830 12,548 12,140 13,908 12,120 12,466 10,704 11,641 |
Baptisms Membership Overseas 125 130 99 93 91 79 81 78 72 63 62 63 88 |
Baptisms per 1,000 Memb. 88 85 94 83 77 63 6r 76 71 78 65 65 54 74 |
Tithes, Offerings, and Investment
The sum of tithes and foreign and home mission offerings raised in North America in 1943 exceeded by more than $200,000 the totals of these funds reported for the entire world field the year previous. The total tithe and contributions in 1943 of $25,679,249.11 in all General Conference divisions to home and overseas activities were $5,- 570,100.55 more than in 1942, or 27.7 per cent. This is the largest amount of money ever raised in one year by the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. Of the aggregate sum paid in 1943, $15,294,796.76, or 56.3 per cent, was tithe; $6,303,487.97, or 28.5 per cent, was mission offerings ; and $4,080,964.38, or 15.2 per cent, contributions for home and local work. The distribution of these receipts is shown in the following tabulation:
|
Funds Rec'd in 1943 |
World |
Outside |
In N. Amer. |
|
Tithe |
$15,294,796.76 |
$3,315,984.79 |
$11,878,811.97 |
|
Miss. Offer. |
6,303,487.97 |
1,446,213.38 |
4,857,274.59 |
|
Home Offer. |
4,080,964.38 |
594,822.62 |
3,486,141.76 |
|
Totals 1943, |
$25,679,249.11 |
$5,357,020.79 |
$20,322,228.32 |
|
Totals 1942 |
20,109,148.56 |
4,893,908.53 |
15,215,240.03 |
|
Inc. 1943 |
$ 5,570,100.55 |
$ 463,112.26 |
$ 5,106,988.29 |
Throughout the world field each Seventh-day Adventist church member in 1943 is reported to have paid in tithes and offerings an average of $47.14. This amount is $9.57 more than in 1942. In fields outside of North America the annual average payment of tithes and offerings in 1943 was $15.58, and in the North American territory alone $101.04. The yearly per capita sums for each group of funds are given below :
|
Per Capita Funds |
World |
Outside |
In |
|
Received in 1943 |
Field |
N. A. |
N. A. |
|
Tithe |
$28.08 |
$ 9.65 |
$ 59.56 |
|
Mission Offerings |
11.57 |
4.20 |
24-15 |
|
Horne Offerings |
7.49 |
1.73 |
17.33 |
|
Totals 1943 |
$47.14 |
$15.58 |
$101.04 |
|
Totals 1942 |
37.57 |
14.49 |
77.14 |
|
Increase 1943 |
$ 9.57 |
$ 1.09 |
$ 23,90 |
Institutional investment in Seventh-day Adventist sanitariums and hospitals, publishing houses, food centers, colleges, and secondary schools in the world field at the beginning of 1943 was $28,- 002,599.48 ; and the entire asset value of all denominational properties, including churches and conference facilities, was $74,785,933.o8. Of this investment, $46,936,928.96 was in the United States and Canada, and $27,849,004.12 in overseas divisions.
Financially the year 1943 was an outstanding one for the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. Conference and institutional receipts showed phenomenal growth. Costs advanced, and considerable sums were laid aside for future activities. That the returns in new church adherents seemed to lag calls for serious and prayerful search to discover underlying causes and adequate remedies. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon His church is the assurance of the speedy finishing of God's great work in the earth, and the triumphal fulfillment of His purpose for mankind.
(Another article discussing vital church statistics will appear in an early number of the Ministry.-Editor.)
