There are six female Nazarene senior assigned pastors in the Front Range megaregion. That's 8% of the senior assigned pastors here. The largest church attendance with a female pastor is 92; however, the median attendance is 25. Two-thirds of the women have served in their current assignment for less than eight years. It seems as if there is going to be enough churches to reach the coming population expansion in this megaregion, women seeking ministry will have to be sought, encouraged, and nurtured into ministry just as much as men. There is a clear emphasis on male leadership when there honestly may not be enough men available or responding to the call to preach. Whatever may be the case, where are the women and who will open doors, clear the pathway, and become mentors for them? What would it take for a current pastor to mentor more women into ministry? Resources
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There are 75 senior assigned pastors on this megaregion, one pastor has a dual assignment in two churches. There are 17 churches without an assigned pastor. The median tenure for pastors on this megaregion is 2012. That means half of the pastors have been in their current assignment since this date. One-third of these pastors have been in their assignments for less than four years, and another one-third for more than eight years. Eighteen pastors have been in their assignments for more than a decade. Median worship attendance at churches with an assigned pastor is 57. This is for a population of 5.5 million (see second image below). This megaregion will add another 4.8 million people in the next three decades. If the current number of pastors (75) is maintained during the population growth that will occur, the following ratios apply: One pastor for 73,333 people (2010) One pastor for 92,000 people (2025) One pastor for 136,000 people (2050) ResourcesThere are fourteen women serving as senior assigned pastors in the Northern California megaregion, or 8% of the total assigned pastors (174). The largest church attendance with a female pastor is 89. The median church attendance is 31 with a female pastor. Only four women have been in their current assignment for more than eight years. Half have been in their current assignments for only four years. ResourcesThere are 174 assigned senior pastors on this megaregion. Six pastors have dual assignments so there really are only 168 individual pastors. Almost one-third have been in their assignments for less than five years, and another 30% over twelve years. Median tenure for all assigned senior pastors is only seven years, assigned since 2011. Half of the female assigned senior pastors have been in their assignments since 2014. There are 41 churches without an assigned senior pastor at the time of this demographic snapshot. That's 19%, almost one-fifth, of the total active churches (217). Median worship attendance for churches with an assigned pastor is 58. Yet, in this megaregion, there is one senior assigned pastor for every 128 people in Sunday worship in a Nazarene church: 168 individual assigned senior pastors and 21,567 in average worship attendance. Concern needs to be raised over the number of vacancies (one out of five churches without a senior pastor) and the short median tenure of seven years. I wonder if there is any thought among district superintendents and pastors about a succession plan: who will follow them and when. I think the ideal of always being in one place, or even job security, challenges the notion that someone will need to follow. These numbers are concerning even before beginning to think about the number of pastors that will be needed to keep up with population growth. Ideally, there should be one pastor/church for every 10,000 people to maintain a recognizable presence in a population. Assuming that the current number of 174 pastors can be maintained (still, one-fifth short of filling all open pulpits), the following ratios can be applied. According census numbers for this megaregion: In 2010, there is one Nazarene pastor for 83,3333 people. In 2025, there will be one Nazarene pastor for 98,809 people. In 2050, there will be one Nazarene pastor for 125,595 people. Can Nazarenes realistically keep up with the population of this megaregion? ResourcesAbout 10% of the assigned senior pastors are women on the Florida megaregion. (20 out of 195 pastors). Only 3% of ethnic pastors are female, however. The largest church with a female pastor averages 135 in worship attendance. The median worship attendance in churches with a female pastor is about 45. 70% of the women in assigned senior pastoral ministry have in their assignment for less than eight years. ResourcesThere are 195 assigned senior pastors on this megaregion. Or, one pastor for 88,717 people (using 2010 population data). If this number of assigned pastors is maintained, there will be . . . In 2025, a decrease to one pastor for 110,256 people. In 2050, a decrease to one pastor for 160,000 people. Median worship attendance at a church with an assigned pastor is 70, which is higher than other megaregions. For instance, it's 36 in median worship attendance for churches with assigned pastors in the Gulf Coast megaregion. Median tenure is also longer, closer to eight years; and, about 30% of pastors have been in their assignment less than five years. About the same percentage have been in their assignments more than twelve years. Half of the female pastors in this megaregion have been assigned since 2013. There are 44 churches without an assigned senior pastor. It is important to remember that these data represent a snapshot in time. Resources:Nine women serve as senior assigned Nazarene pastors in the Gulf Coast megaregion. Or, ten percent (10%) of the total (86). The largest church with a female senior pastor has an average worship attendance of 72; the smallest is 4. The median is 25. Only one has been in their assignment prior to 2006. ResourcesThere are 86 pastors on this megaregion (note: one is counted twice as a part of a dual assignment). This means there is one Nazarene pastor for 155,814 people in the Gulf Coast Megaregion, using 2010 population numbers (see image below). If the current number of pastors is maintained, there will be . . .
There is currently one church for 124,074 people. The ratio should be one church for 10,000 people to be a sustainable and recognizable presence in a given population. One out of five pastors on this megaregion have been in place for more than twelve years. About 30% have been at their church assignments for under four years, and another 30% for more than nine years. Median worship for churches with an assigned pastor is 36. Median tenure for pastors on this megaregion is five years, or in place since 2013. Nine pastors are women. Resources
There is not much commentary needed here. The numbers are fairly consistent with other megaregions in this study. The congregation size at the top end is much smaller than it is in other megaregions, but but the median attendance is about the same at 30. Although about 25 women are serving as senior pastors, it only makes up 6.5% of the total number of pastors. Half of them have been serving since 2012. There are about six female pastors for every 100 serving in this megaregion. ResourcesJust another straight forward infograph. There are sixteen female pastors, or 5% of the total number fo 318 assigned pastors in the Texas Triangle Megaregion. Three-fourths of the female pastors have served eight or fewer years. Median attendance at a church with a female pastor is 45; overall, the median average attendance with an assigned pastor regardless of gender is 54. One key piece of information from this megaregion, though, is that more than half of the female pastors (9 of 16) serve an ethnic church. Resources: |
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