Coffee Hour

"Avaricious Numerical Accounting" Debuts

For administrators, ministers, and committee members it's that time of the year again... time for the UUA's annual on-line certification of congregations. And for number freaks, it's a chance to observe in real time as congregations claim whether they've grown, shrunk, or stayed the same size in the past year. It all happens live in front of your eyes.

This year, I, the "Avaricious Numerical Accountant" have bravely volunteered to track the numbers as they come in, offering thoughts and comments along the way. Who am I? I'm a UU minister serving a rapidly growing congregation in one of the plain states. While I'm certainly no statistician, I'm kind of keen on figuring out how to use spreadsheets.

Here's what to expect: Congregations have from now until February 1 to certify their membership numbers. Most don't until the final weeks of January. In the meantime, my posts will be intermittent and I'll be playing around with Excel. As the results come in, I'll track what the fastest growing congregations, states, and districts are and also provide a overall growth comparison between this year and last. Who knows? Maybe I'll even come up with spiffy awards to give out. I'll also post comments sharing my opinions and perspectives about growth and probably answer a few questions along the way too.

I'm Looking forward to posting here over the next 10 weeks. And thanks to Philocrites for setting up an account for me!