Learning to Count to Eight

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Our denomination is just one corner of the kingdom of God. Still, I love it and I want it to flourish. It’s for that reason that for the past few years I’ve been digging into various denominational statistics, trying to understand some of the trends and patterns that have brought us to our present moment.

Numbers, of course, are a tricky thing. They can reveal or obscure the truth. When you look at the numbers, they certainly reveal some concerning things. As a denomination, we’re on the slope of a decades-long demographic decline. Most classes are experiencing a process of “thinning,” where, post-COVID, struggling churches are closing more rapidly, and the average number of members per church is reduced across the board. Many of us have felt the numeric loss in a different way, as friends or family members might have disaffiliated in recent years.

Here’s another concerning statistic to add to the list: The number of people brought into the CRCNA through evangelism in 2025 was 1,247. This is the lowest that it has been since the 1960s—when our denomination had roughly half the number of churches that it does today. This decline, too, has been a multi-year trend.

So there are plenty of reasons to feel discouraged and overwhelmed. I imagine that’s how the disciples felt in Luke 9, as they looked out over the crowd of 5,000 people who had gathered to listen to Jesus. They’d pointed out that the people were hungry, and Christ, in response, gave them a startling command. “You give them something to eat.” It still rang in their ears. You feed them. But how? Phillip, the bean counter among them, does a quick calculation in his head. It would take eight months wages just for everyone to have a bite. Impossible. Andrew scrounges around and finds two fish and five loaves. This is all we’ve got, Jesus, but it won’t go very far. They just can’t see a way forward.

Numbers reveal, but they can also obscure. The disciples are factoring things wrong. They’re seriously underestimating. Because they have two fish, and then five loaves—that’s seven—but what haven’t they figured in?

Jesus.

They have five loaves, two fish, and Jesus. Eight.

That changes everything. Because Jesus is the multiplier.

With his presence, the impossible command becomes a promise. You will feed them. You will be used to giving them what they need. Soon enough, the disciples are rushing back and forth, distributing the bounty that keeps flowing from him, until all have enough. The disciples’ incapacity has been overwhelmed by his abundance.

Counting to seven—letting myself be defined and overwhelmed by my challenges—is my constant tendency. Maybe you recognize it in yourself. In the season we’re in, it can easily be our tendency as a denomination as well. The crowd of challenges that we face can make us feel that we’re not capable of fixing things.

And we’re not. But Christ is present with us.

And if Christ is present with us, then the humblest of offerings can be multiplied in his hands. If Christ is present with us, then scarcity and fear doesn’t get the last word. And if Christ is present with us, then we can look at the faces surrounding us and move into their lives with hope, knowing that his command is also his promise. Elizabeth Elliot once said, “Your nothing plus God equals everything.” I believe God is inviting us to learn that lesson again in our own time.

It’s a lesson, ultimately, that should draw our attention far beyond the horizons of our one small denomination. Still, let’s glance at the numbers one more time. I’ve mentioned the decline in people brought into our churches through evangelism has been a steady trend for a number of years.

But the simple math is that if each church in our denomination brought just one more person in through evangelism than they did last year, that trajectory would immediately shift. Two more people, and it would be dramatically reversed.

And if you—the person reading this article—dedicated yourself to bringing someone to faith this year?

Well, who knows what the Lord might do with that kind of offering.