The news from the pews

The Church in Wales has developed a new digital way of keeping track of church attendance.

The Membership App, as it’s called, presents the user with a series of screens which can be filled in by worship leaders or designated volunteers on a phone, tablet or laptop. Trials indicate that it takes around two minutes to input the data, which is then recorded in real time on to a central database.

The pages cover every aspect of church activity, including attendance at Sunday and Midweek services, Life Events, Children and Youth, Social Outreach initiatives and Bible Study groups.

Over time, as the data accumulates, the system can identify trends that can be accessed in a variety of reports which are updated every time an entry is made. These then have the capacity to effectively model church attendance, engagement in church activities, and predict possible future developments, allowing users to see where a particular church is likely to be at a point in the future.

These will be relevant factors in making bids to the Church Growth Fund as applicants will wish to provide accurate and up-to-date Membership App information to propose growth initiatives for funding support.

The new system has been successfully tested in St Asaph Diocese and will be rolled out here in St Davids later this year.

Training will be arranged through LMA Deans.