How many members does Struthers Memorial Church have? | ||||
Updated 19 March 2013 | ||||
Two years ago we published on this site a summary of where each of the Struthers churches is; and for each an estimated attendance based on the information then available to the public.
Over the last two years we have revised this from time to time to reflect new information sent to us.
There is no desire on our part to present any incorrect information. We do believe that there is a need for Struthers Memorial Church to be very honest and open about its size, and about the impact on growth of leadership decisions that have been made in the past. One result of this information being made available on this website has been a truer appreciation of the extent of SMC; and how many branches are either very small or have closed altogether.
We have said all along if any Struthers church leader wants to present information to us showing that these estimates are wrong we will change them in the light of that new information being made available to us. Similarly if the organisation published its own official membership/attendance numbers our doing so would become unnecessary.
We do believe it is important that people understand the reality on the ground when Struthers preachers are talking about revival and projected radical growth in the Struthers churches. That has been a major part of Struthers preaching continually for over 40 years and the situation that has been arrived at is presented here. | ||||
So in an attempt to clarify the facts of the situation we have put together from
online sources and our best information available to us from those who have contacted
us a list of the locations, and our understanding of the number of adults (including
teenagers) attending for each Struthers branch church at their main Sunday morning
service. To our knowledge these figures are not published by SMC. It is interesting
that on the Struthers Cumbernauld church website attendance figures for youth meetings
and outreaches are now routinely quoted but not Sunday morning attendance figures
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If any one would like us to change a figure so we can reflect the situation on the ground more accurately then please let us have that and we will gladly update the table. Church attendance numbers fluctuate so our membership estimates are given as a range for each. For reference : a link to the original article is here | ||||
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Church |
Current leader |
When established |
Attending |
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Scotland |
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Greenock |
Mrs Grace Gault |
1955 |
30- |
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Gourock |
Mr Robert Cleary |
1960s |
10- |
Combine their meetings with Greenock on a Sunday evening |
Port Glasgow |
Mrs Joan Jewell |
1960’s |
8- | |
Glasgow |
Mrs Alison Speirs |
Early 1970s |
45- |
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Falkirk |
Miss Jennifer Jack |
Early 1970s |
30- |
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Edinburgh |
Miss Effie Alexander |
Eartly 1970s |
8- |
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Gorebridge |
Mr Bill Winning |
1970s |
20- |
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Cumbernauld |
Mrs Diana Rutherford |
Mid 1980s |
30- |
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England |
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Pudsey |
Mr & Mrs Bill & Judy Rukin |
1970 |
20- |
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Aylesbury |
Miss Pauline Anderson |
Late 1970s |
12- |
Referred to for some reason as the “London” church though well outside the M25 and far nearer Milton Keynes or Luton |
Wales |
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Neath |
Mr Gareth Watkins |
Early 2000s |
20- |
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If these figures are correct the total Group Membership/Attendance is |
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233 to 277 |
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Churches which have closed |
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Bridge of Weir |
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Chelmsford |
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East Kilbride |
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Inverkip |
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Larkfield |
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Montrose |
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Skelmorlie |
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Wallyford |
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Churches which have disaffiliated |
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Tranent |
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Early 1980s |
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Churches which formerly had close links | ||||
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Kirkby Christian Fellowship, Merseyside |
Mid 1990s |
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So (as far as can be understood from public sources) in March 2013 there are
8 Scottish congregations - 2 English congregations 1 Welsh congregation
And -
In addition 9 branches have now either closed or disaffiliated
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Whether the fact that one English church is in the north and the smaller English church in the south along with the more recent addition of a Welsh group justify the claim of:
“a large group of churches with branches throughout Scotland and England”
is up to the reader to decide.
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And if growth of the churches and the numbers attending have indeed been a feature
of Struthers churches in the last 40 years -
Alternatively the churches and leadership could keep ploughing on -
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If anyone would like us to change or add to any of the information in this article
please let us know via our e- | ||||
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Items Updated on 19 March 2013 | |||
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Changes:
Addition of Chelmsford and Skelmorlie to the list of closed churches
Reduction of estimated attendance at Glasgow, Cumbernauld, Falkirk, Edinburgh & Neath based on new information available to us. Some of these changes reflect people reported to have left; and some reflect that our original estimates appear to have been too high in some cases.
These branch reductions when added together show a significant decrease in the overall attendance figures ranges.
These attendance reductions are also consistent with the dramatic reduction in church donations income shown in the most recent Struthers church Report and Accounts.
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Items Updated on 17 February 2012 | |||
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Changes:
Clarification of the former status of Kirkby Christian Fellowship based on new information received
Reduction of estimated attendance at Glasgow and Cumbernauld based on new information sent to us
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Items Updated on 20 July 2011 | |||
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Changes:
Update to the statements given on the new SMC website
Removal of Shetland who are not mentioned in the new SMC website list of churches
Addition of Kirkby Christian Fellowship, Merseyside to the list of churches which have disaffiliated from SMC.
Link to the Rick Ross forum discussion on Kirkby Christian Fellowship
Reduction of estimated attendance at Greenock
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