Just as we can read God’s inspired Word and allow it to give spiritual direction, inspiration, correction, we can use the information obtained from the Annual Church Profile to give our church insight into our effectiveness as Kingdom workers and help reveal to us areas of growth or challenges from the past year.

The leadership portion of the profile enables continuity of communication between a congregation and their Association and Louisiana Baptists state office. This helps everyone communicate effectively concerning areas of interest for leaders.

It can be used by everyone involved in the process as a guide to doing what God is leading them to do. Here are some suggestions:

SEE WHERE GOD IS WORKING
The Annual Church Profile shows what God has done through his people. Identify areas that can be built upon as well as areas that need to be built up.

PRAY INFORMED BY THE ANNUAL CHURCH PROFILE
Informed prayer allows God to speak more directly concerning what He wants us to do. Use the names of leaders on the profile as a prayer list.

PLAN TO DO GOD’S WILL
Use the profile’s information from this year and trends from past years as powerful planning tools. The more accurate and complete your Annual Church Profile information is, the better the tool.

TARGET OUTREACH
Accompany the church trend with a demographic study of the area and it becomes an outreach focus tool.

REPRESENT THE CHURCH
Determine the number of messengers from your church to the SBC and Louisiana Baptists annual meetings. The SBC and most state conventions and associations base the number of messengers to their annual meetings on Annual Church Profile information.

So what really is the Annual Church Profile? It is people.

It is people who have followed the Lord in baptism, people who are studying His Word, singing His praises, working in missions, and growing as His disciples. It is people serving in leadership. It’s all the above done in service to Him.