The blue line on the following chart indicates the relationship between levels of NCD health and the proportion of children in a congregation. While the aim of Corps growth is clearly not to replace adults with children, the natural ageing process does need to be counteracted by the incoming of more youth. This chart clearly indicates that there is a natural renewing that comes with higher levels of church health. However, this renewing effect goes much further. The red line indicates the growth rate of churches at each level of health. Therefore, it is not just that healthier churches see a shift in the proportion of children, but that the number of those children (and adults) is also growing considerably more at higher levels of health.
Quite apart from these numerical growth dynamics relating to children, it is clear that having children coming into a healthier church environment where they can: be empowered for leadership; be developed in their gifts; have their love for Jesus ignited; be given help to organise and shape their lives; offer worship with others; speak about their personal growth challenges; learn how to express the Gospel by meeting others needs; and learn to embrace others in love, will help make them better citizens of the Kingdom of God and the world as well as better marriage partners and parents. These points would seem important enough on their own.
NOTE: This is NOT a global or Salvation Army specific sample but is taken from Australia where the Salvation Army's involvement in NCD has been far above its relative size as a movement. As additional data becomes available, we will move toward providing a Salvation Army specific global picture of this relationship between church health and child attendance.