RICHMOND — Each year through the Annual Church Profile (ACP) process, Virginia Baptist churches submit important data, including information about church leadership, membership, finances, baptisms, Sunday school, discipleship, missions and Vacation Bible School.
The ACP is a statistical testimony to the work that God is doing in and through your church.
ACP data helps local churches and the Virginia Baptist Mission Board to identify trends, set priorities and allocate resources.
For example, churches can use ACP data from various years to monitor trends in membership, attendance and baptisms and to illustrate areas of growth or decline.
ACP information can also be an important part of the staff search process, as it gives potential staff members insight into the ministries of the church to which they are applying and provides search committees with information about a candidate’s current church.
The ACP helps the VBMB to prioritize needs for evangelism and church planting, to identify churches with strengths in particular areas of ministry and to analyze statistical relationships within the data reported by various churches.
In order for ACP data to be relevant and useful, broad participation is needed. For this reason, all Virginia Baptist churches are encouraged to complete the ACP.
Churches can enter their ACP data online at www.vbmb. org/ACP. Click on the “Entering ACPs Online” link in the right-hand column and follow the instructions given there. You will need the church user ID and password located on the first page of the ACP packet that was mailed to your church in August.
The deadline for submitting ACP data for 2009 is Nov. 15.
For assistance, or if you do not have your church user ID and password, contact Janet Bess at 1-800-255-2428, ext. 6278, or janet.bess@vbmb.org.