United Methodist Clergywomen Senior Pastors Milestones and Records (Largest UMC membership, worship attendance, profession of faith, women led churches

United Methodist Clergywomen Milestones & Records

Largest Current Church Membership
In 2007, Rev. Barbara Galloway-Edgar was appointed to Coker United Methodist Church (San Antonio, Texas). The church reported 2931 members at the end of 2007. (Note: Rev. Galloway-Edgar is currently on medical leave, but she expects to return to Coker UMC.)

Largest Current Annual Worship Attendance.
In mid-2007, Rev. Barbara Galloway-Edgar began serving at Coker United Methodist Church (San Antonio, Texas). In 2007, the church had an average annual worship attendance of 1049 persons.

Largest Church Membership
In 2004, St. Peters United Methodist Church (Katy, Texas) under the leadership of Rev. Gail Ford Smith had church membership of 4336 persons.

Largest Annual Worship Attendance.
In 2000, average annual worship attendance was 1281 persons at St. Peters United Methodist Church (Katy, Texas) under the leadership of Rev. Gail Ford Smith.

Largest Number of Persons Joining a Church by Profession of Faith in a Single Year
In 1999, St. Peters United Methodist Church (Katy, Texas) led by Rev. Gail Ford Smith had 117 persons join by profession of faith.

Largest Profession of Faith/Worship Attendance Index Value for a Single Year
In 2002, Suncreek United Methodist Church under the leadership of Rev. Kathleen Baskin Ball had a Profession of Faith/Worship Attendance Index value of 17.73. (Worship attendance: 440, Profession of Faith: 78) This index denotes how many persons joined by profession of faith for every 100 persons in worship each week. This index value is the highest value ever recorded for a clergywoman serving a large United Methodist Church. While serving Greenland Hills UMC in 1997, she had a Profession of Faith/Worship Attendance Index value of 17.53.

Largest Growth in Membership in a Single Year
In 1999, St. Peters United Methodist Church (Katy, Texas) under the leadership of Rev. Gail Ford Smith had church membership growth of 256 persons.

Largest Average Annual Worship Attendance Increase in a Single Year
In 2000, average annual worship attendance increased by 94 persons at St. Peters United Methodist Church (Katy, Texas) under the leadership of Rev. Gail Ford Smith.

Highest Growth in Membership at a Church during a Sr. Pastor's Tenure

Rev. Kathleen Baskin Ball served at Suncreek UMC from June 2001 to November 2008. The church has grew from 469 members in June of 2001 to 1603 members in November 2008. This is a gain of 1134 persons. Rev. Gail Ford Smith had a gain of about 929 persons from 1997 to 2005 at St. Peters UMC (Katy, Texas).

Highest Growth in Worship Attendance at a Church during a Sr. Pastor's Tenure
Rev. Kathleen Baskin Ball began serving at Suncreek UMC in June 2001. The church grew from average annual worship attendance of 350 persons in 2000 to 649 persons in 2007. This is a gain of 299 persons. During Rev. Linda Harker's leadership of Faith UMC (Tulsa, Oklahoma), the church had a gain in worship attendance from 1997 (352) to 2005 (628) of 276 persons.

Highest Total Number of Persons Joining by Profession of Faith at a Church During a Sr. Pastor's Tenure
Rev. Gail Ford Smith led St. Peters United Methodist Church (Katy, Texas) from 1997 to 2005. During her tenure at this church, about 756 persons joined by profession of faith.

Highest Mean PF-WA Index at a Large Church During a Sr. Pastor's Tenure
Rev. Kathleen Baskin Ball at Suncreek UMC with a mean value from 2002 to 2007 of 13.74. This represents about 14 persons joining by profession of faith each year for every 100 persons in worship each week.

Highest Career Record of Growth in Membership
From mid-1989 to November 2008, Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball had a total cumulative membership gain of 1534 persons for her three appointments as Sr. Pastor (Nueva Esparanza UMC – 130, Greenland Hills UMC – 270 and Suncreek UMC – 1134).

Highest Career Record of Growth in Worship Attendance
Through 2007, Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball had a total cumulative average annual worship attendance gain of 548 persons for her three appointments as Sr. Pastor (Nueva Esparanza UMC – 81, Greenland Hills UMC – 168 and Suncreek UMC – 299).

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Note: Co-pastors of churches (typically husband and wife teams) are not included in this information.