The New York Ministerium has no column for “communicant” members.  There is a column for “contributing” members, but these do not necessarily mean communicants.  Among the records of Ministerial Acts, such as marriages and funerals, there is also a column for “Kommuniziert.”  But even if the Holy Communion were to be classed among Ministerial Acts, it sometimes happens that others besides members partake of the communion.  The term “Kommuniziert” therefore does not convey definite information on the subject of communicant membership.  For example, a congregation with 160 “contributing members” reports 770 “Kommuniziert.”  It is hardly conceivable that out of 770 communicant members only 160 are contributing members and that 610 communicants are non-contributors.  Otherwise there would seem to be room for improvement in another direction besides statistics.

The New York Ministerium also has no column for “souls,” that is, for all baptized persons, including children, connected with the congregation.  There are also many blanks, and many figures that look like “round numbers.”  For thirty years I have tried in vain to comprehend its statistics. Hinc illae lacrymae.

The Missouri Synod has three membership rubrics:  souls, communicant members, voting members.  When however, a congregation of 900 communicants reports only 80 voting members, one wonders whether some of the 820 non-voters ought not be admitted to the right of suffrage.  The congregational system favors democracy.  It should be remembered also that the laws of the State define the right to vote at a church election.

The Synod of New York has three membership rubrics:  Communicants, Confirmed, Baptized.  The first includes all members who actually commune within a year.  The second adds to the communicants all others who are entitled to commune even if they neglect the privilege.  The third adds to the preceding class baptized children and all other baptized persons in any way related to the congregation, provided they have not been formally excommunicated.

The Swedish Augustana Synod has three rubrics:  Communicants, Children, Total.  “Communicants” may or may not be enrolled members of the congregation.  This classification therefore is neither comprehensive nor exhaustive and may account in part, for the discrepancy between the number of Lutheran Swedes in New York and the number enrolled in the Swedish Lutheran Churches.

None of the synodical reports take note of “families.”  Pastors seldom speak of their membership in terms of families.  In the book of Jeremiah (31, 1) we are told:  “At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.”  The captions of the five parts of Luther’s Small Catechism proceed upon the assumption of the family as a unit.  It is true we are living in an age of disrupted families, but it would seem that some recognition of the family