Alan Hirsch writes (September 2004):

Consider this….

In researching for a new book on missional DNA I discovered remarkable, even stunning, observations by some very keen watchers of world mission trends; Dr. David B Barrett, Professor for Missionmetrics at Regent University, Virginia Beach, and publisher of the World Christian Encyclopedia, and Todd M Johnson, Director of the World Evangelization Research Center in Richmond USA. In their their annual report of Christian statistics for 2001 they claim that across the world there are 111 million Christians without a local church. Barrett particularly notes that the rise of what he calls “the neo-apostolics” is particularly marked, now numbering over 20,000 movements and networks with a total of 394 million church members. According to him they: a.. reject historical denominationalism and restrictive overbearing central authority b.. seek a life focused on Jesus (they definitely see themselves as Christians)

c.. seek more effective missionary lifestyle d.. are one of the fastest growing church movements in the world, And in Barrett’s estimation, will have 581 million members in 2025 – 120 million more than all Protestant movements together!! Everything in my own direct and anecdotal experience tells me that this is true. Source: (GEM-WERC). Their fuller findings are available at http://gem-werc.org/ or follow the link at http://www.jesus.org.uk/dawn/2001/dawn07.html