The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) is in optimistic mood.
According to the results of a survey conducted among its 470 churches, nearly nine out of ten of them are expecting growth in their membership over the next five years.
This confidence is not far-fetched. It is an extension of the experience of the past five years, during which twice as many FIEC churches have grown than have declined. Even a third of churches which had declined in the last five years believe that there will be a turn-around and that they will grow in the next five years.