The emphasis is on numerical growth to the exclusion of growth in maturity. There is a medical term for this sort of growth: cancer. Fourthly, we need to consider the content of conversion. Certain types of evangelistic effort are notorious for producing multitudes of ‘converts’ who are never seen again. One inner-city church was recently called upon to nurture over fifty ‘converts’ from Mission London. Only one of them appears to be continuing as a Christian. We would all agree that this is not