World Church: Church Leaders Healing Relationships at the Heart of Retention, Reclamation

April 11, 2007 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States …. [Taashi Rowe/ANN]

Acceptance is at the heart of retaining and reclaiming members in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, church leaders agreed when they voted on a document called “Conserving Membership Gains-An Appeal.” The document was born out of earlier reports at the church's Council on Evangelism and Witness (CEW) [see ANN article 'World Church: Keep 'Counting Your Sheep,' Church Leaders Say”] that stated that 28 percent of those who leave the Adventist church do not disagree with the church's teachings but felt an “absence of belonging and [a] lack of meaningful engagement in the local congregation and its mission.”

The document, which will be circulated throughout the world church, brought attention to the fact that out of the 5 million people baptized into the church between 2000 and 2005, 1.4 million left.

In order to stop the flow of members out of the church, the document states that, “members and leaders everywhere are asked to give renewed emphasis to the matter of membership reclamation and retention. This involves understanding the reasons for membership loss in each local church and focusing on how to develop the capacity of the church to attract, reclaim, retain, and engage its members in the mission of the church.”

The document also outlined some basic actions that– along with annual planning and budgeting for evangelism– church boards should implement. They include: assessing membership retention; providing repeated instructions of basic Bible teachings for all newly-baptized members; and ensuring that new members are integrated into the life of the church. This is accomplished as they form friendships, fellowship in small groups and, and actively participate in witnessing. The document also urged churches to train members in how to reconnect with those who have discontinued church fellowship.

One area in the document caught the attention of several attendees: “Careful attention is needed to facilitate the healing of relationships and the realization, between persons, of the reconciliation that flows from the forgiveness and acceptance received through Jesus Christ.”

Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist world church said, it is crucial that church members reconnect with friends and family that have left the church. “It's not that they need to be taught our doctrines –because they already know. They need to be brought back into a safe walk with Jesus. This is a very sacred part of ministry and we must make sure this document finds its way through all parts of our church. The church has to be a healing community.”

“We cannot ignore those who have left the church. We have to reach out to those who are hurting and bring them back into the ministry of the church,” agreed Laurie Evans, president of the church's South Pacific region.” “Forgiveness is important and we must be humble enough to recognize that we haven't always done things the right way.”

The appeal also proposed tying in plans to stem retention while making plans for evangelism.

“I wish the answer was as simple as voting on this document,” said Pastor Lowell Cooper, a vice president for the Adventist world church and CEW chair. It's going to take more than “one meeting of church leaders about this to improve retention. We invite you to consider making this part of deliberate planning for evangelism. It makes sense that, since we grow through evangelism efforts, we can through evangelism raise awareness and sensitivity to the issue of retention.”

Peter Prime, an associate secretary for evangelism and church planting for the church's Ministerial Association, noted that the answer to strong retention and reclamation was included in the document. He pointed to the Bible text 1 Peter 4: 8 to 10 where the apostle Peter urges “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another, without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in various forms.”

“We have to love one another–not superficially, not casually,” Prime said. “The key to building relationships is acceptance. The problem is us. How far are we willing to fulfill the goal of oneness and unity?”

“The greatest discovery is that somebody loves you,” said Pastor Paulsen, president of the Adventist world church. “Care and love for people in a genuine way– that is going to assist us in ministry more than anything else.”

Dick Osborn, president of the church's Pacific Union College in California, comment on what he referred to as “the real problem” of young adults leaving the church primarily because following college they have no real church home.

“We do lots for children and those in high school but what about young adults?” he asked. Osborn pointed to a program called “'Beyond Walla Walla' where new graduates [from Walla Walla College] are integrated into local congregations … the most important thing to them is not knowing doctrines but making new friends in the church.”

While it may be difficult to reach out and chat with people you are not familiar with, Dr. Allan Handysides, director of the world church's Health Ministries department, said reaching out is an outgrowth of a relationship with Christ.

“The power–the gasoline–that drives the engine of the church is the relationship with Christ,” he said. “How can you make people love Jesus? By example, by a revival in the hearts and minds of every individual and leader.”

Related Sites
Conserving Membership Gains – an Appeal