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Time for a New Beginning
http://www.adventistreview.org/issue.ph … 503&page=6
Within the worldwide family of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, January marks the beginning of 2009, the Year of Evangelism. In North America hundreds of pastors, administrators, and ministry specialists are gathering in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, January 18-21 for training and preparation for the program’s spring launch.
Through this initiative the North American Division hopes to increase its membership by 10 percent, or 100,000 members. Toward this end pastors are being challenged to hold two evangelistic meetings this year, and several local and union conferences are devoting significant financial resources for the initiative.
One thing that has interested me about church growth since I have attended a Presbyterian PCA church, they don't hold evangelistic series, but preachs the Gospel pretty clear and have a door to door ministry called Evangelism Explosion, bringing the Gospel to the neighborhood.
SDAs are planning two evangelistic series in 2009 to increase the NAD membership by 2009.
Question, if the preaching was Gospel centered, would evangelistic series be needed? Afterall, SDA Evangelists take it back to the core salvific issues for the most part, they just tack on the Sabbath. Why aren't more church members attracted by the regular church sermons??
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Has the church ever given statistics five years later, of the success of these evangelistic campaigns vs. the cost per new member added? All the while, members are exiting out the back door.
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From the latest Ministry magazine (Feb. 2009):
"In North American alone, nearly 300,000 members officially have been removed (and not because of death) from our membership in the past 20 years. That total equals 40 percent of our total membership at the beginning of these two decades--a tragedy of greatest proportions, especially when we have not maintained even basic information like a mail or telephone contact. This equals a total loss similar to that of the ten largest conferences in the division simply disappearing.
"These numbers, tragic as they are, reveal only part of the story. Also, thousands of individuals are still on the membership rolls who never worship with other believers--only about 50 percent of all members actually attend weekly worship services."
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Any business would soon begin to deteriorate if it continued trying to get new customers while, at the same time, it ignored the former customers who had left.
Why does the church continue to ask its members to contribute toward adding new members when it has ignored those that have left? How many here who are former members have been contacted? Does the church know WHY and do the really care? Wouldn't that be a logical place to start if they wanted to improve their stats?
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I have the impression, as with the PCA, that the SDA church has no plan to change itss official doctrines, whether they talk to former members or not. In fact, the creed or confession they hang onto at the PCA was written in 1650 ce.
If you had the truth all along, I think the SDA and or PCA feel that changing a position would send the message that they had been wrong rather than they were maturing in Christ.
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Why does the church continue to ask its members to contribute toward adding new members when it has ignored those that have left? How many here who are former members have been contacted? Does the church know WHY and do the really care? Wouldn't that be a logical place to start if they wanted to improve their stats?
The old members who have left know the ins and outs of the church and its message; and, there must have been a reason why they left. No one wants to tackle that reason. It's better to present the same song and dance to new people in hopes that some percent will stay put.
My husband and I haven't been to our local SDA church for at least three years. Some times I go over there if there's some reason as lately, one of my former students graduated from college and is off to Russia for a year. No one called me to tell me about the bon voyage the church was giving her. but I heard it from another former student, and so I went - got there when it was almost over - and felt like I had three eyes and four ears and possibly other malformaties. Only one couple has come to see us, twice in three years - a couple we hung around with on a fairly regular basis. I, personally, know four church fulls of members since I was teaching in the local academy and was the principal there for the last three years of my stint.
I had gone to some SS afternoon meetings a few times but felt my questions and comments were upsetting some of the old timers and I thought I'd better not go back, as one guy wondered if he'd been keeping the Sabbath for nothing all these years, as righteousness by faith was brought up. At that point I told the spanking-new pastor why I couldn't go back and he nodded and that's the last I saw of him.
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Getting new members while kicking old ones to the curb has resonance with sexual addiction, it seems to me.
Always busy & excited about new conquests.
No energy for used-up ones.
Addictive.
Get it?
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Maggie, that happens on famale and male side of the equation, doesn't it. Similar to giving in to latent homosexual feelings.
True love is caring about how someone turns out. At least that is a definition I've heard. Goes past the sex part to something deeper. Both partners of a marriage have to work at it to keep it exciting and if one partner feels the other should be THERE for obligitory reasons, one party may find out that they aren't willing to play that obligatory role, in a happy free existence. Guess that can apply to marriage directly and church membership more indirectly or metaphorically, eh?
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There's no question that SDA's don't follow up with members who quit attending, or request that their names be taken off the books. The usual thought process for the later is, "Well, they knew the truth", or "They've been decieved", etc. No one bothers to talk to said deceived former church members. There are a few exceptions, of course, but very few. We've not attended our little group for about 5 years...not a single call. But typical SDA mode of operation.
Bob, we attend a church we really like when we are visiting this particular town, and they do not do evangelistic meetings. The pastor preaches from the Bible each week in an indepth manner. I'm always bummed when the service is over. It's like drinking water, when you have been parched for so many years. This church has baptisms regularly...and imagine this is mostly adults!!!! I would say that for the 25+yrs in the SDA church, I probably saw 10-15 adults baptized. Wonder if they are still there. Really sad. But really, now that I think about it, not sad at all. It's a good think that not to many people have joined the Adventist church. This not a slam at anyone personally, just the really wretched doctrines.
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I believe that the lack of followup is because the minister could get in trouble if they agree with your point of dissent or problem with another SDA church in the area.
I attended a 10,000 member Baptist church while I was temproarialy working in the Memphis area. WOW, every weekend, the classic choir and classical service immediately followed by the choir director coming out casually for the second service as the lead guitarist, with really good talent backing him up and the pastor dressed down, not too much but to like a Hawaiian print shirt, and preaching casually. I saw baptisms just about every week, one of them from their own exercise ministry. The baptisms weren't just baptisms, but they had to on video, express what Jesus meant to them.
I still am WOWed by the experience.
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