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or 10 years, David Lintvedt wouldn’t go near a church unless he “absolutely” had to for a funeral, baptism or wedding.
His hiatus from church began after he was confirmed in 1978. Prior to that, the lifelong Lutheran was “forced to go,” he said. “I felt like it was an obligation. I found the services to be very boring and dry. The sermons were long—I really didn’t want to hear what the pastor had to say.”
And while Lintvedt found free- dom to do what he wanted on Sun- day mornings, he felt emptiness in his life. He eventually turned to drinking and drugs. “There was a reason why I drank so much,” he said. “I was seeking something— something greater than myself. But I didn’t think I would find it at church.” A turning point occurred in the
late 1980s when Lintvedt attended a family baptism at Trinity Lutheran Church, Staten Island, N.Y.—at a time when he also had been trying to control his drinking. There he heard a sermon by Thomas F. Mugavero, now a retired ELCA pastor. “His preaching really got to me,”
Lintvedt said. “It struck me—he talked about how God loves us no matter what. That God has an open arm and welcomes all of us back. How God remains with us, even if we don’t always realize it … how Christ walks beside us wherever we go.”
In addition, members made a spe-
cial effort to warmly greet Lintvedt and invite him back. “I felt like I was at home,” he said.
Lintvedt eventually did return
to Trinity. Soon after joining, he became an usher and lector. Eventu- ally he became involved in the coun- cil and volunteered for the congrega- tion’s soup kitchen ministry. “The fact that people volunteered me for things right away kept me involved,” Lintvedt added. “They
22 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
made me feel like I was being invested in the life of the church.” (For more on Lintvedt, see “Turning full circle” at
www.thelutheran. org/feature/april.)
Inactives—a closer look Definitions of inactive members vary, with descriptions including “on the edge,” “on the fringe,” “lapsed,” “disengaged,” “disenfranchised,” said Richard N. Stewart, an associ- ate professor of communication and parish administration at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. However, he said one consistent definition is “those who have not participated in worship or given an offering in more than one year.” While ELCA Research and Eval-
uation has not conducted a formal study on inactive church members, some statistics can paint a picture: • Some 34 percent of Protestant mainline church members attend religious services at least once a week, according to a 2007 Pew Research Center study. That same year, 28.9 percent of ELCA church members attended worship once a week, according to Research and Evaluation. • Weekly worship in the ELCA has declined over the years. In 2003, an average 30.1 percent of members attended worship weekly; in 2010, 27.8 percent did, reported Research and Evaluation. • A typical congregation with 300
members likely has a worship atten- dance of 100 to 150. Of that group, only one-third may engage in con- gregational activities or leadership roles, said Scott Thumma, co-author of The Other 80 Percent: Turning Your Church Spectators into Active Participants. Thumma is a Hartford [Conn.] Seminary professor and researcher for the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
Why they leave Experiencing a life crisis, such as divorce, grief, job loss, or a major injury or illness, can lead to inactiv- ity, said Kenneth C. Haugk, founder and executive director of Stephen Ministries, which trains laypeople to provide care to hurting people. “Crises are often exhausting— physically, emotionally and spiritu- ally—so people have less energy to do a lot of things in life, including coming to church,” Haugk said. “And if the church doesn’t provide them with adequate care during a crisis, they can get angry and pull away.”
Other reasons why people leave, church leaders said, include dis- agreements in the congregation, lack of time and conflict with work schedules. “[Even] sheer lethargy and apa-
thy,” said John Vaswig, pastor of Mountain View Lutheran Church, Edgewood, Wash. “I see inactivity because someone attended a funeral and can’t stand to go back because it’s too painful. Or someone is angry with a clergyperson, the youth pro- gram isn’t responsive to their needs, worship isn’t titillating enough [or] a couple has gone through a divorce and who gets the church?” In addition, congregations com-
pete for the time and energy of indi- viduals who have a wide array of secular options, said Kevin Dough- terty, associate professor of sociol-
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