ogy at Baylor University, Waco, Texas.
“People have a choice to spend
their Sunday mornings sleeping in and spending time with family in a quiet leisurely way,” he said. “[It] can become a real source of tension for people. They work all week. When is their chance to relax? Sun- day is one of those few days.” (See
www.thelutheran.org/feature/ april for a related story, “Meaning + belonging = participation.”) Members also may disap-
pear after going off a committee, Thumma said. “Once they stop serv- ing, a disconnection happens,” he added. “Often after their obligation ends they don’t transition into an equally enjoyable passion.” Thumma said another disconnect happens with youth. “Congregations are very good about celebrating the event (confirmation),” he said. “But they don’t create bridges to new levels of engagement in the life of the congregation. After some- one gets con-
firmed, we stop with their faith development—they have achieved it.”
And once members stop attend- ing church, leaders have a large task in trying to re-engage them, Vaswig said.
“It is extremely difficult to reactivate a person once they have become inactive,” he said. “It is much easier to evangelize to the un-baptized. There tends to be a his- tory and a reason for why the person left. Sometimes there is some shame associated with being gone for a long time, and they can’t get them- selves to come back because they are embarrassed. “That is why it is so important
to create a hospitable environment as much as possible, so they feel welcome, irrespective of where they have been or where they have come from.”
Keeping members in the fold
According to the Faith Communities Today
(FACT) 2008 survey of congregations, integrating new members into the life of the congregation is a key factor in keeping them in the fold for the long term.
Some of the top ways congregations help new members plug in, accord- ing to FACT, include inviting them to experi- ence worship, attend fellowship activities, participate in com- munity service, and serve on congrega- tional boards and committees. “[Working] hard to assimi- late new mem-
bers into congregational life at the ‘front door’ through relationships and meaningful involvement will likely mean fewer members leaving out the ‘back door,’ ” said Duane Pederson, bishop of the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin. The most influential variable
between the most involved and the least involved is spiritual engage- ment—feeling spiritually satis- fied and feeling spiritual growth, Thumma said. In addition, congregations that report high levels of spiritual vital- ity are seven times more likely to have most or almost all of their adult participants involved in activities outside of worship that strengthen their faith, as compared to congrega- tions that report low spiritual vital- ity, the (FACT) 2008 survey found. Those activities can include spiri- tual retreats, community service, parenting or marriage enrichment, performing arts groups and sports teams.
Congregational leaders play
a vital role in keeping members spiritually engaged, Thumma said. “We don’t want to make pastors feel guilty, but we do in a way because involvement is so rooted in develop-
‘His preaching really got to me. 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.’ David Lintvedt (illustration at left)
April 2012 23
MICHAEL D. WATSON
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