Assimilating and Retaining New Members in the Church

1. Assimilating and Retaining New Members in the Church

2. Conversion Phase Discipleship Phase Two Phases

3. The Conversion Process

4. Now What? The Discipleship Process Continues . . .

5. New Convert . . .

6. What it is and How it Works Discipleship

7. Discipleship • The concept of discipleship means that the process of church membership involves the entire experience of the member. • The discipleship process does not stop at the moment of baptism, as is all too often the case. • Local churches and districts need to develop ways and means of including full discipleship processes into their regular church life program. • This process is called by various names: “body life,” “Christian living,” “responsible church membership,” etc.

8. The Importance of Discipleship • Discipleship is a word that describes a “churched” convert. • “Churched” means a Christian who is actively involved in the life of a local congregation by attendance, financial support, and participation in ministry, and who is growing spiritually. • The ultimate goal of any retention program is the on-going development of discipleshipin the life of the church member.

9. The Framework for Discipleship • 2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” • 2 Timothy 3:16, 17. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

10. The Framework for Discipleship

11. Discipleship and the Great Commission • Matt. 28:16-20 • Mark 16:14-20 • Luke 24:44-49 • John 20:19-23

12. Discipleship and the Great Commission - Matthew • Matthew 28: 16-20 indicates the teaching aspects of the Great Commission using the formula: Go-Make Disciples-Teach them. The original language of the New Testament indicates that this is a circular process. • Confirming new converts in the faith must include a Christian education program in the local church where they can learn “all that Jesus taught.”

13. Go Teach them All one process Make Disciples

14. Discipleship and the Great Commission- Mark • Mark 16: 14-20indicates that as the Great Commission is put into practice, miraculous things happen. So new converts can expect to see in-depth changes in their lives as a result. Church membership should produce dynamic changes in lifestyle, attitude, understanding and commitment to the cause of the Lord.

15. Discipleship and the Great Commission- Mark • The Great Commission in Mark also forms the basis for a regular revival system in the church, involving forgiveness, rehabilitation, and recommissioning of all church members.

16. Discipleship and the Great Commission- Luke • Luke 24: 44-49 indicates the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in the discipleship process and the dedication of the new member to service to humanity.

17. Discipleship and the Great Commission- John • John 20:19-23. The evangelistic “sending.” All disciples are called to share their faith and pass the gospel on to others. This “sending” involves modeling in our personal lives the various elements of discipleship.

18. Discipleship, New Members and Your Church’s Personality

19. New Members and Your Church’s Personality The personality of your congregation marks your new members for better or for worse!

20. Is Your Church Here?

21. What Are the Biblical Signs of a Church Personality? • Allelon {al-lay'-lone}: one another, reciprocally, mutually

22. Allelon: The "One Another“ Commands • Inter-Relationships • Mutual Edification • Mutual Service • Negative “One Another's”

23. Love one another Receive one another Greet one another Have the same care for one another Submit to one another Forebear one another Confess your sins to one another Forgive one another Inter-Relationships

24. Mutual Edification • Build up one another • Teach one another • Exhort one another • Admonish one another • Speak to one another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs

25. Mutual Service • Be servants to one another • Bear one another's burdens • Use hospitality to one another • Be kind to one another • Pray for one another

26. Negative “One Another's” • Do not judge one another • Do not speak evil of one another • Do not murmur against one another • Do not devour one another • Do not provoke one another • Do not envy one another • Do not lie to one another

27. Basic Elements of a Discipleship System • Definitions • How to measure discipleship? • Why do people drop out? • What do new members not understand? • What do new converts not know? • What happens when a person visits the church for the first time? • What do new converts need to know?

28. Definitions • Evangelism: “To evangelize is so to present Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, that men and women shall come to put their trust in God through Him, to accept Him as their Savior, and serve Him as their Lord in the fellowship of His Church.”

29. Definitions • Unchurched. An individual who does not participate in the spiritual life of any congregation except possibly by rare attendance at events such as weddings, funerals, etc.

30. Definitions • Accession: To add a member to the membership rolls of the Seventh­-day Adventist church by baptism, profession of faith, or transfer. • New member: A recently accessioned member who is within the first months of church fellowship.

31. Definitions • Baptism: The event which marks the new believers entrance into the church and the local congregation

32. Definitions • Profession of faith: Aterm that describes how a person may enter membership other than by baptism. • Since Adventists affirm baptism by immersion, this term is reserved for those who have been baptized by immersion in another denomination and now choose to join the Adventist church by professing their faith, thus indicating they have accepted the Adventist beliefs and lifestyle.

33. Definitions • Transfer: A new member to a local congregation whose membership has come from another local church.

34. Definitions • Assimilate:Toincorporate new believers and/or newly transferred members into the life of the congregation • Assimilation process: This phrase includes the whole process by which an individual moves through the various phases of the Engel Scale.

35. Definitions • Churched: A Christian who is actively involved in the life of a local congregation by attendance, financial support, and participation in ministry.

36. Definitions • Active membership:Members who attend church services regularly and reflect a lifestyle consistent with church beliefs and standards. • An individual moves through the various phases of the Engel Scale.

37. Definitions • Inactive: An individual who once was churched but who has voluntarily chosen, for whatever reason, to cease participation in congregational activities. • Dropout: Interchangeable with inactive. The term usually connotes that the individual has made a conscious choice to leave, and the congregation has given up hope of reclaiming the individual to active membership.

38. Definitions • Casually churched: An individual who claims to be a Christian and may even hold membership in a local congregation, but whose attendance is limited to special occasions or unique events, and whose participation or financial support is minimal to nonexistent.

39. Definitions • Apostasy:Abandonment of Christian doctrines or lifestyle. • Apostasy rate: The percentage of apostasies as compared to baptisms.

40. Definitions • Disfellowship: The removal of a member from church membership for disciplinary reasons. • The Church Manual now uses the term “remove from membership.”

41. Page 41 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 Engel Scale God’s Role Our Role People’s Response Reveal Proclaim -8 Awareness/little knowledge Conviction First awareness More understanding Grasp implications Persuasion Positive attitude to gospel Growth in knowledge Decide to act Repentance & faith

42. Page 41 Engel Scale God’s Role Our Role People’s Response Regeneration New Creature Sanctification +1 Evaluation Follow Up +2 Incorporation +3 Growth in knowledge & behavior Cultivation +4 Communion with God +5 Stewardship, witnessing

43. Why do People Drop Out? • Call of the world • Lack of fellowship • Personality clashes • Force of habit and lifestyle issues

44. Problem 1- The call of the world • Friends, relatives, former lifestyle habits, examples of inconsistency in church members. • Sabbath problems at work.

45. Problem 2- Lack of Fellowship

46. Problem 3- Personality clashes with people in the church

47. Problem 3- Personality clashes with people in the church • “Old guard” “gatekeeper” traditionalists who do not really want new members in the church because it disturbs the power structure.

48. Problem 3- Personality clashes with people in the church • Church members who “lock out” new members and don’t even know they are doing it. • They unconsciously want to “protect” their “church home” from “outside” influences, and they see this as a perfectly legitimate attitude in line with Christian “standards.

49. Problem 3- Personality clashes with people in the church • Intolerant church members who insist that new members must immediately meet their personal standards.

50. Problem 3- Personality clashes with people in the church • Impatience of church members with new member’s unfamiliarity with Adventist church practices.