Surprising Insights #6 - Closing the Back Door

Well, that’s what I would have titled Chapter 5, instead of ‘Why They Returned and Stayed’.  Rainer opens the chapter with the burning issue a senior minister of a large and expanding church was wrestling with: low retention rates among newcomers.  The study of 353 formerly unchurched persons produced 6 key factors for retaining newcomers and encouraging return visits among guests:


1. Doctrine clarified

There is a desperately intriguing sentence in this section: ‘In a culture that prides itself on religious pluralism, we found that perhaps millions of Americans are on a quest for objective truth’.  I’m not so sure about the average Australian’s confidence that there is such a thing to be found - but I’d be very happy to be corrected!


2. High expectations

‘People have no desire to be a part of something that makes no difference, that expects little.  And, frankly, many churches have dumbed down church membership to the point that is has no meaning at all.’  Rainer combines results from an earlier survey of 2000 churches and concludes emphatically that churches with high and clear expectations of members to commit to living and ministering in a way consistent with New Testament teachings are better at evangelism and retaining guests (as members).


3. An “entry point” class

By this Rainer means a class or session for new members or potential new members in which the culture and identity of the church, and the expectations of members, are communicated and clarified.  This is typically done by the senior minister.   Further there was a positive correlation between the rate of retention of new members, and the requirement of attending such a class.  The more ‘optional’ the classes were, the lower the rate of retention.  

4. Small groups or Sunday School 

Forming meaningful relationships is the critical factor in retaining new members.  And involvement in a small group or a ministry area are the two most effective contexts in which those relationships form.  The study found an overwhelming correlation between membership of a small group or a Sunday School class and forming a long-lasting commitment to the local church.  

For some new converts, a Sunday School option was preferable, as it kept church involvement to a Sunday and decreased potential resentment from non-church going family members - a factor that I’d not considered more seriously before.  

‘Busyness’ is a common catch-cry these days, but this observation is not dissimilar to the narrative argument in Tim Chester and Steve Timms, Total Church - relationships matter, and relationships and community-building take time and energy and a degree of prioritisation over other competing demands.


5. Clarity of purpose

More than 90% of laity in evangelistic churches can name 4 out of 5 of their church’s purpose statements.  The figure for non-evangelistic churches is 17.7%.  Full-stop!


6. Ministry involvement

When asked what kept them ‘active in church’, 62% of the study’s respondents mentioned some form of ministry involvement.  55% mentioned the Sunday School - what we would call the Bible study small group.  But it was ministry involvement that generated enthusiastic, ‘eyes lighting up’ responses.  

So in summary, the formerly unchurched want to be in a church that makes a difference, that has clear direction and vision.  And they want to be in small groups, and serve in ministry - and they want to do this in a church that sets a high bar on what it means to be a Christian and church member today.