I know I probably shouldn’t be saying this,” confessed a loyal church member who joined his congregation back in 1968, “but I can’t get very upset over the fact that our congregation is growing smaller.
“I remember all too clearly how it was eight or ten years ago when we were receiving a flock of new members year after year. We had to go to two services every Sunday morning, and everything was rush, rush, rush. Now we’ve slowed the pace and gone back to just one service on Sunday, and that gives us a chance to get better acquainted with everyone.”
This candid member illustrates an important fact: Most longtime members find it more comfortable to attend a church plateaued in size, or one experiencing gradual numerical decline, than to participate in a fast-growing congregation. Why?
COMFORT ZONE
At least a half dozen reasons can explain the attitude of this longtime member.
1. Stability. The first, and for many members the most powerful, reason for this attitude is that the worshiping community can be a comforting and affirming stability zone. For people who find that every other facet of their life is complicated by unwanted change, it is good to find their congregation filled with stability and predictability.
Consider the number of adults who have had their marriage end in divorce, or have been disappointed with their adult children, or have lost their job after years of faithful service, or have been widowed, or have been forced to take early retirement, or have been compelled (by economic or life-cycle reasons) to change their residence or bid farewell to their closest friends.
Where can they find stability and predictability? For many, the most promising possibility is in their church.
2. Continuity. An overlapping, but more subtle, reason why many longtime members find numerical growth uncomfortable is summarized in the word continuity. In the church that is shrinking in size, there is much continuity in familiar faces, in traditions, customs, and events, in the denominational affiliation, in the music, in the organizational life, and in those trusted and long-tenured volunteer leaders and officers.
Rapid numerical growth, on the other hand, often brings with it a flood of strange faces. A strong future-orientation appears to ignore or trample on local customs. There may be remodeling or expanding or abandoning of that sacred place, an erosion of denominational ties (since many of the newcomers have no past relationship with that particular religious tradition), new and unfamiliar music, changes in the organizational life, and a new generation of strangers who move into policy-making positions.
In the rapidly growing congregation, the continuity often is in the minister and the paid staff, in new programming, and in specific goals, not in the people or the past or the place.
3. Giving cycles. For those responsible for paying the bills, a common pattern makes numerical decline more comfortable than growth. The typical pattern in rapidly growing congregations is a two-year lag between the membership or attendance curve and the income curve. Contributions usually match the financial needs of two years earlier. The reason is that many new members do not reach the giving level of the longtime members until about their third year.
In the numerically shrinking congregation, that lag disappears. Frequently the decline in dollar receipts lags about two years behind the decline in average worship attendance. Those longtime members may attend less frequently, but a combination of institutional loyalty, guilt, habit, and stewardship often means their financial contributions may increase rather than diminish.
4. Complexity. The fourth reason numerical decline often enhances the comfort level of longtime members may be the easiest to explain. Growth almost invariably is accompanied by an increase in the level of complexity. The vast majority of people prefer simplicity. Life in the numerically shrinking parish usually is less complex than in the rapidly growing congregation.
5. Neglect. Another common tag on numerical growth is that a substantial proportion of the pastor’s time and energy must be allocated to potential future members. Since the increase in staff frequently lags behind the increase in membership, this often causes longtime members to believe they are being neglected. Gradual numerical decline is one way to offset this perception of neglect.
6. Commitment. Numerical growth tends to be more common in congregations moving toward the high-commitment end of a spectrum. Frequently, numerically shrinking congregations are drifting toward the low-commitment or low-expectation end of that spectrum. A decrease in the level of expectations for members can raise the comfort level.
WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?
If many longtime members feel more comfortable with numerical decline than with rapid growth, how can that long-established congregation expect to reach new generations of people?
One response to that question is, “Do not expect growth.” Two-thirds to four-fifths of all congregations founded before 1960 either are on a plateau in size or are shrinking in numbers. The people are unwilling to make the changes required for growth.
A second response is to concentrate on planting new churches, if the goal is to reach larger numbers.
A third response is to focus on enlisting replacements for those who depart, rather than on numerical growth. Be satisfied with the goal of plateauing in size.
A reasonably comfortable, but not always available, alternative is to concentrate on potential members who come from the same generation as your longtime members. Much of the discomfort that accompanies rapid numerical growth in congregations founded more than three decades ago is a product of generational conflict over music, program priorities, real estate, worship, Sunday school, weekday programming, expenditures of money, and staffing.
A fifth response is to accept the fact that rapid numerical growth may motivate longtime members to drop into inactivity or seek a new church home. Their level of discomfort and discontent makes it easier for some to go to another church rather than to accept change.
COMFORTABLE GROWTH
Perhaps the most productive response to people’s discomfort is to accept it as a natural, normal, and predictable price tag on growing younger and larger. This will encourage the leaders to reduce that level of discomfort.
What does that mean? Usually this requires a more systematic and comprehensive approach to the pastoral care of the longtime members. Some of this can be accomplished through the group life. Part of it does require time-consuming, one-to-one relationships. Much of it can be accomplished by trained volunteer caregivers.
Equally important is an improvement in the quality and redundancy of the internal communication system. Here are some possible improvements:
* Change the schedule of the parish newsletter from monthly to weekly.
* Add inserts in the Sunday morning bulletin that describe in more detail the life and ministry of the parish.
* Schedule six to ten dinner meetings every year at which a videotape will depict all that has happened during the past several weeks. Make sure the veteran members are seated with new members at those dinners.
* Use a copy machine to reproduce pictures of this week’s new members for next Sunday’s bulletin.
* Organize and train a group of visitors who will call on all members. In the first visit, the caller usually concentrates on questions: “How are things going with you?” “What wishes do you have for our church?” “What changes would you like to see made?” “What questions do you have?” On the second visit, the caller responds to those questions and comments and elaborates on the goals and new ministries of the congregation.
In addition, it can help to create single-purpose task forces that include both new members and the veterans. Organize new events and opportunities to bring together both the old and new members. This not only will reduce the discomfort of the longtime members, but also will help the new members feel assimilated.
A common response is to design two different worship experiences for Sunday morning. One is designed around long-established local traditions, including liturgy, hymns, anthems, length, instrumental music, and preaching style. The other is designed to respond to the religious needs of an un-churched slice of the population.
Finally, every congregation has some kind of reward system that recognizes the contributions of volunteers. Make sure the reward system regularly recognizes the work, the prayers, the creativity, the contributions, the vision, the leadership, and the support of these longtime members.
For many people it is more comfortable to be part of a congregation that is gradually shrinking in size, but that does not have to be an insurmountable barrier to reaching new generations of people.
Copyright (c) 1995 Christianity Today, Inc./LEADERSHIP Journal
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Copyright © 1995 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
