There are at least 90,000 former Seventh-day Adventists living within reach of our churches in North America. To be exact, during the past sixteen years 94,848 people have been dropped from our churches in this division, as having either apostatized or been reported as missing. Granting that some of these are since deceased, there are surely many others still alive who were dropped from the church prior to 1936. This represents an appalling loss, but these former adherents of the faith are excellent prospects for re-entry into the fold if the church in general and the ministry in particular will manifest a loving interest and tender regard for them. A warm invitation to reunite with God's remnant church should be extended to them all.
The 1953 Spring Council session of the General Conference Committee gave careful study to this serious problem. The statistical secretary reported that during 1952 there were 16,589 people added to the church by baptism and profession of faith. This amounts to only 9.8 members for each ordained minister in North America. If other evangelistic workers who are not ordained were added to this total, the average number of souls won to the truth by each worker would be correspondingly reduced. During the same twelve-month period 2,925 members were lost to the church by death, 4,363 by apostasy, and 1,584 reported missing an amazing total of 8,872'names removed from our records in North America during 1952! This is more than half the number added to the church by baptism and on profession of faith, and explains why our pastors and evangelists must baptize at least 200 for every net gain of 100 members.
Surely these staggering losses year by year are not necessary. The Adventist ministry is certainly more efficient and more effective in saving men and women for the kingdom of heaven than these figures indicate. These 90,000 former Seventh-day Adventists should not be given up as lost. Ministers and church officers should accept the challenge of winning back to full fellowship these beloved souls who have temporarily wandered from the fold. Careful plans must be laid immediately and the full strength of the church marshaled to accomplish this objective.
If the church is to meet this challenge, one of its greatest needs is for preachers who will preach! All in the ministry should constantly keep before them the primary importance of centering the public worship on the preaching of the Sacred Word of God, guarding against encroachments on the time set aside for this purpose week by week. Preaching has a high and distinguished place in the Holy Scriptures and in all the magnificent history of the Christian church. The God-called, Spirit-ordained, consecrated preacher with a Scriptural message for the world and a burning zeal for lost men is God's man of the hour today. Preaching has done wonders from the day of Pentecost until now. If preachers will only recognize that their principal business is preaching, both public and personal, they will do wonders now, and continue to do wonders until the end of time.
Two main reasons for the high percentage of losses in the Adventist Church have been the use of the pulpit for purposes other than that to which it has been dedicated, and a failure on the part of the pastor and church officers to visit regularly and minister personally to the members of the church. It should be recognized that the worship services, including Sabbath morning, prayer meeting, and evangelistic services, should be occasions for Christ-centered, soulsaving preaching and teaching in all our churches. All who occupy the pulpit should keep this objective in view. When the essential campaigns and special days provided for by the denomination are conducted, care must be exercised so that they are presented on a spiritual basis, accompanied by the dignity that is expected of the ministry leading a people in wor ship before the Most High God. All the services of the church should be so spiritually inspiring and devotionally satisfying that worshipers and visitors will make a habit of attending regularly.
W. H. Griffith Thomas, in The Work of the Ministry, says that preaching has much to do with church attendance:
"The spiritual prosperity of any church is mainly determined by the preaching of its ministry, and we make bold to affirm our conviction that the spiritual condition of the church today is largely related to the neglect of preaching. When we ob serve the lack of interest in church attendance, and still more, the absence of spiritual power in church life, we do not think it is inaccurate to describe the situation as due to the neglected gift of preaching." Page 201.
Organizing the Church for Regular Visitation
The second feature deserving emphasis if we are to reclaim former members is the importance of organizing the church for regular visitation of the entire membership and other soul-winning activities. As ministers we seem gifted in organizing the church for campaigns, but when it comes to arranging a plan that will harness the church to all-out evangelism in complete cooperation with the pastor, this skill seems to have disappeared in some quarters. The counsel of the Lord on this subject is very definite: "If there is a large number in the church, let the members be formed into small companies, to work not only for the church members, but for unbelievers." Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 22. The ministers have been forced to spend too much time on the ordinary routine of the church that can easily be handled by the officers elected for that purpose. The member ship should be taught to recognize that the principal business of the pastor is to work for souls, preparing them for baptism and church membership. "The greatest help that can be given our people is to teach them to work for God, and to depend on Him, not on the ministers." Ibid., p. 19.
The Lord has outlined a plan for the organization of the church that will produce maxi mum efficiency in preventing losses and reclaiming former members. In the Old Testament, Moses was instructed through his father-in-law, Jethro, to delegate responsibility rather than to keep it all for himself.
"Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: ... so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace" (Ex. 18:21-23).
When this plan was put into effect it greatly increased the efficiency of Moses in his ministry to the people.
In the New Testament the architect of the church was none other than its Founder, Jesus Christ. In Matthew 10 and Mark 6 we read His commission to the twelve disciples and the definite assignment given to them in evangelistic responsibility. The messenger of the Lord in commenting on this has said, "It was at the ordination of the twelve that the first step was taken in the organization of the church that after Christ's departure was to carry on His work on the earth." Acts of the Apostles, p. 18. After this, seventy additional evangelistic workers were appointed, as is recorded in Luke 10. They were commissioned to go out "two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come." This type of evangelistic endeavor, visiting from house to house, has proved effective in finding prospects for the gospel and in following up existing interests in the truth.
After Pentecost seven deacons were appointed in the church (Acts 6), and later, elders were ordained in every congregation (Acts 14:23). It was only a natural thing, after these officers had been appointed, to arrange for meetings wherein the apostles and elders could discuss the spiritual welfare of the church (see Acts 15:6). Officers were to be chosen in every church, as is shown by the apostle Paul's letter to Titus: "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee" (Titus 1:5). And now today in the remnant church God has given additional counsel for the work of evangelism that is to include the cooperation of every church member with the pastor.
"In laboring where there are already some in the faith, the minister should at first seek not so much to convert unbelievers, as to train the church members for acceptable co-operation. Let him labor for them individually, endeavoring to arouse them to seek for a deeper experience themselves, and to work for others. When they are prepared-to sustain the minister by their prayers and labors, greater success will attend his efforts." Gospel Workers, p. 196.
It should be recognized that in every congregation the local elders, deacons, and other church officers share with the pastor the spiritual obligation of encouraging and sustaining in the church every member while also working diligently seeking to reclaim former members.
How Can It Be Done?
It is not enough in an article such as this merely to say what should be done in meeting the problem of reclaiming former members, but one should also say how it can be done. Briefly some suggestions are listed. (Some of these will be discussed in detail by J. Robert Spangler in this special section in next month's MINISTRY.)
1. The first step is the card indexing of the membership listed in the church clerk's book. The family status of each individual should be tabulated, with special notation made to indicate husbands or wives who are not church members, and the number of children in the family, with date of birth. When they reach the age of accountability it is the pastor's duty to prepare them for baptism. After the current church list is card indexed, go back ten or fifteen years through the clerk's record, listing every member dropped from the church for reasons other than death or transfer of church membership. Exhaust every source in obtaining current ad dresses, and arrange for immediate visitation of these former members.
2. Locate geographically on a large map each member and former member, indicating by different colored pins, or other methods, their location.
3. Divide the city or district into two, four, six, or eight regional areas, depending upon the number of local elders who may serve as captains for the various sections. Next, sub divide each regional area into two or three smaller districts within which fifteen to twentyfive members may be living. In larger cities postal zones may serve as ideal boundary lines of these districts. Place a deacon or other major church officer in charge of each district, under the leadership of the local elder, who is director of the regional area including two or three or more districts.
4. Provide for the visitation of every member in each district once each quarter. New members in the church less than two full years should be visited each month. All church officers living within each district should constitute part of the visitation committee operating under the district leader.
5. The district and regional leaders should meet each month with the pastor to give reports of visitation and discuss the spiritual welfare of the church.
Writing on the subject of shepherding the flock, Roy Allan Anderson has said: "In the New Testament there is scarcely a suggestion about turning people out of the church, but all the emphasis is on keeping them in; or, if some have strayed away, for regaining them and restoring the lost ones to the fold. . . . The church is the body of Christ. It is the object of His supreme regard. For it He laid down His life. And every individual member is precious to Him." The Shepherd-Evangelist, p. 585.
Visitation Suggestions
Most of the people dropped from the church during the past fifteen years know in their hearts that the Adventist Church is the true church. They did not drop out because they doubt the teaching of the church, but more often because their feelings have been hurt or they have been neglected and forgotten through nonattendance. In calling upon them the minister or church officer needs to assure the wandering one of how much he is still loved. This interest will soften his heart. Next, the visitor should be prepared to listen to a sad story revealing how little church leaders of the past cared for his soul. Here are a few suggestions that might be kept in mind for visitation in an effort to reclaim former church members:
1. Never appear impatient.—It is better to save a life than to save a minute. Jesus spent all night with men in counsel.
2. Be sympathetic.—Some have said, "You will never know how much you have helped me" and all the minister did was to listen to the troubles of this poor tempted soul!
3. Always be a good listener.—Listening is a great art. Don't interrupt after the troubled heart begins to unburden itself. Better just to mumble in sympathy than to interrupt before the story is finished.
4. Observe the individual carefully. The clue to the whole difficulty is often revealed by an act, a troubled gesture, or the manner of speech.
5. Never appear shocked, no matter what you hear. You end your usefulness to the individual the moment you appear shocked. Notice how Jesus dealt with the sinful woman in John 8.
6. Don't minimize the problem.—It seems big to the one who is telling it. Don't suggest that it doesn't exist. If it didn't, he wouldn't be talking about it.
7. Don't condemn misdeeds of yesterday.—Christ didn't, and you are His representative today.
8. Never break a confidence.—Nothing is more disheartening than a minister who can not keep confidences. Sometimes you may feel that important information must be shared with others, but don't do it unless you have received permission to do so from the one who told you.
9. Recognize always the dignity of human personality.—Never imply that there is no hope or solution to the problem. Jesus looked upon people not for what they were but for what they could become.
10. Pray with him.—Nothing heals a sin-sick heart so quickly as prayer. With his burden lifted and sins forgiven, now renew the invitation to worship with God's people. Make arrangements for transportation to the church where necessary. Then arrange a warm welcome back into the fold.
May every minister in the Adventist Church accept this challenge of reclaiming former members. These tragic losses must stop now. In your district, in your city, in your church, in your territory, these wandering ones must some how be sought out as lost sheep and tenderly, lovingly restored to the fold.
Feed the Flock of God
W. E. READ, General Conference Field Secretary
Many and varied are the duties and responsibilities resting upon the true shepherd of the flock in the church of the living God. One that is of vital import is that expressed by the apostle to the Gentiles:
"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch" (Acts 20:28-31).
This is important and urgent counsel, and should be heeded by every minister, every evangelist, every leader, and every elder in every church. Upon us rests a threefold responsibility: that of feeding the flock, of attending the flock, and of watching the flock. These were three vital duties of the Eastern shepherd's work in ancient days. The shepherd knew each individual sheep; it was his duty and pleasure to attend to their needs, to see that they were led into green pastures, and to safeguard them from the ravages of enemies on every hand. Let us meditate on this counsel of the apostle Paul.
Feeding the Flock
There is but one thing that constitutes spiritual food for spiritual man, and that is the Divine Word of God. This is food for the soul (Deut. 8:3). Spiritual nourishment from God's Word is to be prepared for the whole flock. It is to be prepared for the sheep (John 21:17); it is to be prepared also for the lambs of the flock (verse 15). Provision is to be made for all the aged, those in the prime of life, the youth among us, and even the little tots.
Though this is to be our responsibility at all times, it is especially our responsibility on the Sabbath of the Lord. In the days long ago the warm bread was placed on the table of shewbread every Sabbath morning. The same principle should obtain in the church today. A warm, living, pulsating message, constituting real food for the soul, should be provided each Sabbath for the development and growth of the saints of the Most High. We need to watch this carefully, for the demands upon our time are many. With all the campaigns that must of necessity be promoted, with the number of churches under our care, with the Bible studies or series of meetings that we have to conduct, this may seem an impossible task. But here is God's counsel, and we must obey it. It is vital not only for our believers but also for ourselves. We need to have our own souls refreshed, and this is possible only as we bow at the throne of grace and seek God for a renewal of divine power in our ministry and for a living message for the church of God.
"The Word is the preacher's light, and as the golden oil flows from the heavenly olive trees into the bowl, it makes the lamp of life flash with a clearness and power that all will discern. Those who have the privilege of sitting under such a ministry, if their hearts are susceptible to the Holy Spirit's influence, will feel an inner life. The fire of God's love will be kindled within them. The Bible, the word of God, is the bread of life. He who feeds the flock of God must himself first eat of the bread which came down from heaven. He will see the truth on every side. He will not venture to come before the people until he has first communed with God. Then he is led to work as Christ worked. He respects the varied minds that compose his audience. He has a word that touches the case of all, not worldly, confusing ideas. He has no right to introduce the worldly perplexities. The bread of life will satisfy every soul-hunger." Testimonies to Ministers, p. 340.
If we are faithful in this respect, if the sheep are fed, they will be strengthened to meet the temptations of life, and be prepared to resist the attacks of the evil one to lead them into the bypaths of error.
Furthermore, when the sheep are well fed there will be no difficulty in shearing them. This is also the duty of the shepherd. There are times when wool must be taken. If the sheep are undernourished, when they are sheared there is danger that they will catch cold and perish. Let us then make it our first duty to "feed the flock of God."
Attending the Flock of God
This is suggested by the expression in Acts 20:28, "Take heed therefore unto ... the flock." This means that however busy we may be with administrative work with committees and church boards still we must plan definitely to care for the needs of the believers. We must not disappoint them. We are to en courage them and give them counsel in their perplexities. They will have problems with their children, with their work, or in their own individual experiences. Here is a wonderful and fruitful field of opportunity. Here is where we must, under God, lead men and women to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. What a wonderful privilege to be able to direct the feet of the faltering into paths of certainty and assurance! What a satisfaction comes to the soul when we know that we have been able, as an undershepherd, to lead our believers from doubt into the full experience of the joys and privileges of the Christ life!
These are some of the things of vital import and, in a way, of greater consequence than our sermons. Our work in the pulpit is good, but after all, it is in the clinic that the real task is accomplished. Let our churches be spiritual clinics, where we care for those who are soul sick, those who have been wounded in the struggle, and those whose hearts are sad be cause of trial or crushing sorrow.
"We need more of Christlike sympathy; not merely sympathy for those who appear to us to be faultless, but sympathy for poor, suffering, struggling souls, who are often overtaken in fault, sinning and repenting, tempted and discouraged. We are to go to our fellow-men, touched, like our merciful High Priest, with the feeling of their infirmities." Gospel Workers, p. 141.
Watching the Flock
The shepherd in the days of old had an eagle eye for wild animals and other beasts of prey, which were constantly seeking to attack and destroy the flock. We too must watch the flock of God. The sheep and the lambs are our solemn responsibility. We must take them upon our hearts, and surround them with every helpful and safeguarding influence. One thing that will be a great help in this regard is for the deacons and deaconesses in our churches to plan to visit every member of the church. This is not a difficult task. If well organized it can be done, and done with great profit to both the visitor and those visited. Such visits, where there is a short reading of Scripture and an earnest prayer, will do more to bind our believers together in the church of God than many other things. Furthermore, such a plan enables the pastor and elders to know the spiritual standing of every member of the flock. If any are affected by subversive movements, or have problems in matters of doctrine or prophetic interpretation, in this way it becomes known many times before it is too late to save the individual.
What a blessed thing it would be if we had a revival of this plan in all our churches! It would greatly strengthen the hands of pastors and district leaders, and would prove a real blessing to our hard-pressed conference officials.
Let us remember, then, that it is our solemn yet wonderful privilege to feed, to attend to, and to watch the flock of God.
