Inactive members are an unavoidable reality in the church. According to one statistic, about 40 percent of church members in the United States do not attend worship services regularly. In other words, they have become inactive or passive. Of course, this is not only a problem in the United States. Churches around the world face the same challenge, and churches here in Kenya are no exception. Even our university church experiences this reality.
Therefore, the church needs to pay special attention to inactive members. There is always both a possibility and a riskthat they may eventually leave the church. Unfortunately, many churches close the “back door” too quickly when people stop attending. Once someone leaves, the church may simply conclude, “They have gone,” and move on.
When I was an associate pastor in Korea, I often observed this tendency. Once people left the church, we sometimes forgot about them too quickly. But I do not think we should be so hasty. I believe it is better to leave the back door open—to give people time, space, and another opportunity to think about their relationship with the church and perhaps return.
There is a ministry in the United States that took this problem very seriously: Stephen Ministry, founded by Dr. Kenneth C. Haugk. Dr. Haugk, who has a background in psychology, began asking an important question: “Why do people become passive and inactive in the church?”
As he studied this question, he identified 33 reasons why people become inactive and eventually leave the church. He wrote about these reasons in Reopening the Back Door. A substantial training manual was also developed to accompany the book. While I was studying the book and training materials, I translated them into Korean and used them several times in our seminars.
One of the strengths of this ministry is its emphasis on caring for people in crisis. It is essentially a crisis-care ministry. The training material helps us understand why people who have attended a church for many years gradually become inactive and eventually leave.
Some of the reasons include:
- A lack of meaningful relationships with others.
- A growing sense that the church has become meaningless to them.
- A weakened sense of belonging.
- Personal or family crises.
- Gradually becoming disconnected from the life of the church.
Often, people do not leave suddenly. Their departure is a process. They first become less involved, then passive, and eventually they may leave altogether.
The important message of this ministry is that we should not simply close the back door once someone leaves. Instead, we should try to understand why that person became inactive and why he or she eventually left.
And how can we help them come back?
The answer is often one-on-one care.
Every person is different. If there are 33 possible reasons for becoming inactive, then we cannot expect one program to solve everyone’s situation. Each person needs to be understood personally, listened to carefully, and cared for individually.
There is another book that takes almost the opposite approach. I remember a book titled Closing the Back Door, written by Pastor Myung Sung-hoon some time ago. The basic idea is that the church should strengthen its ministry so that people who are likely to leave do not leave in the first place.
I found it very interesting to consider these two ideas together.
One emphasizes closing the back door—caring for people before they leave.
The other emphasizes reopening the back door—caring for people after they have left.
In a sense, both are necessary.
Our Reverend Melvin Steinbron’s Lay Pastors Ministry began with caring for people inside the church. The emphasis was on making sure that people were cared for, connected, and supported before they became disconnected from the church.
Stephen Ministry, on the other hand, gives particular attention to people who are experiencing crises and may have become inactive or disconnected.
These two ministries have coexisted in the American church: Stephen Ministry and Lay Pastors Ministry. Some churches have adopted one or the other, while some churches have used both at the same time. There are also other ministries developed by individual churches, such as Caring Church, TLC, and others.
When we look at the broader picture of the American church, however, these two ministries provide an interesting contrast: one seeks to care for people before they leave, and the other seeks to care for people after they have left.
For me, the lesson is simple.
The church must never give up on people too quickly.
Inactive members are not merely names that disappear from the attendance list. They are people with stories, struggles, disappointments, relationships, and spiritual needs.
Therefore, caring for inactive members is not a temporary project. It is a continuing responsibility of the church.
We should care for those who are inside, so that they do not leave.
And when some do leave, we should not close the back door too quickly.
Leave the door open. Keep caring. Keep praying. Keep reaching out.
Because sometimes, the person who has gone through the back door is not finished with the church—and the church should not be finished with that person either.