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October 24, 2007
Regular attenders and offering envelopes
There is a new class of membership that exists in churches today. This group has been given the title of "regular attenders." These are people who seem to act like members in that they are present at church functions and may even volunteer for church activites or leadership positions. In fact, some "regular attenders" may attend for years before they ever decide to formally join the church.
So the question remains: if members are expected to give of their time, talent, and money to support the growth of the Kingdom through work of the local church, then how does this apply to "regular attenders"? Do we give them a "Regular Attender" packet that is somewhere between our Visitor packets and our New Member packets. Does this packet include a sample set of offering envelopes and explain how they are to use them?
I think this is a simple question: should those who are "getting" something from the work of the local church also have a responsibility to "give back" to the work of the local church? Yes. And one of the principle ways we do that is with money. Yet that rarely is discussed or taught. And most pastors and church leaders are careful to address the subject of money. This baffles me, especially when their paycheck is tied directly to church contributions.
It takes money to run any organization. And at the end of the day, the church is an organization with fixed and variable expenses that must recover those costs through contributions. And where should those contributions come from? Where else, those who attend and receive the "benefits" of the organization. Using that definition, then the responsibility of giving and stewardship carries forward to the regular attender as well as the church member.
So, why aren't more pastors eager to address this subject in public and private. Among the many reasons that we will not address, there is one that is often ignored. Pastors are "graded" on their ability to put people in the pews. And there is a school of thought in church growth strategy that emerged about a decade ago that says that if you talk about money, people will leave and never come back.
If that's the case, then I say let them go. In business, it's not about the number of customers you have. It's the number of profitable customers that you have. If you have twice as many customers as your competitors but aren't making any profit, then you'll never be able to sustain the business let alone dream of growing. Yet, if you have half the number of customers as your competitors but those customers are twice as profitable, then you are head and shoulders above your competition.
Now, church members or regular attenders shouldn't be managed like customers. But what use is a member or a regular attender if all they are doing is taking and never giving back through time, talent, and money? It's just like having a customer that is not profitable or worse--one you're losing money on. And that is no way to build a business or grow a church.
The Gospel is a message grounded in sacrifice. Our lives should reflect the message we speak. So find the courage to speak the truth, take a deep breath and watch your ministry grow.
As a good friend says frequently, "Look it in the teeth. Even if it bites back."
Posted by bstroup at October 24, 2007 1:58 AM
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