Strategies for Ministering to Inactives
Doug Self
Inactives are people who hurt. They need more than a scolding to become active in church. They also need pastoral care.
—Doug Self Dropouts, delinquents, do-nothings, lazy, backsliders, complainers, and excuse makers. These are words regular church attenders often use to describe inactives. In Ministry to Inactives (Augsburg, 1979), Gerhard Knutson documents these attitudes. He tells of one study that revealed that regular church attenders tend to use the following words to describe their feelings about inactives: frustrated, fearful, anxious, worried, hostile, suspicious, sympathetic, puzzled, and embarrassed. In my experience, active members aren't hostile to inactives, but they are puzzled as to why they no longer attend. Especially after unsuccessfully reaching out to inactives, active members can become frustrated and, inadvertently, begin badmouthing them. It's no wonder, then, that inactives, as revealed in the same study, describe active church people as hypocrites, do-gooders, nosy, fussy, nit-pickers, bosses, "in group," judges, high and mighty, and meddlers. And inactives describe themselves in relation to the church as condemned, forgotten, left out, lonely, rejected, abandoned, angry, suspicious, and apathetic. Inactives, then, are people who hurt. They need more than a scolding to become active in church. They also need pastoral care. And since inactives probably view me, the pastor, as the embodiment of the church, I need to be especially sensitive to their feelings about the church. ... Listen to Expert Testimony
Glen would attend church with his family for several months, then miss a month, and then come once and miss two more months. Then he'd repeat the whole cycle again. Early on I had Glen pegged: he was unfaithful. ...
Like the preview? To read this complete article
and 18,013 more in the archive—JOIN NOW!
Easily find high-quality, well-researched materials that provide a Christian perspective on topics ranging from headlines to history.
Start using this invaluable tool TODAY for preparing your Bible studies, presentations, class lectures, sermons, meetings, and more.
|
It's easy and quick to join:
Brought to You by Christianity Today Int'l |  |
|
|
|
Find similar articles
E-mail this page
