What is keeping potential new members from getting involved

February 22, 2007 by
Filed under: Church New Member Process, Religion 

In today’s post, we look at this question:
What is holding you back from getting involved/more involved in a faith community?

The caveats about the makeup of the retreat group found here apply.

The retreat participants indicated at least some interest in getting involved in a new spiritual community by the fact that they registered for and attended the retreat.  This answers the questions of “why haven’t you gotten involved” or “why haven’t you gotten more involved”.

  • Inertia
  • Fear (of acceptance and other things)
  • Laziness
  • Lame excuses
  • Fear of commitment
  • Indifference
  • “My Will or God’s Will?” (lack of clarity – am I making this change for me or for God?)
  • Family and tradition pressures (am I tied to a particular church or denomination because it would kill Mom/Dad/Grandma if I changed?)
  • Church not meeting our expectations
  • Fear of rejection
  • Don’t need the community
  • Mileage/proximity/distance
  • Other commitments (time mainly)
  • Being in a pigeonhole (being labeled due to traits like age, marital status, sexual orientation, race, etc)
  • Scheduling (services, other activities, day vs. evening)
  • Needing to feel invited
  • Allowing space for other spiritual opportunities

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This list is a bit short, mainly due to the fact that it was the last one covered in a brainstorm session and time was a bit short.

This concludes the series on what potential new members are thinking.

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Comments

3 Comments on What is keeping potential new members from getting involved

  1. Anonymous on Thu, 22nd Feb 2007 10:53 am

    2. What is keeping potential new members from getting involved

    This completes the series on what new members are thinking. In this post, we look at the things that the new members state are keeping them from moving forward in a search for a faith community (or keeping them from getting more involved in their curr…

  2. Quotidian Grace on Thu, 22nd Feb 2007 1:52 pm

    3. Integrating new members into the life of a church is a tricky process, but crucial. Your bullet points show just how difficult this can be if new members are reluctant to take a chance and give involvement a try.

    Thanks for this series, it was interesting!

  3. Mark on Thu, 22nd Feb 2007 2:15 pm

    4. I need to blog on fear as mentioned in this situation.

    Getting involved or reinvolved in church is very daunting for the outsider. Churches look to the newbie like a house where a party is going on but you weren’t invited, and where you don’t know anybody. When you look through the windows from the sidewalk you see light and hear music and laughter, but you don’t feel that it’s right that you just ring the doorbell in the hopes that they’ll let you in.

    It’s like a big hill. The potential member has to start climbing the hill, but it’s not as hard if they find someone at the top with an outstretched hand to help them over the top. We need to be that hand.

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