Pursuing the Wandered Sheep

One of the most common questions being asked by church leaders these days is, “When will all of our Sunday morning attendees come back?” Put another way, “When will all of our scattered sheep return to the fold?”

There’s a simple answer. And it’s not a popular one. Never.

A number of nationwide surveys indicated that somewhere between 20% and 30% of those who regularly attended church a year ago are at risk of not ever coming back.

This challenge of “wandered sheep” has been growing over the past years, but it has been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Some have discovered that they enjoy the convenience of on-line services. Some are still concerned about the health risks in large group gatherings. But many simply got out of the habit.

How can we get those who stopped attending to return? What is the best approach? To be blunt, these wandered sheep are indeed hard to get back.

However, in a recent article, researcher Thom Rainer discovered five approaches that have been used by a number of churches with some success.

1. Call them once.

Yes, it can be that simple. One pastor took a Sunday afternoon and called twelve persons representing twelve families. He simply told them that he missed them and hoped they would return. He then prayed for them. Three of the twelve families returned within a month.

2. Pray for them.

Many churches have prayer ministries and some of them have intentional prayer for those who have dropped out of church. One church makes it a point to send a “we prayed for you” email once every other month. The emails are personal and written specifically to the person who is no longer attending.

3. Keep them on a separate email list.

One church leader explained it this way. You don’t put them on the email list you send to all members. They would recognize they are on a list that everyone gets. This approach would not motivate them to return. Instead, have someone craft an email that addresses these people specifically and pastorally.

4. Be aware of their points of need.

A pastor in Ohio shared that he finds someone who has a personal relationship with the member who is no longer attending. He asks the active member to let him know when the inactive member has a specific need to which the church can respond. One family of seven returned to his church because several people ministered to them when the primary breadwinner lost his job.

5. Stay in touch with the children of the family.

When a family stops attending, many church leaders said they had success getting the children or youth to attend specific activities. One student minister reported success especially when their peers invite them to an event.

To be sure, all of this takes effort. And the natural response to a wandered sheep is to say in effect, “They chose to walk away and they know where we are.”

But could it be that we need to consider the spirit of the good shepherd who left his flock of 99 sheep in order to search out the one who is lost? The effort just might pay off and become a “win” for all involved.

When dealing with those who have not returned to church, we need to consider the spirit of the good shepherd who left his flock of 99 sheep in order to search out the one who is lost.

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