Post by McLawsGirl on Mar 3, 2005 14:45:41 GMT -5
The Cost to Fellowshipping
Most soldiers involved in major military conflicts report that they are afraid to grow close to newcomers because of the tremendous emotional expense and coping problems they face when friends are killed in battle. Aloofness and withdrawal become natural psychological defense mechanisms for survival.
By basic laws of psychology and inborn emotional defense mechanisms, most members find that it is emotionally too draining to repeatedly attempt to warmly fellowship and develop close friendships with new converts, only to have the large majority vanish into inactivity or outright hostility within a short time of baptism. “Rush baptisms,” low retention, and poor fellowshipping become a vicious cycle, and the few converts with genuine commitment to the Church may find their needs unmet.
The emotional scars from even a brief period of “accelerated baptism” programs can demotivate fellowshipping efforts for years, and repeated exhortations to members to increase fellowshipping in such areas rarely leads to improvement. The credibility of local missionary efforts must first be rebuilt by more responsible teaching and baptizing tactics and improved prebaptismal preparation, leading to more consistently positive interactions among active members, investigators, and new converts. This in turn produces a surge in enthusiasm for the missionary program and better member fellowshipping.
The Cost to Outreach
One leader in an area recovering from the effects of longstanding "quick-baptize" tactics states: "Today we spend a majority of our time attempting to rehabilitate those members that were baptized years ago without adequate preparation. Essentially, what we did then was open a hospital for the sick ('The whole have no need of the physician') without having any doctors on staff. The result was predictable. Everyone got sicker. And we are paying dearly for it at this time, because our time is consumed in an effort to reactivate."
The considerable missionary time that is diverted from contacting and teaching investigators to reactivation efforts in low-retaining areas significantly slows growth. Rick Warren estimates that it takes five times as much energy to reactivate an inactive as to win a new member.5
Members have a reasonable and appropriate expectation that their friends and acquaintances be taught by the missionaries with sensitivity and at a pace that is suitably tailored to the individual. Yet many members who have seen the low retention rates among converts rushed to baptism are justifiably concerned about the whirlwind pace of the discussions, with missionaries asking individuals to be baptized on only the second visit, frequenty before having attended church even once, and often regardless of their actual progress, needs, or concerns. Such practices cause the enthusiasm of many members for providing missionary referrals to evaporate.
Just as faithful testifying members represent a great asset to the church with a community, non-observant inactives and disgruntled ex-members represent a liability to church growth.
What’s the Hurry?
As we survey the devastation that has been left by spiritually bankrupt accelerated baptism protocols worldwide, one is inclined to wonder: what’s the hurry? Are we rushing converts to baptism so that they can go inactive faster? Rampant inactivity following accelerated baptism programs is not an anomaly; it is the natural outcome of such approaches.
It seems odd that many missionaries and mission presidents object to insisting that converts attend church regularly for several weeks and solidify gospel habits before baptism as if a delay of even a week or two in baptism would represent a terrible tragedy, and yet regard the catastrophically poor retention rates incurred by accelerated baptism practices – and the subsequent years of reactivation work by members, usually with little impact – as if they were of no consequence.
When conversion is genuinely true and life-changing, it will last until tomorrow, next week, and the week after. The Lord tells us to preach the word diligently and urgently, yet tells us we should preach 'not in haste,' or in other words that we must not gloss over important teachings. Time is not a threat when true conversion exists. Desire is very important, but expressed desire when accompanied by consistent failure to make basic steps towards repentance demonstrates neither faith nor sincerity.
Prevention: The Best Medicine
Many missions have elaborate plans for reclaiming inactives, but no clear plans for improving the quality of prebaptismal preparation and stopping the loss of converts to inactivity. Is it good stewardship to perseverate in frantically bailing water out of a leaking ship while making little effort to plug the gaping hole?
Preventative care is far more effective and far less expensive than attempting to remedy established pathologies. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and a little extra effort to teach new converts correctly before baptism and to make basic commitments into habits often does far more good than hundreds of missionary hours spent working with inactives. President Thomas S. Monson has taught that we must "start at the headwaters to ensure activity" (LDS Church News, April 10, 1999).
For those who feel that it is too difficult to prepare converts properly for baptism: try home teaching hostile or disaffected individuals every month for the rest of their lives and attempting to remedy the enormous personal, social, and spiritual problems that inactivity inflicts upon both individuals and the Church as a whole. The endless hours in inactive visits after baptism do not have nearly the impact on activity rates and the strength of the church as a fraction of the time spent helping to prepare and fellowship converts before baptism. It is much more honorable to leave individuals without adequate understanding and commitment unbaptized than to rush them into something which they do not understand and are not prepared for.
References
Ballard, M. Russell. Conversion and Retention Satellite Broadcast, August 29, 1999
Hinckley, Gordon B. LDS Church News. 4 July 1998.
Hinckley, Gordon B. Woods Cross Utah Regional Conference, 10 January 1998.
Decoo, Wilfried. "Feeding the Fleeing Flock: Reflections on the Struggle to Retain Church Members in Europe." Dialogue. Vol. 29, No. 1 (Spring 1996). pp. 97-113.
Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Church. Zondervan publishers. p.188
Most soldiers involved in major military conflicts report that they are afraid to grow close to newcomers because of the tremendous emotional expense and coping problems they face when friends are killed in battle. Aloofness and withdrawal become natural psychological defense mechanisms for survival.
By basic laws of psychology and inborn emotional defense mechanisms, most members find that it is emotionally too draining to repeatedly attempt to warmly fellowship and develop close friendships with new converts, only to have the large majority vanish into inactivity or outright hostility within a short time of baptism. “Rush baptisms,” low retention, and poor fellowshipping become a vicious cycle, and the few converts with genuine commitment to the Church may find their needs unmet.
The emotional scars from even a brief period of “accelerated baptism” programs can demotivate fellowshipping efforts for years, and repeated exhortations to members to increase fellowshipping in such areas rarely leads to improvement. The credibility of local missionary efforts must first be rebuilt by more responsible teaching and baptizing tactics and improved prebaptismal preparation, leading to more consistently positive interactions among active members, investigators, and new converts. This in turn produces a surge in enthusiasm for the missionary program and better member fellowshipping.
The Cost to Outreach
One leader in an area recovering from the effects of longstanding "quick-baptize" tactics states: "Today we spend a majority of our time attempting to rehabilitate those members that were baptized years ago without adequate preparation. Essentially, what we did then was open a hospital for the sick ('The whole have no need of the physician') without having any doctors on staff. The result was predictable. Everyone got sicker. And we are paying dearly for it at this time, because our time is consumed in an effort to reactivate."
The considerable missionary time that is diverted from contacting and teaching investigators to reactivation efforts in low-retaining areas significantly slows growth. Rick Warren estimates that it takes five times as much energy to reactivate an inactive as to win a new member.5
Members have a reasonable and appropriate expectation that their friends and acquaintances be taught by the missionaries with sensitivity and at a pace that is suitably tailored to the individual. Yet many members who have seen the low retention rates among converts rushed to baptism are justifiably concerned about the whirlwind pace of the discussions, with missionaries asking individuals to be baptized on only the second visit, frequenty before having attended church even once, and often regardless of their actual progress, needs, or concerns. Such practices cause the enthusiasm of many members for providing missionary referrals to evaporate.
Just as faithful testifying members represent a great asset to the church with a community, non-observant inactives and disgruntled ex-members represent a liability to church growth.
What’s the Hurry?
As we survey the devastation that has been left by spiritually bankrupt accelerated baptism protocols worldwide, one is inclined to wonder: what’s the hurry? Are we rushing converts to baptism so that they can go inactive faster? Rampant inactivity following accelerated baptism programs is not an anomaly; it is the natural outcome of such approaches.
It seems odd that many missionaries and mission presidents object to insisting that converts attend church regularly for several weeks and solidify gospel habits before baptism as if a delay of even a week or two in baptism would represent a terrible tragedy, and yet regard the catastrophically poor retention rates incurred by accelerated baptism practices – and the subsequent years of reactivation work by members, usually with little impact – as if they were of no consequence.
When conversion is genuinely true and life-changing, it will last until tomorrow, next week, and the week after. The Lord tells us to preach the word diligently and urgently, yet tells us we should preach 'not in haste,' or in other words that we must not gloss over important teachings. Time is not a threat when true conversion exists. Desire is very important, but expressed desire when accompanied by consistent failure to make basic steps towards repentance demonstrates neither faith nor sincerity.
Prevention: The Best Medicine
Many missions have elaborate plans for reclaiming inactives, but no clear plans for improving the quality of prebaptismal preparation and stopping the loss of converts to inactivity. Is it good stewardship to perseverate in frantically bailing water out of a leaking ship while making little effort to plug the gaping hole?
Preventative care is far more effective and far less expensive than attempting to remedy established pathologies. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and a little extra effort to teach new converts correctly before baptism and to make basic commitments into habits often does far more good than hundreds of missionary hours spent working with inactives. President Thomas S. Monson has taught that we must "start at the headwaters to ensure activity" (LDS Church News, April 10, 1999).
For those who feel that it is too difficult to prepare converts properly for baptism: try home teaching hostile or disaffected individuals every month for the rest of their lives and attempting to remedy the enormous personal, social, and spiritual problems that inactivity inflicts upon both individuals and the Church as a whole. The endless hours in inactive visits after baptism do not have nearly the impact on activity rates and the strength of the church as a fraction of the time spent helping to prepare and fellowship converts before baptism. It is much more honorable to leave individuals without adequate understanding and commitment unbaptized than to rush them into something which they do not understand and are not prepared for.
References
Ballard, M. Russell. Conversion and Retention Satellite Broadcast, August 29, 1999
Hinckley, Gordon B. LDS Church News. 4 July 1998.
Hinckley, Gordon B. Woods Cross Utah Regional Conference, 10 January 1998.
Decoo, Wilfried. "Feeding the Fleeing Flock: Reflections on the Struggle to Retain Church Members in Europe." Dialogue. Vol. 29, No. 1 (Spring 1996). pp. 97-113.
Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Church. Zondervan publishers. p.188