When new people start attending church it seems to add suspense for the regulars as we wait to see if they are going to stick around or not. Many churches have assimilation programs that are designed to increase the rate at which these folks stay. But as you probably have guessed I cringe a bit at the thought of that even though I know of no alternative.
The problem is people are different. Throw my brother and I in a crowded room at a party and he will quickly leave his mark. He will have met a good percentage of the people, be cracking jokes and seemingly assimilate rather quickly. I will take much longer. I will do a lot more observing, get to know a few people and look to hang out with someone I know. I think the same is true for people who start attending church.
I have a pastor friend who has experienced the devastating effects of not letting assimilation be natural enough. He had someone attending church every week who would slip out the back quickly after the service. A regular took it upon themselves to assimilate this person and began a campaign to get them to come to a Sunday School class. The person finally relented and attended once...and hasn't been back to church since.
So how do you assimilate people in a natural way, taking into account the personality of the church and the personality of the new attender? It is not just personality either. Some new attenders come out of situations that are extremely difficult. They want to be in church but circumstances beyond their control make full assimilation (or at least what we think of it as) impossible. Again it comes to truly loving relationships that honor the process of becoming a part of a community. If not it becomes just as disingenuous as building a friendship solely for the purpose of winning someone to Christ and then dumping them once they have made a decision.
Natural Church Assimilation
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11:15 PM
9:48 AM
2:34 PM
The processes that prop up the structure they are usually employed in requires them to instead focus on creating and maintaining healthy numbers both in people and finances.
We can wait for people to assimilate, but paying the bills puts extra ordinary amounts of pressure on the staff to assimilate people into the church structure as quickly as possible. Sort of like prospects at a sales event. Again that is not the original intent of the pastor but the reality of the enterprise to survive requires it.
This reality ends up creating enviorments which disciple people in the church to become professional assimilators vs life transformers.
Here's the question we all need to take a hard look at.
What are we really discipling people to do?
Assimilate or Transform.
Steven
www.thechurch.wordpress.com
12:19 AM
The truth be told, I could not say for sure that we were developing Believers in their faith. This started a quest to determine how we can be certain that life change (transformation) was actually taking place. Since then, we have strategically developed a sequence of steps to ensure that as attendees walk through the door, we are intentional in guiding (not coercing) them along a path of spiritual growth. That path in actuality is our assimilation pipeline.
People need to be encouraged to pray, study the bible, join a small group, serve in ministry and share their faith. These are all part of our assimilation strategy. Of course it doesn’t guarantee that attendees on the path would actually develop spiritually, but at least I’m certain that we have laid the ground work for spiritual development.
The other benefits of this assimilation pipeline are greater membership commitment, increase attendance and increase in offerings. I’m not ashamed of the numeric growth, we celebrate it. However, my greatest sense of victory occurs when I receive feedback from people who are growing and changing their attitudes and behavior.
I would do whatever I need to do to see “transformation” and that means developing an assimilation plan for first time guest, attendees who respond to an altar call, the individual requesting prayer or the attendee desiring to join our church family. Having any plan in place to handle those needs is in actuality an assimilation strategy.
7:07 PM
Our previous church had a deacon of assimilation and I couldn't help but imagine the Borg from Star Trek. "Resistance is futile." (Or is that Hitchhiker's Guide?) The whole point of the body of Christ isn't to make the same, and as someone else pointed out, sometimes you come to a church really hurting. Our current church showed this video, the "Me church" which left me feeling that I was not allowed to ask for any kind of help. They just want me to come, serve and give. So I come and give and wonder if I should be going somewhere else.
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