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Andrews University
School of Education
REASONS FOR MEMBERSHIP DROPOUT FROM THE SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH IN THE SLOVAK CONFERENCE
A Project
Presented in Partial Fulfilment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Leadership]
By
Mikulas Pavlik
November 2000
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................... iii Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1
Background of the Problem ............................................................... 1 Potential Benefits of the Study........................................................... 2 Statement of the Problem................................................................... 3 The Purpose of the Research.............................................................. 3 Justification for the Research Project ................................................. 4 The Research Questions .................................................................... 4 Limitations ........................................................................................ 4 Variables ........................................................................................... 5 Definitions of the Terms.................................................................... 5
II. LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................... 9
Seventh-day Adventist Sources ......................................................... 9 Non Adventists Sources....................................................................15
III. METHODOLOGY ...............................................................................18
Description of the Population and Sample ........................................18 Research Design...............................................................................18 Procedure .........................................................................................19
IV. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESEARCH ON DRPOUTS IN THE SLOVAKIAN CONFERENCE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS........................................................................................23
Analysis and Interpretation of Research............................................24 A. Personal Information ...................................................................22 B. Stage before Baptism ...................................................................25 C. Reasons and Situation after Leaving.............................................28
V. SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION ...............35
Summary..........................................................................................35 Recommendations ............................................................................38 Conclusion .......................................................................................38
APPENDIX........................................................................................................39
A. The Questionnaire........................................................................................... 39 B. Bibliography ................................................................................................... 45
iii
LIST OF TABLES
1. Administering questionnaries......................................................................... 23
2. Dropouts by educational level achieved ......................................................... 24
3. Dropouts by age............................................................................................. 24
4. Getting in contact with the church.................................................................. 25
5. Factors influencing the decision for the church .............................................. 25
6. Motivation for attending worship services...................................................... 26
7. Lenght of time dropouts prepared for baptism................................................ 27
8. Lenght of time droputs attended the church Before baptism ........................... 27
9. Person who pressured dropouts to join the church .......................................... 28
10. Kind of fear motivating droputs’ Decision for the church............................... 28
11. Theological and Church-Organisational ......................................................... 30
12. Personal and Relational.................................................................................. 31
13. Moral reasons for dropping out ...................................................................... 31
14. Other factors for dropping out........................................................................ 32
15. Person asked to solve dropouts spiritual problems.......................................... 32
16. Dropouts religious commitment ..................................................................... 33
17. Respondents’ feelings after leaving the church............................................... 33
18. Respondents’ attitudes to the church after dropping out.................................. 34
1
CHAPTER 1
. INTRODUCTION
This research project should demonstrate my ability to plan, conduct and
evaluate research. It contains five sections – introduction, literature review,
methodology, findings and conclusion.
Background to the Problem
In 1991 I started my pastoral ministry. As a young pastor I concentrated
on both evangelistic and pastoral activities. But sometimes there was a tension
between my effort in reaching the people and having enough time to prepare new
baptised members for living in the church. Later I was personally involved in
a public evangelism campaign in the city of Zvolen, Slovakia. I was preparing
several people for baptism and during that time a couple of them stopped visiting
the local church. When I visited some of them I realised that there were some
reasons which all of them had in common. Some of the reasons were connected
with our beliefs. Others reasons came from the adjustment to a new environment
and to religious practices we Adventists have.
I realised that as a pastor I should know how to help people joining the
church to cope with questions regarding specific areas of church life.
After baptising more than fifteen new members within the two-year period
our local church changed completely. It was no longer a traditional church, because
new members brought to the church new ideas and new understanding of the
2
spiritual life. But new problems emerged. One example was a tension
between “the new” and “the old” members. The new members were seeking their
own identity with the community. They had opposition from their families, they
were forbidden to go to the church by their unbelieving partners, etc.
The result was that some of them stopped visiting the church on a regular
basis and dropped their membership. It was a very painful experience for me. To
some extent I felt guilty for it. Again and again I asked myself how to prevent these
dropouts.
One of my goals has always been to be used by God to help unite His
family. I have wished for the members to have a close relationship with each other
and to never experience isolation and loneliness.
This is the main reason why considered this problem from a wider
perspective.
In addition, when we look at the chart illustrating dropouts in the
Slovakian conference of the SDA Church within last ten years (p. 3) we can see a
gradual increase of members leaving the church. What happened to them to cause
this break in their relationship to the church? My research established the extent of
the problem and found out reasons for it.
Potential Benefits of the Study
1. This project will contribute to a deeper understanding of the reasons for
membership dropout.
2. It will provide the pastors working in the Slovak Conference of
Seventh-day Adventist Church with information and insights that help them to
better understand the dropout problem.
3
3. It will increase awareness in Seventh-day Adventists churches of the
need for every member to be involved in conserving members.
4. It will help underline the need for an equal emphasis on conservation as
is placed on evangelism.
Statement of the Problem
The purpose of this study is to investigate why members of the Seventh
Day Adventist Church in the Slovak Conference have left the church between 1990
and 1999.
The Purpose of the Research
I am convinced that the purpose of this research should not be just to find
out and report the most important research project statistics and facts. I believe that
research is ministry as well. I hope that while gathering information I will be
privileged to touch the lives of many our former church members and to discover
“the real world” of our Adventist family. I can gather information crucial to my
4
pastoral ministry. The church at large in Slovakia can benefit from it as well. I hope
that when we find out reasons for dropouts we will be able to prevent our members
from leaving the church. In spite of the fact that research is a hard work I hope that
in this case it will bring wonderful rewards.
Justification for the Research Project
1. Both pastors and members in the Slovakian Conference of the Seventh-
day Adventists Church are greatly concerned about high dropouts rate.
2. No known research has been done to find out why people are dropping
out of the Seventh-day Adventist churches in the Slovakian Conference.
3. There is a need in the Slovakian Conference of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church to view the prevention of dropouts as an important part of
evangelism.
The Research Questions
My investigation is based on those three questions:
1. What are the main factors for leaving the church?
2. What is the highest risk period for leaving?
3. How does leaving the church influence the attitude of the dropouts to
the church?
The Limitations
1. The problem of dropout is widespread in the Czech-Slovakian Union
but this research project focused only on the problem in the Slovakian Conference
of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
5
2. Only last 10-year dropouts were taken into consideration. But there
were others leaving from the church before.
3. There is no similar research in our conference or union in order to built
on its findings or to compare them.
4. The strategy developed in this study was not used in the church before.
Variables
The variables in this study are the reasons for the membership dropout.
They can be divided into three main subcategories: relational problems with
members (member’s criticism, hypocrisy of the members, coldness and
lukewarmness of the members, lack of personal relationship, distrust of the church
leadership), church beliefs and standards (excessive emphasis on the law and its
standards, contradiction between Adventist beliefs and the Bible, secularisation of
the church, the church is not any more a prophetic movement), and external
influences and pressures (peer pressure, leaving with unbelieving spouse, remorse
for leaving original church, Sabbath employment).
Definitions of the Terms
Problem of Definition of Terms
Reading some relevant literature sources for my work I have found that
here are some definitional problems with the process of religious disaffiliation.
Affiliation with a religious group frequently is referred to as a conversion,
but there is no specific parallel term for disaffiliation. Researchers have employed a
variety of terms – dropping out, disidentification, leave-taking, apostasy,
disaffiliation, disengagment – to label this process. These terminological
6
differences come from operational definitions dictated by the nature of
data or differences in the meaning of membership in various religious groups. For
example, Hoge states: “The term disaffiliation is useful in some research context,
but not in research of Catholicism. It has to do with being on formal membership
lists, which do not exist in the Catholic Church.” (Hoge, 1988, p. 87) Instead, he
uses the terms disidentification (withdrawal of personal identification with the
Catholic Church) and dropping out (cessation of attendance).
Albrecht, Cornwall, and Cunnigham (1988) have explored two dimensions
of withdrawal from Mormonism: 1. disengagment (decreased church participation
and a perception that church is unimportant in the individual´s life) and 2.
disaffiliation (termination of organizational identification with the church)
As regard the term, “apostasy”, Caplowitz and Sherrow (1977) define
apostates as persons who have no current religion, even though they were raised in
a religion.
Similarly, Hadaway writes: “The apostate is an individual who was reared
within a religious faith, but who rejected it later in life. Apostasy is used here as a
descriptive term, in a manner consistent with its dictionary definition –
renunciation of a religious faith.” (Hadaway, 1992, p. 45)
Theorists have distinguished switchers from apostates (f.e. Hunsberger,
1980, p. 97), defining the former as persons who have switched religious identities
to another religious body and the latter as persons who no longer have any religious
identity.
According to Cornwall religiosity consists of at least three different
components:
1. a behavioural component (participation)
7
2. an affective component (organizational commitment and
identification)
3. a cognitive component (belief).
On the basis of those three components theorists defined at least three
parts of the process of leave-taking.
Disengagment (linked with a behavioural component) is the process by
which individuals cease or discontinue their active participation in a religious
group.
Disaffiliation (linked with an affective component) is the process by
which individuals change their commitment to a religious group either by joining
another church or by no longer affiliating with any religious group.
Apostasy (linked with a cognitive component - belief) is the process by
which individuals cease to believe in the teaching of a particular religious group.
For the purpose of my study I will be using the term dropouts to refer to
anyone who was once a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church but drifted
away and their names are not on the church ´s membership record.
Disengagment (linked with a behavioural component) is the process by
which individuals cease or discontinue their active participation in a religious
group.
Disaffiliation (linked with an affective component) is the process by
which individuals change their commitment to a religious group either by joining
another church or by no longer affiliating with any religious group.
Apostasy (linked with a cognitive component - belief) is the process by
which individuals cease to believe in the teaching of a particular religious group.
8
For the purpose of my study I will be using the term dropouts to refer to
anyone who was once a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church but drifted
away and their names are not on the church ´s membership record.
9
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
A select review of relevant literature on apostasy and dropping out was
done in an effort to get an overview of the problem in various denominations and
regions as well as to receive insight in reducing dropouts. After searching literature
sources on my topic I found out that some areas have very little research done in it.
My experience is confirmed by words of Bromley: “Both religious affiliation and
disaffiliation have received increasing attention from scholars in recent years,
although the former has received considerably more attention than the latter.”
(Bromley, 1988, p. 67)
In spite of this fact there are some relevant sources dealing with apostasy,
disaffiliation or “falling from the faith”.
Seventh-day Adventist Sources
Dudley (2000) in his study provides a look at what happens to young
Seventh-day Adventists as they move into adulthood. The original sample
consisted of 1523 teenagers in North American Division who were all baptised
members of the church. After 10 years of study he concluded: “It seems reasonable
to believe that at least 40 percent to 50 percent of Seventh-day Adventist teenagers
in North America are essentially leaving the church by their middle 20s.”
As summary reasons for dropping out from the church he lists unfriendly
and unaccepting congregations, a lack of inclusiveness for youth involvement in
10
congregational life and leadership, lack of social opportunities, irrelevant
and boring programming, spiritual emptiness, perception of legalism and rules
being more important than the gospel, hypocrisy among adult leaders and
members, intolerance and the perception that Adventists think they are better than
others, judgmental attitudes, and politics and strife among the membership.
The important point is that youth apostasy is rarely doctrinal. Young
people do not drop out because of intellectual difficulties with Adventist teachings.
However, they may be disturbed by the manner in which these teachings are
applied and enforced.
Lewis (1997) in his study endeavoured to find the causes of membership
dropout in the Grenada Mission of Seventh-day Adventists and the way that it may
be reduced. The responses to 169 questionnaires completed by dropouts revealed
that the churches in the Grenada Mission are experiencing their greatest loss among
members under age of thirty-five (75.7 percent) and members who are single (67.5
percent).
The dropouts gave thirty-five factors that caused them to leave, but when
the factors were categorized the major contributor to dropouts was relational
problems with members (41.9 percent). The other categories were sexual sins,
external influences and pressures, worship and nurture, problems with church
standards and practices, assimilation and acculturation, and socio-economic status.
The important part of Lewis´ study is a strategy to curb membership
dropouts in the Grenada Mission. The strategy incorporates elements from
suggestions of the dropouts, principles from the New Testament and from the
writings of Ellen G. White. The strategy aims at assimilating every new convert
11
into the local church. The main factors in this process are decentralizing ministry,
pastoral care and empowering the entire laity for ministry.
Cornforth and Lale (1995) focused on personal testimonies of former
church members. They pointed out that between one and two million former
Seventh-day Adventists live in North America alone – and that less than half of the
division’s 800,000 members attend church even once a month. Cornforth looks for
reasons why members leave by interviewing them. He gives personality and
character to the statistics with a set of case studies and introduces the people behind
the surveys and sociological studies others have published. The majority of
interviewees left because of problems with people. As a result, Cornforth and Lale
suggest breaking away how our concern with gaining or reclaiming numbers and be
concerned about restoring relationship (p. 6).
In the last chapter of the book the authors give some advice or ideas to
create greater awareness of this problem within the church.
Corbin (1987) describes a congregation's attempt to reactivate inactive
members into the corporate life of the church through the development of an
Outreach and After Care program. To accomplish this, the minister enlisted from
within the membership twelve persons called the Task Force. The persons were
assigned the job of designing a plan. Over a four-month period, the Task Force met
regularly with the minister to research and discuss the problem, and to design
a reasonable solution. During this phase, the minister led the group in a study of the
probable causes of inactivity based on a review of the membership's roll;; personal
interviews with former inactives;; and readings of articles and books written by
researchers of religion in America. Bible study and related theological issues were
considered in establishing a basis for doing the work.
12
Essential to this was the involvement of the congregation.
Sermons, Sabbath School lessons, and congregational dialogues were conducted in
order to sensitise the members to the problem, and to enlist their help in a visitation
and After Care program.
The essence of the After Care Program was a series of six class meetings
with inactive members and the persons who agreed to assist called Ministry Teams.
The aim of the classes was to further develop the spiritual life of inactive members
and to nurture them through the building of relationships with Ministry Team
members.
An evaluation of the effort was conducted and included was information
gained from inactives. Pastoral conversations and written responses indicate that
the majority of inactive members appreciated the effort.
Detamore (1965) concentrates on reclaiming ministry and gives some
suggestions for approaching former members. He divide the dropouts into two
major groups: (1) those who are difficult to reclaim and (2) those who are easier to
reclaim (p. 25). Detamore describes many real situations and cases, which caused
some of church members in North America to dropout from the church.
Summary of Adventist Resources
Most of researches reviewed previously were done mainly in North
America. The problems causing dropouts were mainly related to emotional
experience and interpersonal relationships.
The most complete is Dudley´s research on youth dropouts. Cornforth´s and
Lale´s research on the factors that were responsible and contributed to the apostasy
problem was based on personal interviews. Corbin is focusing more on reactivating
13
inactive members into the church life through special program. Lewis´
research took place out of the continent of America to view the dropout problem on
the Grenada Mission. It contains important recommendations in the area of
preventing dropouts.
My research is not focusing on the special age group as Dudley´s is. It
includes only former church members and is not dealing with inactive members as
his research is. My research methodology based also on personal interviews is very
similar those Lewis´ and Cornforth´s and Lale´s are using. The question is if in the
setting of the Slovakian Conference some of reviewed findings would be confirmed
or would there be considerable differences.
Non Adventist Sources
According to Hadaway (1992) apostates tend to be young, unmarried, well-
educated, and hold very liberal values about personal morality. This general picture
of the apostates is hiding greater diversity, which became his primary concern. In
his study, responses to eleven questions on the National Opinion Research Center´s
General Social Survey were used as a basis for clustering 401 white apostates. As a
result, he identifies 5 types of apostates: 1. Successful Swinging Single, 2.
Sidetracked Singles, 3. Young Settled Liberals, 4. Young Libertarians, 5.
Irreligious Traditionalists.
The characteristics of each subgroup give insights into why apostates left
the church, the nature of their lives, and the likelihood of their return to a religious
identity. According to the article the typical apostate is socially and psychologically
more distant from religious institutions than is the typical unchurched person who
retains a nominal religious identity. The important point is that apostasy is not
14
always a matter of unbelief. Some apostates may reject a religious identity out of
consistency with their unbelief, while others may retain belief and even hold a
strong religious faith, but reject labelling themselves with the name of a religious
institution.
Hadaway and Roof (1988) discovered the existence of subtypes with
different values and social characteristics. Some apostates may have rejected
religion in reaction to personal problems or because they felt rejected by the
church. Others may have been affected by the tendency of males to be less
religious then females, urban irreligiosity, or the greater acceptance of secular
lifestyles in Western states. The authors also suggested “the possible existence of
militantly independent ´nonjoiners´ and geographically isolated rural dwellers” (p.
64).
Also relevant are findings of Condran and Tamney (1985) who divided the
religious nones (people who have no religious background) to two groups –
“cultural nones” and “structural nones”. Cultural nones were those persons “who
have no religious preference because they are unwilling to accept prevailing
religious belief systems”. Structural nones were created by certain barriers which
come from the religious system by its “leaving out” certain sectors of the
population. According authors of this study, structural nones in the United States
are primarily those who live too far from churches or are working class persons
who see the church as antagonistic to labour interests.
Perry et al. (1980) in his study, using a data set of the Gallup Unchurched
American Survey, conducted the usual profile of apostates and found out that they
tended to be high on new morality questions, to be more cosmopolitan, and have
lower levels of life satisfaction. The authors also found that those apostates (who
15
had attended church at one time) gave the following reasons for apostasy: 1.
specific objections to the church, its teachings, or its members, 2. the respondent
grew up and decided no longer to attend church, 3. the church was no longer seen
as a help, and 4. the respondent felt his or her lifestyle was incompatible with
continued church affiliation.
Roozen (1980) and Hoge (1981) in their studies provide a similar list of
explanations for leaving the church. Younger respondents emphasized their
rejection of family pressure to attend church once the young people had some say
in the matter, and the feeling that the church has little of interest or relevance to
offer. Older respondents in Roozen´s study emphasized some events that
precipitated the decision to leave, such as moving to a new community and never
bothering to reaffiliate. Hoge separated reasons from facilitating events and listed
objections to Catholic moral teachings, boredom or loss of interest, a feeling of
a spiritual void or lack of meaning, and objections to changes in the Mass
following Vatican II as major reasons older Catholics drop out. According to Hoge
(1981) the major events that precipitated dropping out was leaving home (for the
young) and conflict with a priest (important for all age groups).
Caplowitz and Sherrow´s (1977) investigation of apostasy among more than
33,000 college graduates showed that apostasy was to be viewed as a form of
rebellion against parents and “might be well symptomatic of familial strain and
dissociation from parents”. The authors concluded that four particular traits (poor
parental relations, symptoms of maladjustment or neurosis, a radical or leftist
political orientation, and a commitment to intellectualism) are important
predisposing factors to apostasy.
16
Roof and Hadaway´s (1977) study was the first to provide detailed profile
of apostates based on national survey data. The authors showed that Catholics had
a higher proportion of defectors to none than did Protestants. Among Protestants,
the rate of defection was highest among Episcopalians and lowest among
conservative denominations. They concluded, “apostates tended to be younger,
more affluent, predominantly male, more committed to new morality values, less
happy, and to have less confidence in American institutions than non-apostates”.
Summary of Non-Adventist Resources
During the last 30 years research has been done on the major
denominations in the United States with regard to membership loss. Throughout the
research of that period, the problems causing dropouts were mainly related to –
similarly than in research studies conducted in the Seventh-day Adventist Church –
emotional and interpersonal relationships.
As I compare numerous works on apostasy I discovered at least three main
groups of studies. The first group is dealing with the question “what are the
characteristics or types of apostates” (f. e. Roof and Hadaway,1977), the second
with the question “what factors are associated with switching to unbelief” (f. e.
Caplowitz and Sharrow, 1977;; Condran and Tamney, 1985) and the third group of
studies is seeking the actual reasons apostates and religious dropouts give for
having left the church (Roozen – 1980, Hoge – 1981).
The most relevant group of studies for this research project is the third
one. It fits the best with the expectations, purpose and methodology of this project,
which is based on those three research questions:
1. What are the main factors for leaving the church?
17
2. What t is the highest risk period for leaving?
3. How does leaving the church influence the attitude of the dropouts to
the church?
18
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
Description of the Population and Sample
The population of this study are all former members who left the Seventh-
day Adventist Church in the Slovakian Conference from 1990 to 1999 whose
names were removed from the official church records. I realise that there are some
church members who no longer attend but are still on the membership records. And
may be there are some who left but later returned. However, for the purpose of my
study, the population was former members.
On the basis of statistics from the conference office I found out that there
are 156 dropouts (N = 156) from the church within last 10 years. After my personal
visit of the conference office in Bratislava I was able to get from the membership
records 98 complete addresses of these former members (the FM). The rest of the
addresses were incomplete, unreadable or there were no addresses under the names
of the FM (n = 98).
With regard to the relatively low number of the FM and the intention of
the research (to get in touch with as many the FM as possible) I have decided to use
all FM with identifiable addresses as my sample.
Research Design
In this descriptive study I am analysing answers of former members of the
Seventh-day Adventist in Slovakia. I used a questionnaire as tool for obtaining the
19
data. Designing the questionnaire was another important step in the process of the
data collection. With respect to the research questions I divided the questionnaire
into three main parts. Part one is asking some personal questions. Part two is
focused on the period before the commitment and part three on reasons for the
dropout and the period after leaving the church. The questionnaire contains three
types of questions:
1. questions with a point scale to rate various statements
2. questions in multiple-choice format
3. open-ended questions
On the basis of this kind of questions I obtained qualitative information as well
as quantitative data.
I did a small pilot study interviewing two former members of my church to test
the questions from the questionnaire. I was especially interested to find out
whether some questions are not disturbing, insensitive or inappropriate. I also
tested the clarity of the questions. The questionnaire in appendix A reflects the
results of the pilot study.
Procedure
To double check the list of 98 names and addresses in the membership
records in the conference office I sent a letter to the pastor of each congregations
requesting cooperation in completing and verifying the names and addresses of the
FM from their local congregations membership records.
I mailed to each respondent the questionnaire, a letter of explanation, and
a stamped, self-addressed envelope. In the letter I explained them a purpose of my
research and promise them confidentiality. No one outside should be able to
20
identify them. After sending the letter I had been waiting two weeks for responses.
If some of them were not responding I sent them a greeting card to remind them of
my request.
As I said before I consider my research not only as a statistical task but
also as a ministry. Conducting this study could be a good opportunity to visit some
of the former members personally. My intention is to select from my questionnaire
some appropriate questions and use them as an interview guide during personal
interviews with three former members from my pastoral district.
21
CHAPTER 4
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS OF RESEARCH ON DROPOUTS
IN THE SLOVAK CONFERENCE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS
In order to obtain information on the problem of dropouts from the
Slovakian Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists the questionnaire was sent
directly to 98 former members of the church. After a 3-week period 16 letters were
returned undelivered because the addresses were no longer correct. By the end of
May I received 36 completed questionnaires. Besides, 15 respondents have sent
personal letters with various reactions to my request to participate in this research.
The vast majority of those selected for the research were cooperative, friendly and
happy to know that something was being done to address the church dropout
problem.
TABLE 1
ADMINISTERING QUESTIONNARIES
Total number of dropouts (1990-1999) 156
Questionnaires sent to 98
Completed questionnaires 36
Bad addresses – mail returned undelivered 16
Personal letters 15
22
Analysis and Interpretation of Research
The results are expressed either in number of respondents or in percentage of
responses. In those tables that have the data expressed in “number of responses”
and “percentage of responses” the respondents were able to make several
responses. This is reason why the number of responses can be more than 36 and
the percentage of the responses can be more than 100.
A. Personal Information
Respondents were 57 % female and 43 % male. Table 2 reveals
educational level of respondents.
TABLE 2
DROPOUTS BY EDUCATIONAL LEVEL ACHIEVED-
Elementary 14,0 %
High school 66,6 %
University 19,4 %
TABLE 3
DROPOUTS BY AGE
Under 20 9 %
21-25 14 %
26-35 42 %
36-50 14 %
51 and over 21 %
Table 3 reveals the age range of respondents. It shows that 65 percent
23
were less than thirty-five years of age. The church loses members predominantly
among the young people.
Sixty-six percent of respondents were baptised after 1990 and 35 percent before
1990. Those baptised after 1990 were members of the church on average for 3,5
year. In contrast, those baptised before 1990 on average 9,5 years.
Table 4 shows how the respondents got in contact with the Seventh-day
Adventist Church.
TABLE 4
GETTING IN CONTACT WITH THE CHURCH
Brought up in Adventist family 19,0 %
By reading Adventist books 0,0 %
Through health, family seminars, etc. 9,5 %
Through friend, or relatives 61,9 %
Through public evangelism 12,3 %
Other 4,8 %
Table 5 and 6 reveal factors, which influenced the respondents´ decision for the
church the most and their motivation for attending worship services.
TABLE 5
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DECISION FOR THE CHURCH
Loving atmosphere in the local church 14,3 %
Doctrines (prophecies) 42,9 %
Activities of the church (mission, charity) 4,8 %
Friendship and personal interest 42,9 %
Other 12,9 %
24
TABLE 6
MOTIVATION FOR ATTENDING WORSHIP SERVICES
Fellowship 33,3 %
If I have stayed at home I would have felt guilty 9,5 %
Tradition, routine 9,5 %
It was my duty 16,8 %
I felt well 19,1 %
Listening to God’s Word 23,8 %
Other 15,8 %
Summary
Table 2 and 3 reveal that following demographic picture in the Slovak
Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Church: the church is experiencing its
highest dropouts rate among young adult male and female members whose
educational levels are mainly high school, were baptised after 1990 and their
membership lasted on average 3,5 years.
Many of the dropouts were drawn to the church by two dominant factors
(see table 5):
1. friendship with members of the church and loving atmosphere
in the local church.
2. beliefs of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
The main reason for attending worship services was fellowship and
listening God ´s Word (see table 6). It shows that many of the dropouts perceived
the church as a place to meet their spiritual needs, to provide for loving atmosphere
and personal interest and relationships.
25
B. Stage before Baptism
Those who participated in this questionnaire were asked to answer how
long they had been taught Adventist beliefs before baptism (Table 7) and how long
they had attended a congregation before baptism (Table 8).
TABLE 7
LENGHT OF TIME DROPOUTS PREPARED FOR BAPTISM
1-3 months 28,6 %
4-6 14,4 %
7-12 42,5 %
13 and more 14,4 %
TABLE 8
LENGHT OF TIME DROPUTS ATTENDED THE CHURCH
BEFORE BAPTISM
1-3 months 19,5 %
4-6 16,1 %
7-12 38,0 %
13 and more 26,4 %
Seventy-five percent of the participants responded that this period of time
was sufficient to become acquainted with Adventist doctrines and the church life.
Twenty-five percent expressed dissatisfaction with duration of pre-baptismal
preparation for the membership.
The respondents were asked if they were pressured to join the church.
Twenty-five percent of them reported that they were pressured. Table 9 shows that
it was pressure of:
26
TABLE 9
PERSON WHO PRESSURED DROPOUTS TO JOIN THE CHURCH
Pastor 1
Parents 2
Evangelist 4
Circumstances 1
Other 1
Thirty-three percent of respondents reported that their decision for the
baptism was motivated by fear and the same percentage of respondents consider
their decision for the baptism as premature. Table 10 shows what kind of fear it
was:
TABLE 10
KIND OF FEAR MOTIVATING DROPUTS’ DECISION FOR THE CHURCH
End of the World 3
If I am not baptised I will not be saved 4
I did not want to disappoint the people around me 3
Only 8,3 percent of the respondents expressed the opinion that there had
been some church doctrines or standards not enough explained in order not to
discourage them from joining the church.
The respondents answered an open-ended question about the most
disturbing thing in regards to the pre-baptismal period as follows:
“premature baptisms”, “pressure”, “the Adventist emphasis on
behavioural standards”, “only little focus on God ´s grace”, “only little emphasis
that I can be changed by God and His power”, “I needed much time for
27
assimilation to the new environment in the church”, the church members have two
faces to show the new members – one before and one after the baptism”.
Summary
The findings show some important points as far as the pre-baptismal
period of the dropouts is concerned:
1. Short-time period for learning Adventists´ beliefs and standards prior
to joining the church.
Table 7 shows that 28,6 percent of the respondents were prepared for the
church membership only 1-3 months. Three of the participants wrote in their
personal letters that they had not been thought Adventists beliefs at all. They were
only recommended to read for themselves a short version of the 27 fundamental
beliefs from the Church Manual. It seems that in some cases our pastors focused
only on the short-time goal – the baptism. Many of them worked thoroughly (only
8,3 percent of the respondents expressed that some of the Adventist beliefs and
standards were not completely explained), but in some cases superficially.
2. Lack of time for assimilation to the church life
Table 8 shows that 43 percent of the respondents started regular attending
the church from 1 to 6 months before the baptism. It is a relatively short time to
become acquainted with the new church environment.
After the revolution in 1990, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in
Slovakia started public evangelisation. Our pastors organised evangelistic
campaigns and seminars. During the week they met with people showing interest in
public buildings and places. Some of those people made their baptismal decision
without any information about church activities and organisation. Reality of the
28
church life becomes later the cause of disappointment for many new-
baptised members.
3. Fear and Pressure as motivators for baptismal decision.
Table 9 and 10 show an interesting fact that 11 respondents reported that
their decision for the baptism was motivated by the fear and 9 of them felt pressure
accompanying their decision for baptism.
The results show that some evangelistic approaches that use fear and
pressure to lead people to their baptismal decision have certain negative impact on
the percentage of the dropouts. When the feelings of the fear are gone people are
loosing their motivation for staying in the church and in relationship with God.
C. Reasons and Situation after Leaving
The respondents expressed their reasons for dropout as follows (see table
11, 12, 13):
TABLE 11
THEOLOGICAL AND CHURCH-ORGANISATIONAL
Contradiction between Adventist beliefs and the Bible 1
Conservative attitudes of the church towards some theological questions 3
Excessive emphasis on the law and its standards 8
Deflection from historical Adventism 0
Secularisation of the church 1 I do not consider SDA Church neither as a prophetic movement nor the remnant church any more 2
Distrust of the church leadership 2
Other 6
29
TABLE 12
PERSONAL AND RELATIONAL
Loss of the faith in God 1
Loss of the original enthusiasm and interest 7
I could not express freely my opinions in the church 3
In the church I could not find help in solving my personal problems 7
Coldness and lukewarmness of members 5
I did not find a fulfilment of my spiritual needs 5
The lack of personal relationship to God 3
Personal conflict with a church member 4
Marriage with an unbelieving partner 1
Family problems 2
Other 1
TABLE 13
MORAL REASONS FOR DROPPING OUT
Extramarital sexual relationship 4
Divorce 2
Other 1
Some other factors that influenced the respondents ´drop out are as
follows (see table 14):
30
TABLE 14
OTHER FACTORS FOR DROPPING OUT
Hypocrisy of members 2
Remorse after leaving my original church 2
Premature baptism 2
Member´s criticism 2
Sexual sins 2
Working on Sabbath 1
I found my own way to God 1
Table 15 shows with whom the dropouts tried to solve their spiritual
problems.
TABLE 15
PERSON ASKED TO SOLVE DROPOUTS SPIRITUAL PROBLEMS
Pastor 8
Church elder 3
Church member 7
People from other denomination 2
I could not find anybody 12
I was not interested 4
The results show that more than one third of respondents could not find
any trustworthy individual in the church to share their spiritual needs and problems.
When we compare it with the fact that more than 50 percent of the dropouts were
driven to the church by friendship and personal interest it seems that this
relationship is not as strong as before the baptism.
31
Table 15 also indicates that majority of the dropouts were seeking
someone to help them in their situation.
Table 16 shows the religious practices of the participants. Only 47,2
percent prayed daily, 41,6 percent studied the Bible daily and 16,6 percent never
did. Approximately 42 percent stated that they witnessed to others only a few times
a year and 18,4 percent never did.
TABLE 16
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES OF DROPOUTS
1 2 3 4 5
Pray other than at church or before meals 8,3 13,8 16,6 13,8 47,2
Read the Bible on your own 16,6 8,4 8,4 25,0 41,6
Try to encourage someone to believe in Jesus 8,3 44,0 23,7 15,7 8,3
Tell someone about the work of God in your life 18,4 41,6 30,8 5,8 4,2
(1 – never, 2 – a few times a year, 3 – at least once a month, 4 – at least once a week, 5 – daily)
In regard to their feelings at the time they left the church, 22,2 percent
reported relief, 19,4 percent felt bitter, 13,8 were frustrated, 13,8 reported feeling
guilty (see table 17).
TABLE 17
RESPONDENTS’ FEELINGS AFTER LEAVING THE CHURCH
Relief 22,4 %
Frustrated 13,8 %
Guilty 13,8 %
32
Bitter 19,4 %
Angry 0 %
Other 30,8 %
In order to evaluate the respondents´ attitudes to the church after their
dropping out, they were asked to give “yes” or “no” answer to five questions (see
table 18).
TABLE 18
RESPONDENTS’ ATTITUDES TO THE CHURCH AFTER DROPPING OUT
Question Yes % No %
1. Have you ever considered coming back to the church? 55,5 40,5 2. Do you maintain some contacts with the people from the church? 61,1 33,3
3. If the members of the local church invited you to take part in some informal church activities would you accept the invitation?
41,6 19,4
4. Would you wish the visit of a pastor or someone from the local church? 27,7 33,3
5. As regard your lifestyle after leaving the church do you keep some of church standards you kept during your membership? 63,8 11,1
The majority of the dropouts considered about their returning to the
church and 61,1 percent have some contact with the people from the church.
If I had sum up the respondents´ answer to the question What is the main hindrance
for returning to the church it would be the fear of church response. The fact that
such high percentage of the respondents is considering their return to the church I
consider as the most important finding from this research. It shows a huge
opportunity to contact the dropouts and help them to come back to the church. It
should be a big motivator for all pastors, elders, deacons, church administrators to
start and continue reclaiming ministry in our Slovak Conference.
33
Summary
The respondents gave about thirty factors that caused them to drop out.
The reasons for dropping out of the church seem to be interrelated. There may not
be any one factor that by itself is responsible for a member dropping out of the
church. Those thirty factors given by the respondents can be categorised into four
subcategories: relational problems with members, external influences and
pressures, and church beliefs and standards.
1. Relational Problems with Members. Those coming into the church are
searching for sincerity, love, acceptance and spiritual depth. Yet many are
disappointed with spiritual reality they have been offered. Their problem is not so
much the doctrines of the church but rather the people in the church: the members,
the pastors, the leaders. This area has been the major contributor to dropouts. It
includes following responses: “I could not find help”, “Coldness and
lukewarmness”, “Lack of personal relationships”, “Personal conflict”, “Hypocrisy
of members”, “Members´criticism”, “Distrust of the church leadership”. This adds
up to 48,8 percent of the total responses.
2. Church Beliefs and Standards. The results show that many people are
leaving the church because they perceived it to be behaviour-centred. Adventism
has historically a high respect for God´s law and holy living. There are many
Adventist attitudes, customs and ceremonies which are directly Bible-based, but
also in part simply a matter of tradition. For a new member is sometimes very
difficult to recognise their importance. Some of the painful experiences written in
personal letters show that church members have a tendency immediately condemn
those who deviate from the norms and standards in the way they dress, speak or
34
behave. This emphasis on externals altogether with conservative attitudes
of the church represent more than 20 percent of the respondents reasons for
dropping out.
3. External Influences and Pressures. This section of reasons for dropping
out is related to the previous area. The emphasis on externals lead to conviction
that becoming an Adventist would mean to restricted in many, mostly pleasant
activities. Some of church members than seek pleasure outside the church.
Especially for young adults this is a kind of rebellion.
Sexual sins, peer pressure, leaving with unbelieving spouse, remorse for
leaving original church, and Sabbath employment were also listed as contributors
to their dropping out of the church.
From answers on questions regarding the dropouts´ relation to the church
after leaving we can see that more than half of them hold positive attitudes toward
people in their former congregations. For more than sixty percent of respondents
the church still provides them a network of friends. Many of them seriously
consider about coming back, they would accept the invitation to take part in some
church activities and more than 25 percent would wish a pastor or church member
visitation. This is a good foundation and an opportunity to help them build
meaningful fellowship that strengthens their relationship with Christ and the
church. The church must see itself as a resource for fulfilling their needs.
35
CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
Summary
The new social conditions in Slovakia after the revolution in 1990 offered
new opportunities for evangelistic outreach. Hundreds of new members were
baptised into the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Slovakia during 1990-1995. On
the other side the church has never experienced such great loss among members
than during last ten years. This situation is presenting the church with the
challenge to ask for reasons and to find a strategy to curb membership dropout.
I consider my research project as a small contribution to this goal.
My investigation was based on three questions:
1. What are the main factors for leaving the church?
2. What is the highest risk period for leaving?
3. How does leaving the church influence the attitude of the dropouts to
the church?
The results show us that the Slovakian Conference of Seventh-day
Adventist is experiencing its highest dropouts among young adult male and female
members whose educational levels are mainly high school and who were baptised
after 1990. Their membership lasted on average of 3.5 years. The critical period
for leaving the church is the first three years after the baptism. This fact reveals the
need for a more effective strategy to assimilate new members if the church wants to
reduce its losses.
36
The thirty factors given by the respondents as contributors to their
dropping out from the church were categorised into three main sections: relational
problems, church beliefs and standards and external influences and pressures.
Relational problems with the church members were identified as the major
contributor to the leaving the church since it composed 48,8 percent of the factors
given. The results show that apostasy is rarely doctrinal. People do not drop out
because of intellectual difficulties with Adventist teachings. Rather, they are
disturbed by the manner in which these teachings are applied.
The good news of this research is that the majority of Adventists who have
left the church (56 %) have at some point actually considered coming back. 61%
have positive attitudes toward people in the church and many of the church
members stayed their friends.
Recommendations
Knowing the reasons that are finally leading to the leaving of the church is
crucial in constructing an effective ministry to dropouts. The Church Manual
(2000) statement is very clear:
The erring member should be assured that the church will always hope that reaffiliation will take place and that one day there will be eternal fellowship together in the kingdom of God… When a person has been removed from church membership, the church should, where possible, maintain contact and manifest the spirit of friendship and love, endeavouring to win him/her back to the fold. (p. 189)
On the base of the results I offer a number of suggestions that the church
can consider in formulating an effective ministry to dropouts:
1. Have a list of the local church dropouts available
37
Pastor or the clerk of the church should keep a record containing names
and addresses those removed from church membership and reasons for their
dropouts. It is also important in the case when a former member is requesting
reinstatement. “The church where the person is requesting reinstatement must seek
information from the former church as to the reasons for which the person was
removed from church membership.” (Church Manual, 2000, p. 189)
2. Keep in touch with dropouts
Each of the former members has his/her own story. If someone does not
wish our visitation we should respect it. But there are some of the former members
from our congregations who are opened to visitation and discussion. Pastors or
church elders should maintain such personal contacts with dropouts. The election
of a deacon for ministry to former members may be very appropriate in some
churches. Sometimes sending a birthday card or New Year greetings can be
helpful to create kind of social attachment between a former member and the
church.
3. Show interest in their returning to the church
From the reactions of dropouts written in their letters and the
questionnaires I can say that we do not have to be afraid of the open discussion
about sensitive questions regarding their leaving the church. The vast majority of
them want to share their feelings, attitudes and stories. We – as the church –
should take the initiative and invite them with sensitivity to come back.
The factors contributing to dropouts in this study should serve as the base
for creating the dropout-prevention strategy. This strategy should be built on:
1. assimilation of new members
2. fostering a personal relationship with God
38
3. make lifestyle standards relevant to today
Further study is needed how assimilation can be linked with a new
approach to evangelisation. There is the need for a holistic approach to
evangelisation. Pastors, evangelists, administrators and church members need to
focus their attention not only on pre-baptismal stage of the spiritual life, but also
on to post-baptismal involvement, activities and growth in God´s grace.
Conclusion
Although membership dropout is a problem throughout the Czecho-
Slovakian Union of Seventh-day Adventists, this study was limited only to the
Slovakian Conference. It has revealed new insights about the issue of dropping out
of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Slovakia. I hope that this study can help
the pastors in the Slovak Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Church to
understand former members better and encourage them work on prevention
program in their churches. It is my expectation that this study will be used as a
useful tool for increasing awareness of the dropout problem, in our church in
Slovakia and as a base for further studies and research project on this topic in the
Slovak Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Church.
39
APPENDIX
A. THE QUESTIONNAIRE
A. Personal information
1. Gender Male Female
2. Education
Elementary High school University
3. Year of birth
4. Year of the baptism
5. How long had you been the member of the church?
6. How did you get in contact with the SDA Church?
Brought up in Adventist family Through friend or relative
By reading Adventist books Public evangelism
Health, family-seminar and the like Other ……………
7. What factor influenced your decision for the church the most?
Loving atmosphere in the local church
Doctrines (prophecies)
Activities of the church (mission, charity)
Friendship and personal interest
Other ……………
8. What was your motivation for attending worship services?
Fellowship
If I have stayed at home I would have felt guilty
Tradition, routine
It was my duty
I felt well
40
Listening to God´s Word
The Bible says so
Other ……………
B. Period before baptism
1. How long had you been thought Adventist beliefs before the baptism?
1-3 months 4-6 months
7-12 months 13 months and more
2. How long had you attended a congregation before the baptism?
1-3 months 4-6 months
7-12 months 13 months and more
3. Was this period of time sufficient to become acquainted with
Adventist doctrines and the church life?
Yes No
4. As regard your decision for the baptism did you feel you were under
pressure?
Yes No
If yes, it was pressure of:
Pastor Evangelist
Parents Circumstances
Other ……………
5. Was your decision for the baptism motivated by fear?
Yes No
If yes, it was fear of
41
The end of the World
If I am not baptised I would not be saved
I did not want to disappoint the people around me
Other ……………
6. Do you feel that your decision for the baptism was premature?
Yes No
7. Did you feel that before baptism there were some doctrines or church
standards not enough explained or even intentionally hidden in order
not to discourage you from joining the church?
Yes No
8. What did you find most disturbing as regards to the period of
preparation of the people for the baptism and joining the church?
C. Reasons and situation after leaving
1. What reasons have caused your dropout?
a. Theological and church-organisational
Contradiction between Adventist beliefs and the Bible
Conservative attitudes of the SDA church towards some
theological questions
Excessive emphasis on the law and its standards
Deflection from historical Adventism
Secularisation of the church
I do not consider SDA Church neither as a prophetic
movement nor the remnant church any more
Distrust of the church leadership
42
Other ……………
b. Personal and relational
Loss of the faith in God
Loss of the original enthusiasm
I could not express freely my opinions in the church
In the church I could not find help in solving my personal
problems
Coldness and lukewarmness of members
I did not find a fulfilment of my spiritual needs
The lack of personal relationship to God
Personal conflict with a church member
Marriage with an unbelieving partner
Hindrances from relatives
Other ……………
c. Moral
Extramarital sexual relationship
Divorce
Other ……………
2. When you got through some spiritual crises or problems in your life,
with whom you tried to solve them?
Pastor
Church elder
Trustworthy church member
People from other denominations
43
I could not find trustworthy church member
I was not interested
3. How often did you do each of following? (1 – never, 2 – a few times a
year, 3 – at least once a month, 4 – at least once a week, 5 – daily)
Pray other than at church or before meals 1 2 3 4 5
Read the Bible on your own 1 2 3 4 5
Try to encourage someone to believe in Jesus 1 2 3 4 5
Tell someone about the work of God in your life 1 2 3 4 5
4. What were your feelings after the official dropout?
Relief Frustrated Guilty
Bitter Angry Other
5. Have you ever considered about coming back to the church?
Yes No
If yes, what is the main hindrance for such decision?
6. Do you maintain some contacts with the people from the church?
Yes No
7. If the members of the local church invited you to take part in some
informal church activities would you accept the invitation?
Yes No
44
8. Would you wish the visit of a pastor or someone from the local church?
Yes No
9. As regard your lifestyle after leaving the church do you keep some of
church standards you kept during your membership?
Yes No
If yes, which?
10. When you look back how do you evaluate the time you spent in the
church?
11. What is your attitude to the church today?
12. What would you change in the church in order to fulfil its mission?
45
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Publications, 1988.
Bromley, David G. “Religious Disaffiliation: A Neglected Social Process.” In
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Sage Publications, 1988.
Caplowitz, David, and Fred Sherrow. The Religious Dropouts: Apostasy among
College Graduates. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1977.
Corbin, Jordan Vernice. “The Inactive Member: A Reclamation Strategy.” D.Min.
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Cornforth, Fred, and Tim Lale. Ten Who Left. Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press
Publishing Association, 1995.
Cornwall, M., S. L. Albrecht, P. H. Cunningham, and B. L. Pitcher. ”The
Dimensions of Religiousity: A Conceptual Model with an Empirical Test.”
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Detamore, Fordyce W. Seeking His Lost Sheep. Nashville, Tennessee: Southern
Publishing Association, 1965.
Dudley, Roger L. Why Our Teenagers Leave the Church. Hagerstown, MD:
Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2000.
Hadaway, Kirk C. “Five Types of Apostates”, Urban Mission, January 1992.
Hadaway, Kirk C., and Wade Clark Roof, “Apostasy in American Churches:
Evidence from National Survey Data.” In Falling from the Faith, ed. David.
G. Bromley, 29-46. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1988.
46
Hoge, Dean R. “Why Catholics Drop Out.” In Falling from the Faith, ed. David. G.
Bromley, 81-99. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1988.
Hunsberger, Bruce E. “Apostasy: A Social Learning Perspective.” Review of
Religious Research, September 1983.
Lewis, Clinton P. “Falling From the Faith: Causes of Membership Dropout in the
Grenada Mission of Seventh-day Adventists.” D.Min. dissertation, Andrews
University, 1997.
Perry, Everett L., James H. Davis, Ruth T. Doyle, and John E. Dyble. “Toward a
Typology of Unchurched Protestants.” Review of Religious Research 21,
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Roof, Wade Clark, and C. Kirk Hadaway. “Shifts in Religious Preference-The
Mid-seventies.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 18, 1977, 409-
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