Membership management is the foundation of the church militant’s ability to get things done. Strong membership management improves pastoral care opportunities.
The pastor is doing this daily for the sake of the man who follows him. He is working on it in collaboration with his Council / BoE. Is it easier in a small congregation? Of course. Is it harder in a large congregation? Yes. Scale and adapt accordingly because your congregation is as unique as a fingerprint.
If the pastor is relying on his phone contact list, he is unaware of actual and developing trends, even in a small congregation. The church will be unable to deliver its annual report. The church leadership will only have a vague idea about actual delinquencies. Everything will be and feel informal with the contingent problems.
Data management is very easy to accomplish with a bit of time and effort, most of it at the start.
I’ve seen first hand the shenanigans that can ensue when “members” who haven’t been there for a long time are “mobilized” and come to church for the first time in a long time to help bolster the numbers in a contentious vote. I’ve seen it cause churches to split and one even imploded. You cannot be too careful. Don’t assume it can’t happen in your congregation.
What a great point! It's not enough to fortify your congregation against potential insta-voting by church raiders, but you have to set limits on when and how delinquent members can vote.
Yes, indeed. Every pastor should work on the assumption that he is going to hand off to a new man one day. In too many cases, the previous shepherd is no longer around to tell the new shepherd about the flock, where the wolves are, to look out for certain goats, and to take special care of certain lambs.
The pastor is doing this daily for the sake of the man who follows him. He is working on it in collaboration with his Council / BoE. Is it easier in a small congregation? Of course. Is it harder in a large congregation? Yes. Scale and adapt accordingly because your congregation is as unique as a fingerprint.
If the pastor is relying on his phone contact list, he is unaware of actual and developing trends, even in a small congregation. The church will be unable to deliver its annual report. The church leadership will only have a vague idea about actual delinquencies. Everything will be and feel informal with the contingent problems.
Data management is very easy to accomplish with a bit of time and effort, most of it at the start.
I’ve seen first hand the shenanigans that can ensue when “members” who haven’t been there for a long time are “mobilized” and come to church for the first time in a long time to help bolster the numbers in a contentious vote. I’ve seen it cause churches to split and one even imploded. You cannot be too careful. Don’t assume it can’t happen in your congregation.
What a great point! It's not enough to fortify your congregation against potential insta-voting by church raiders, but you have to set limits on when and how delinquent members can vote.
If I may add one more reason to keep good records, It is nice for an incoming pastor to have some idea of who his sheep are!
Yes, indeed. Every pastor should work on the assumption that he is going to hand off to a new man one day. In too many cases, the previous shepherd is no longer around to tell the new shepherd about the flock, where the wolves are, to look out for certain goats, and to take special care of certain lambs.