High Expectations
Reviewed by Steve Rutledge Vol. XVI, No. 1, January 2003
A review of the book by Thom S. Rainer, Broadman & Holman publishers, 1999, paperback, 210 pages, $13.99
Many new church members soon drop out or move on. Why do they become inactive or go to other churches? What can be done to improve the situation?
If you are concerned about this problem, you will want to read High Expectations by Dr. Thom Rainer of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. The sub-title of the book is “The Remarkable Secret for Keeping People in Your Church.”
Dr. Rainer’s research team studied the effective evangelistic churches in the United States. Then they determined which of the evangelistic churches were successful in retaining their members and keeping them active. It is one thing to win people to Christ, and another to keep them active in the church. The result of the team’s research led to the thesis that churches with high expectations are more likely to retain and assimilate members. The key to retaining members and keeping them active is high expectations.
Some of the things that high expectation churches do that contribute to their members’ continued active participation are:
– High expectation churches expect their members to be Christians. Rainer’s research shows something very amazing. It shows that about 19 percent of nonevangelistic churches in America neither require nor expect persons to be Christians to join! However, 69% of the evangelistic churches require it, asking pointed questions about each prospective member’s salvation experience, and the other 31% expect it. Further, about 4 out of 10 evangelistic churches require a new believer to give his or her testimony of conversion in a public setting.
– Some of the highly effective churches require each new member to sign a covenant as a requirement of membership. The covenants vary, of course. Some specify that the member will attend worship weekly and tithe his or her income to the church. Others may have a statement about doctrinal agreement. Still others include statements about what to do when there is conflict with the pastor or another member. 7 % of the evangelistic churches require that a covenant be signed, and another 11 % expect each member to sign one. Rainer’s research showed that where signing a church covenant is required, retention is extremely effective. “Indeed, the churches with required covenant signings were more than twice as effective in assimilation compared to the other churches in our study” (p. 63).
– One more thing that was discovered to be very helpful in the retention of new members is a new members class. Churches that have a new members class and expect new members to attend have a higher membership retention rate. However, those churches that have a new members class and require persons to go through it before they are accepted into membership have the highest retention rate. In fact, in churches where one must go through the new members class to become a member, not only did the church have a high rate of retention of new members, but the average attendance of the church increased by a number greater than the number of new members received! The required new members class seems to add to the general “high expectations” atmosphere of the whole church, and influences many to be faithful.
“High expectations” is Rainer’s way of talking about churches that believe membership is a serious responsibility for the churches and the members.
Dr. Thom Rainer is the dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also the president of Rainer Group Church Consulting. His many books include The Book of Church Growth, Eating the Elephant, Giant Awakenings, The Bridger Generation, and Surprising Insights from the Unchurched.
If you would like access to other book reviews by Steve Rutledge, please go to www.ngba.org/Resources/bookreviews.htm.