A strategic program for improving membership retention in Harare City Center District

Abstract

For Seventh-day Adventists, membership retention is imperative towards their mission fulfilment. The challenge of membership loss affects the church’s mission activities. Hence, God is concerned about the loss of members as He expressed through the three parables: the lost sheep; the lost coin; and the prodigal son (Luke 15). The task of finding lost members, feeding and folding them, is a dual responsibility of both the Church leaders and other established Christian believers. Findings from the reviewed literature and conducted surveys, determined the development of a Team Ministry program as a strategy to improve membership retention. The program commenced with a series of trainings. Some of the topics discussed during trainings include: “Mission and Church Membership Trends, Building Team Ministry for Reclaiming the Lost, Building Team Ministry for Spiritual Growth, and Holistic Small Groups.”Three types of evaluation were used to measure the effect of the program: activity, impact and summative. Team ministries were established at each local church. Participants appreciated the proposed action plans. As a result, some backslidden members were reclaimed. There is significant improvement on the part of church members’ involvement in church activities. Such benefit might be credited to the function of Team Ministry. The researcher recommends Team Ministry as a strategic program to improve membership retention.