Lost Sheep

"Oh, where oh where have our church members gone? Oh, what, oh, what are they doing?"

Maybe our church is unique, but I do not think so. I fear this is a wide-spread trend. During the Winter our attendance suffers because of the cold, bad weather. During the Summer it suffers because of vacations, the lake and just over-all laziness. Our attendance is always much better in the Spring and Fall.

Why is it that some folks feel they only need church two seasons a year? I love all of the excuses!!! All of the church members are important. Anytime anyone misses, there is a missing link to the puzzle. I wonder what they would do if the pastor and pastor’s wife decided they would just like to sleep in one Sunday???

We have tried planning “special activities” to bring them in especially during the summer, but that still does not work.

Do not get me wrong….our faithful members are their year round for most if not all of the services. However, we have a large chunk of members that are part-time members.

Maybe they are stronger than me and maybe they do not get as hungry as I do. I could not survive without being fed every Sundays and every Wednesday. I can not imagine going weeks without food.

The little town that we live in still has the snow cone trucks that go around the neighborhoods playing their music and drawing folks out to the truck to buy snow cones in the hot weather. Maybe we need to get us a truck with a large billboard and drive it around the neighborhood of the church, while playing the music of “Oh, where, oh, where have our church member gone….”

Smile. <