Demographics: Gender

18-2464

15.5%

25-3271

17.2%

33-3983

20.1%

40-4676

18.4%

47-5248

11.7%

53-5938

9.2%

60-6513

3.2%

66-729

2.2%73+10

2.4%

Demographic Information (Age) -- Former Members

18-24129

36.6%

25-3268

19.3%

33-3958

16.5%

40-4638

10.8%

47-5225

7.1%

53-5917

4.8%

60-657

2.0%

66-727

2.0%

73+3

0.9%

Demographic Information (Age) -- Returned Members

Single100

25.6%

Married207

53.1%

Living w/ partner27

6.9%

Separated18

4.6%

Divorced28

7.2%

Remarried10

2.6%

Demographic Information (Marital Status) -- Former Members

Single140

40.8%

Married144

42.0%

Living w/ partner21

6.1%

Separated15

4.4% Divorced19

5.5%

Remarried4

1.2%

Demographic Information (Marital Status) -- Returned Members

First Contact with theSeventh-day Adventist Church

• 30% Raised as an Adventist• 28% Through a friend, relative, neighbor or coworker• 23% Through public evangelism• 8% Someone going door to door• 4% Through an Adventist school• 4% From literature• 2% Humanitarian and health ministries• 2% Through an Adventist institution• 1% From a music group• 1% From the Internet• >% From a radio or television ministry• 4% Other things

Religion Before Joining the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Raised an Adventist by parent(s)153

21.8%

Influence of relatives other than parents

8412.0%

Romantic relationship that didn’t lead to marriage

152.1%

Marriage32

4.6%

Influence of friends88

12.6%

Attended Adventist primary/secondary school27

3.9%

Attended Adventist college/university

131.9%

Evangelistic campaign84

12.0%

Small group ministry24

3.4%

Personal Bible study66

9.4%

TV or internet ministry6

0.9%

Adventist literature (books/periodicals)

233.3%

Positive encounter with a SDA institution

202.9%

Sabbath School30

4.3%

Pathfinder/Youth group36

5.1%

Most Important Avenues to becoming SDA (First ranking)

Raised an Adventist by parent(s)9

3.4%Influence of relatives other than

parents35

13.2%Romantic relationship that didn’t

lead to marriage8

3.0%

Marriage7

2.6%

Influence of friends38

14.3%

Attended Adventist primary/secondary school

155.6%

Attended Adventist college/uni-versity

83.0%

Evangelistic campaign30

11.3%

Small group ministry9

3.4%

Personal Bible study42

15.8%

TV or internet ministry4

1.5%

Adventist literature (books/period-icals)17

6.4%

Positive encounter with a SDA insti-tution

103.8%

Sabbath School16

6.0%

Pathfinder/Youth group18

6.8%

Most Important Avenues to becoming SDA (Second ranking)

Raised an Adventist by parent(s)1

0.7%

Influence of relatives other than parents8

5.7%

Romantic relationship that didn’t lead to marriage

10.7%Marriage

21.4%

Influence of friends16

11.4%Attended Adventist primary/

secondary school6

4.3%

Attended Adventist college/uni-versity

42.9%

Evangelistic campaign19

13.6%

Small group ministry11

7.9%

Personal Bible study17

12.1%

TV or internet ministry2

1.4%

Adventist literature (books/period-icals)11

7.9%

Positive encounter with a SDA insti-tution

42.9%

Sabbath School22

15.7%

Pathfinder/Youth group16

11.4%

Most Important Avenues to becoming SDA (Third ranking)

Raised an Adventist by parent(s)1

0.8%Influence of relatives other than parents

32.5%

Romantic relationship that didn’t lead to marriage2

1.7%Influence of friends

1512.4%

Attended Adventist primary/secondary school

65.0%

Attended Adventist college/uni-versity

21.7%

Evangelistic campaign9

7.4%

Small group ministry7

5.8%

Personal Bible study13

10.7%

TV or internet ministry4

3.3%

Adventist literature (books/period-icals)19

15.7%

Positive encounter with a SDA insti-tution

75.8%

Sabbath School15

12.4%

Pathfinder/Youth group18

14.9%

Most Important Avenues to becoming SDA (Fourth ranking)

Influence of relatives other than parents6

5.4%Romantic relationship that didn’t lead

to marriage4

3.6%

Marriage3

2.7%Influence of friends

1210.8%

Attended Adventist primary/secondary school

21.8%

Attended Adventist college/university3

2.7%Evangelistic campaign

98.1%

Small group ministry7

6.3%

Personal Bible study17

15.3%

TV or internet ministry4

3.6%

Adventist literature (books/period-icals)

1311.7%

Positive encounter with a SDA insti-tution

76.3%

Sabbath School12

10.8%

Pathfinder/Youth group12

10.8%

Most Important Avenues to becoming SDA (Fifth ranking)

What most attracted you when you decided to join the Adventist Church?

40%

19%

7%

12%

23%

29%

21%

31%

37%

52%

72%

56%

My needs

Charisma ofpreacher

Doctrines

Friendship

Little or no attraction Some attraction Much attraction

Time from First Contact to Baptism

Five years or more33%

Three orfour years

15%One or

two years13%

Less than a year39%

Number of Years Regularly Attended an Adventist Church

How would you describe the instruction given when you joined the church?

8%

11%

24%

38%

19%

Very little

Inadequate

Enough

Thorough

Very thorough

Daily11832%

1-3 week13938%

1-2 month68

19%

1-4 year40

11%

Frequency of engagement in spiritual activities while Adventist: Personal Bible study – Former Members

Daily94

32%

1-3 week12442%

1-2 month46

16%

1-4 year30

10%

Frequency of engagement in spiritual activities while Adventist: Personal Bible study – Returned Members

Daily21862%

1-3 week10229%

1-2 month247%

1-4 year103%

Frequency of engagement in spiritual activities while Adventist: Personal prayer – Former Members

Daily19363%

1-3 week85

28%

1-2 month134%

1-4 year145%

Frequency of engagement in spiritual activities while Adventist: Personal prayer – Returned Members

Yes32079%

No246%

I believe scripture has some authority, but less

than Adventists teach266%

I’m not sure348%

Do you still believe in the authority of Scripture, as taught by the Seventh-day Adventist Church? – Former Members

Yes32589%

No8

2%

I believe scripture has some authority, but less

than Adventists teach164%

I’m not sure154%

Do you still believe in the authority of Scripture, as taught by the Seventh-day Adventist Church? – Returned Members

Yes29081%No

185%

I’m not sure52

14%

Do you still believe in the gift of prophesy manifested in Ellen White? – Returned Members

Yes23258%

No57

14%

I’m not sure10927%

Do you still believe in the gift of prophesy manifested in Ellen White? – Former Members

I still considered myself a Christian and was eager to

join a different denomination60

16%

I still considered myself a Christian but did not want to join a different denomination

18247%

I had doubts about certain aspects of Christianity

4411%

I agreed with it in principle, but didn’t like my fellow

Christians very much any-more

5514%

I didn’t want anything more to do with any aspect of it

4311%

What did you think of Christianity at the time you left the Adventist church?

It had just become irrelevant to my life

7217%

I was angry over the way it treated me

8219%

I felt that it was cold and inflexible67

16%

I felt that it lacked integrity in its behavior or theology

358%

I thought highly of it, but felt I could not live up to its standards

10424%

I thought highly of it, but I had lost touch

6816%

What did you think of the Adventist church at the time you left it? – Former Members

It had just become irrelevant to my life

6016%

I was angry over the way it treated me

6217%

I felt that it was cold and inflex-ible48

13%

I felt that it lacked integrity in its behavior or theology

226%

I thought highly of it, but felt I could not live up to its stan-

dards77

21%

I thought highly of it, but I had lost touch

9827%

What did you think of the Adventist church at the time you left it? – Returned Members

Life Events in the Year Leading Up to Decision to Stop Attending

Most Important Reasons WhyDecided to Stop Attending

• 28% No big issue; I just drifted away• 25% Lack of compassion for the hurting• 19% Moral failure on my part• 18% I did not fit in• 14% Too much focus on minor issues• 13% Conflict in the congregation• 12% Moral failures of members• 11% Moral failures of leaders• 11% Pressure from family or friends• 10% Race, ethnic or tribal issues

Most Important Reasons WhyDecided to Stop Attending

• 8% Few members of my age group• 7% Legalistic attitudes• 6% Pastor was dictatorial• 6% Church did not do much to help the poor• 5% I did not believe some doctrines• 5% Unrealistic demands on members• 4% Low standards• 3% The worship was not very spiritual• 3% Too much asking for money• 2% Church voted to drop me from membership• 1% Apostate ideas were promoted

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

What event triggered your decision to leave? (Listed in weighted rank order) – Primary

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

What event triggered your decision to leave? (Listed in weighted rank order) – Secondary

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

What event triggered your decision to leave? (Listed in weighted rank order) – Minor Factor

Perceiv

ed hyp

ocrisy

in other church

mem

bers

Marital

difficulties

Lack o

f frien

ds in th

e church

High lev

el of co

nflict in lo

cal ch

urch

Other fam

ily co

nflicts

Personal

conflict

with lo

cal ch

urch m

ember(

s)

Prolonge

d doubts about A

dventist d

octrines

Moved to

a new

city/c

hurch

Divorce

Dislike

of worsh

ip styles

Personal

conflict

with SD

A authorit

y outsi

de local

church

Decisio

ns take

n by high

er lea

ders

Personal

conflict

with past

or

Prolonge

d doubts ab

out the t

ruth of C

hristian

ity

Dislike

of prea

ching (

sermons)

Prolonge

d doubts ab

out the e

xisten

ce of G

od

Local past

or was

moved to

another

congrega

tion

Death of p

arent(s

)

Death of o

ther fam

ily mem

ber(s)

Other

What event triggered your decision to leave? (weighted)

Minor FactorSecondary Factor

Primary Factor

What Happened When They Stopped Attending Church

• 40% No one contacted me• 19% A church member came to visit me• 17% A local elder came to visit me• 15% A local church member contacted me by phone• 10% An Adventist relative made contact• 9% The pastor came to visit me• 6% The pastor contacted me by phone or Email• 3% An Adventist, not a local member contacted me• 2% I received a letter in the mail• O.3% Printed material was mailed to me

Is your name still on the membership list?

Did you decide to withdraw or were you expelled from the church?

Happy memories, “but not for me anymore”

18656%

Bittersweet60

18%

Don’t care57

17%

Hostile175%

Actively opposed113%

How do you presently feel about Adventism? – Former Members

Likely13536%

Somewhat likely79

21%

Somewhat unlikely46

12%

Very unlikely46

12%

Depends on cir-cumstances of ap-

proach70

19%

How would you rate your openness to reconnect? – Former Members

Yes -- Likely18662%

No -- Likely279%

Yes -- Unlikely66

22%

No -- Unlikely227%

Table 37: Correlation between Visitations after leaving and openness to reconnect with the Church -- Former Members

No -- Likely73

24%

Yes -- Likely14146%

No -- Unlikely34

11%

Yes -- Unlikely58

19%

Table 38: Correlation between social relationships with Adventists and Openness to reconnect -- Former Members

Conclusion

• Luke 15: 1–7 – when one per cent of the flock is lost, the Good Shepherd searches tirelessly & relentlessly until the sheep is found, then bears it on his shoulder homeward and calls friends in to celebrate.

• We are missing many more than one sheep of every hundred.

• Can we do less than Our Lord?