Strategies to Maintain new Converts in the SDA church, a case of Lwalaba Station in the East Congo Union Mission

Abstract

Statistical Reports of Lwalaba Station membership shows a deplorable loss of members in its districts. It is sad to notice church members entering the church and disappearing after a certain time. Many churches which had a prosperous growth in membership have experienced a decrease of church members year after year. This has been a great concern for most church leaders because they cannot open new branches. Basing on this fact, the study is meant to identify be the real causes of this critical decrease of membership in Lwalaba Station, and suggest strategies that pastors can use to stop this trend and effect church growth. In the introduction of the study, a response to the issue was anticipated. Thus, the following hypotheses were formulated: First, the decrease of church membership could be attributed to lack of personal spiritual growth caused by the following factors: lack of personal Bible study, family devotion, and fellowship among church members. Second, the decrease of new converts could be attributed to the following causes: lack of new members’ training, non-involvement in church activities, lack of visitation, pastoral care and counseling. Findings revealed that the main causes of new converts backsliding are: (1) Lack of private Bible studies, (2) Non-involvement of new converts in church activities, (3) Lack of pastoral care and counseling, and (4) Lack of daily family devotion and nurturing. With the aim of providing a solution the following strategies were made in order to maintain new converts in the church:(1) Equipping church members for individual bible studies, (2) Involving new converts in church activities, (3) Increasing house to house visitations for pastoral care and counseling, (4) Teaching church members the importance of daily family devotion.