Are We Commitment-Phobes?

A Protestant pastor and a congregational researcher recently tackled what many have referred to as “the 20/80 problem,” which they define as “20 percent of the members doing 80 percent of the work, while most of the rest do nothing. Is this a problem in the Seventh-day Adventist church?  

Article by Beth Michaels

A Protestant pastor and a congregational researcher recently tackled what many have referred to as “the 20/80 problem,” which they define as “20 percent of the members doing 80 percent of the work, while most of the rest do nothing.” In their 2011 book The Other 80 Percent: Turning Your Church’s Spectators Into Active Participants, the authors use national research, field studies and hundreds of interviews with members of various denominations—some of the most extensive data available to date—to determine a diversity of approaches to the issue.

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                      Think you might be a commitment-phobe? Take our quiz
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The authors determine that some of the main reasons members lack commitment is that they are affected by individualism and consumerism popular in American culture, they have experienced disappointment with their church and lack a willingness to give back, they lack an understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus or their church simply lacks organization and good leadership.

Is this also true in the Seventh-day Adventist Church? Read on to see!

According to some Adventist leaders and members in the Columbia Union, the information is accurate. Eugene Anthony, who pastors Allegheny West Conference’s Berean church in Ashtabula, Ohio, and Mount Zion church in Erie, Pa., says his members have “struggled with time issues, getting to church on time, attending prayer meeting and Sabbath School, fulfilling a two-year office and faithfully returning their tithes.” He also concurs that only 20 percent of his members regularly commit to church positions, and those that do commit usually end up leading more than one department.

Diego Boquer, who pastors Chesapeake Conference’s Glen Burnie and Brooklyn churches in Maryland, says he faces the same challenges but tries to be sensitive to the fact that members face busy lifestyles. “In my experience, the most difficult element to commitment is time, regardless of how well thought out, exciting and well explained the plan is. Everybody is busy,” he says.
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                      Think you might be a commitment-phobe? Take this quiz
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Bonnie Heath, a member of Allegheny East Conference’s Walnut Street Community church in Pottstown, Pa., agrees but says that members need to be honest about how much time they spend in front of a screen (TV, computer, tablet) and on other nonessential activities. Although she, too, is spread thin, she says she will make time and has participated in activities that focus on helping people in need. “I really weigh my willingness to sacrifice my time by the impact it will have and the relevance it has,” she says. “I’m not interested in activities that only involve the church,” or, she adds, hold positions that require a lot of meetings, especially if they aren’t well organized.

Linda Elliott, who has held numerous positions during the past 40 years at Chesapeake Conference’s Atholton church in Columbia, Md., simply made church work a priority, which she notes was a common practice when she started. Now she wishes more people would step forward and realize the blessings they could receive. “It’s fulfilling for me. I grow in every position,” she says.

Is lack of commitment a consistent problem across cultures? Cesar Gonzalez, who pastors three Chesapeake Conference churches in Maryland, says that while he also faces lack of commitment issues, there is a distinct variance between his English and Spanish-language congregations. “There is a definite difference between the two cultures that diminishes as Hispanics assimilate to American culture,” he explains. “I think the reason is that the Hispanic culture is more family- and group-centered. But, as immigrants start to become more successful, they also become more independent from each other. Those ties don’t disappear entirely, however, and I must admit that, as a pastor, I have more leverage with Hispanic members.”

Finding Solutions

To get those inactive 80 percent participating, each pastor has chosen a different approach. Last year Pastor Anthony says he grew so concerned about the problem in his church, that he presented a pointed sermon one Sabbath to address it. He provided numerous Bible texts about the seriousness of taking and keeping a vow, like Ecclesiastes 5:4, and reminded members that committing to follow Christ means choosing to live like Him. “The sermon caused some of them to reflect on their commitment to Christ … and how far they have fallen from that,” he shares. Since getting them thinking, he says many members are experiencing an improved relationship with Christ and are more involved.

See how Pastor Boquer tries to improve member involvement on the next page.

Pastor Boquer tries to improve member involvement through four steps:

• Discovering what each one enjoys doing,
• Being clear about how much time a position or ministry will require,
• Providing specific training and
• Following up with support and recognition.

However, he warns, “You cannot expect people to commit time, resources, talents and their lives to a blurry and cloudy vision or goal. It is not fair to a sincere church member to be persuaded by shame or fear to commit time and energy to a plan or mission that is not well thought out and may well end up in failure and frustration.”

Pastor Gonzalez says he doesn’t aim to change people—“Only the Holy Spirit can do that”—but to provide an environment where the human and divine can meet. “The irony is that people today are looking for the same thing … happiness, inner peace, fulfillment. Even if you take God completely out of the picture, it takes time, energy—in short, commitment—to even begin to achieve these things,” he says.
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                          7 Ways to Rebalance Your Mind and Schedule
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Gonzalez tries to get people to understand that when they commit to the church, they are committing to Christ, but he also realizes this is only successful if church is done correctly. “When people are able to feel the presence of God in a place, there is a value in that experience that completely changes the equation. But people need to commit to get there,” he says. “I think the only thing that will change all of this is when we finally make Jesus the center of our religious experience—not culture (including Adventist culture), not history (personal or otherwise), not politics (especially church politics) and, most of all, our own selfishness.”

Heath believes people need to feel there is purpose in their commitment. She adds, “If lives are going to be changed, if people are going to be reached and have an opportunity to engage with us, then that is going to be impactful.”

Elliott points out that one of the best ways her church has found to get commitment-wary members involved is to start young. “There isn’t a lot of mentorship going on with the youth and young adults, which I think is really important,” she says. After all, it was a mentoring program that set her on a long path of volunteering.

Check out these other articles from the February Visitor:

• 7 Ways to Rewire Your Mind and Schedule
• Are we Breaking Through the Noise?
• 7 Tips for an Effective Evangelistic Campaign