Inactive members

[Threeve]

I know most of us wonder how to reach out to an inactive member. As some one who was inactive for a while, I found it offensive when church members would say "it's because she didn't read the scriptures enough" or "oh, she must have found some "anti" material." Which would insult me, and make me even more reluctant to come back to church. Somes times, that's true, but not most cases.

It's best to understand some one in order to help them right?

I found this you tube video that explains why some members "fall away" and what you can do to help them, and what is not helpful.

WARNING: It's long. It takes forever, it's a boring slide show. You may want to just want to FF to the next slide after you read it.

[Mahone]

...or "oh, she must have found some "anti" material."

I don't see this as a bad thing. If I can get a view of both sides of the coin, then I will. Then I'll make up my mind and form my own opinions based on what I have read from both points of view. Normally in life, you would chose to do research on any organisations or businesses that you are going to spend large parts of your life dealing or associating with. You'd then read what they say about themselves and then make your decisions. For a lot of people, the church is different - you are considered to be in the wrong if you dare seek information which could be considered to show the church in a negative light.

In my opinion, the church is no different. I'll reseach them just like I research any other organisation. The fact that the church does generally recommend not to do this doesn't really do much to help get rid of the negative bias a lot of people have regarding the church - it just emphasizes to them that the church has something to hide, whether that is true or not.

Edited October 4, 2009 by Mahone