the SDA church declares... and denies.

I came across a recent article (July 2015) in the Adventist Review and this paragraph caught my eye:

“Instead let us focus on what realities we can change—a less than 3% growth rate among non-immigrant North Americans. Let us focus on the realities we must focus on—the bleeding of our youth out the back doors of our church at a rate of more than 50%. Instead of being irritated by what the world votes we may or may not do, let us be irritated to the point of action by the fact that there are an estimated 1 million former Adventists we must love back into the church. Instead of debating incessantly for change outside of the appropriate places for those debates, let us debate among ourselves how we can re-engage a largely inactive membership, so that our church attendance numbers are equal to our reported numbers.”

Such a short statement, but loaded with facts straight from the leadership of this church. An admission of sorts - so to speak.

       1. Growth rate in membership in the North American Division (not counting immigrants) is only 3%.

       2. The rate at which they are losing members from the youth sector through the “back door” is more than 50%.

       3. The number of former SDA members is estimated to be 1 million.

       4. The membership count reported by the church is bloated and untrue.

The article may seem a credible concern for the leaders, but there are some things that are obviously denied.

       1. Lost membership is not limited to the youth. The recent surge in defectors is from the work force rank and file. This includes ordained ministers, teachers and employees of the church’s companies, which certainly do not fall within the “youth” category.

       2. The exit is not through the “back door,” but rather via the front door when the member turns in a letter asking that his name be deleted from the records and sometimes with the church actively kicking out the ‘erring’ member.

       3. The method suggested to attract the former member is to “love them back into the church.” This denies the existing fact that the most common reason why members are defecting, is because of the unbiblical doctrines that originated from the prophetess, which contradict key points in the doctrine of salvation and grace. Loving the former member to make him come back is a losing proposition.

Here’s the link to the article: http://www.adventistreview.org/san-antonio-360/2015-07-09-the-north-american-division%E2%80%99s-new-reality