Recent reports say that for the first time our denomination is actually getting smaller. The truth was that we have been a lot smaller than we are. (See this article quoting Southeastern President Danny Aiken) What I mean is that despite the fact that the SBC claims more than 16 million members, we are far smaller than that. Why? Because churches usually have many more members on their roll than they really have actively invovled. For example High Peak Baptist Church claims nearly 400 members. But if we had half that in our Sunday service we’d feel like we were being overrun on that day. We are not that big. So how big is the SBC. If all of the other churches have the same percentage we do, then it is likly more like 8 million.
So what do we do about it? For our part we need to be honoest about who we have. If you are a member of our church but have not been here in ages, come. Be honest and act like a member by showing yourself. We’d love to have you back. If you know someone who is a member but doesn’t come, call them or write to them. Tell them we are desperately looking for our members. We need them. Tell them to come home. Finally, we may need to get lean but cutton off some drag. If we cannot find them, don’t know where they are and haven’t seen them in years, then it is time to let them go.
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I am the pastor of High Peak Baptist Church and I love being here! 
The process of drawing our members back will simply take time. We should expect the missing or absent member to fall into one of at least three simple categories (analytically there’s probably more)
1) Those that will return,
2) Those that will return in time,
3) Those that may never return.
I use this analogy to stress a higher point, and that is the importance of working through our missing / absent member list as quickly as possible through our Go Team outreach.
Why?
To be honest about and rightsize our Church role, so we can get on with the business of reaching those that have been, unreached, unchurched or dechurched, for the coming Kingdom.