I know very well that feeling of sadness that falls on the pastors of small churches, when they arrive at their churches on Sundays and notice low attendance. I know frustration and disappointment well, but not the desire to quit. Because nobody told us that this path would be easy, much more when the place where you are has certain characteristics that are impossible to ignore and because things that are happening and you cannot control definitely affect you.
Although the pandemic effect has been the catalyst for a statistic that falls in almost all churches, this is a reality with which we have all lived in some way. Perhaps because people come to our cities with the exclusive objective of working and getting ahead and the time to congregate is complicated by work, commitments, or because they move very easily from one state to another, from city to city. Perhaps because their model of a church or a pastor does not fit with the one, they knew in their homeland.
The truth is that for those of us who have pastored in other Latin American countries, the contrast is brutal. There, the churches were usually full-on Sundays because for most of us was unthinkable to miss the day that God established to worship him. Perhaps that is why the difference between these two scenarios overwhelms us so much. And much more in the face of the new reality imposed on us by a pandemic that, even after a year of battle, has not yet gone away.
What could help overcome the emotional impact on a pastor of this decline in attendance? Perhaps it would be good to pay more attention to those who, despite everything, have faithfully joined our faith project, those who are present. I think that even if they are few, we should give thanks for them.
We should speak with pride about that lady with cancer who does not miss a service even with all the justifications for doing it. Or that child who, despite noticing the absence of his friends on Sundays, asks his mother not to stop taking him to his class. We should give thanks for the only musician who, having so many commitments, helps us unconditionally. I would even give thanks for that sister who due to her work does not attend services, but she stays connected to our videos and sends messages as if to say: I am part of you, I love you and I have not left! It would be great to acknowledge those who care about the future of the church, those who ask how we are sustaining ourselves, and those who fear to think that those who have never returned are accommodated to the idea of staying home on Sundays.
Therefore, I challenge you, pastor, to publish photos of those faithful who accompany you. To tell their stories. To give thanks for them. To focus more on what you have than what you do not have and to let God keep adding those that need to be added while we continue to do our part in the ministry.
"And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" Acts 2:47
