Closing the Back Door

One of the harder issues to deal with as a church is the "back door". It is hard for a number of reasons, people are leaving unhappy, it feels personal, etc. And one discussion you will find yourself having is how do we "Close the Back Door." The danger in that question is that if you really want to answer it, you will find yourself, your energy, your staff trying to please lots of different request and you can easily get off mission. Let me offer that a suggestion for a better question: why are people going through the back door it?

If people are leaving because of lack of care, connection, etc. those are really things we need to be concerned about.

If people are leaving because the mission, values, and uniqueness of the church doesn't match with them ... then it really is best for the church and those who are leaving to leave.

As a church you need to wrestle with this issue and obviously you want to keep everyone who comes, but when there is a choice to be made ... stay true to the DNA of you church. All churches will have a back door, do your best to make sure that the back door is positive back door ... it is positive because you are so clear on mission and DNA as a church, some know there is a better place for them.