Reapers and Keepers:

The Church Needs a

Proper Balance

Keepers
The SDA church is very good in bringing
people into the church, hich is evangelis!"
#oever, it is very poor in $eeping
the! in the church a%ter they beco!e
!e!bers o% church hich is nurturing"
This is true o% the SDA church orld
ide, as ell as in PN&"
There%ore, the need %or $eepers"

The Reasons %or Keepers
There are to reasons %or $eeping and
conserving the harvest" These are:
'" (cclesiological ) church
*" Biblical + teachings o% the Bible
,n this discussion e are going to loo$
at the ecclesiastical rationale"

The &ood Nes ) Church
The church is groing at a rate o% *-./
ne !e!bers per day as per report given at
the Annual Council on 0ct 1)'2 by the Bert
#alovia$ director o% the o%%ice o% archive and
statistic at the &eneral Con%erence"
'3 ne congregations are %or!ed every
day"
As o% 0ctober last year 4*5526 ',555,555
!e!bers ere added to the SDA church orld
ide"

The Challenge o% the Church
7orld 7ide

7hile the church orld ide added ' !illion to the

church as o% Septe!ber *552, the &eneral Secretary
o% the &eneral Con%erence reported in the sa!e
!eeting that 358 o% the people ho 9oin the church
later leave it"

This !eans %or every '55 people e bapti:ed, e

loose 35 people, and %or every '555 people e loose
355" Thus %or the ',555,555 souls e bapti:ed last
year e ould loose 355,555 o% the! through
apostasy" This the biggest challenge o% the SDA
church orld ide"

The South Paci%ic Division

The &eneral Secretary o% the SPD in his

year)end report in 7ahroonga in *553
reported that the apostasy rate %or the
South Paci%ic Division as 3-8

This !eans %or every '55 people e bapti:ed

e loose 3- o% the!"

This is higher than the orld church o% 358"

This is a challenge %or the SDA church in the

South Paci%ic Division.

Papua Ne &uinea ;nion
<ission

<y Andres ;niversity dissertation groth and

apostasy %ro! '1-2 to '112 reveals that %or a *5
year period"

'1-2 the church !e!bership stands as 2','33

'112 the church !e!bership stands as '.1,/1/

The average baptis! %or the period as -,/1.

The average apostasy %or the period as ',.23

=oss rate o% *'8 annually %or the period )'1-2 to

'112

This !eans %or every '55 people e bapti:ed e

lost *' o% the! through apostasy.

Papua Ne &uinea ;nion
<ission

The &eneral Secretary o% the SPD reports in SP

Record >Proble! o% &roth in PN&? @anuary *',
*553, 2"

>The church in PN& is not groing" At as it see!s" This is

the !ost surprising aspect o% the report presented to the
!e!bers o% the SPD eAecutive co!!ittee"?

*55* PN&;< reported 233B 9oined the church

through baptis!"

*55* PN&;< reported 2//. le%t the church

)apostasy

The loss is greater than the accession.

Papua Ne &uinea ;nion
<ission <e!bership and
=oss Statistics
January December Bapt. Apost. Miss.
2001 207480 214456 7431 403 841
2002 214456 214129 4338 4665
2003 214129 216282 9032 1635 6520
!e "oss #or 2003 is 8155 $!ic! is a "oss o# 90.29%

<ar$ Cinley Progra!

#o !any people did e bapti:edD

#o !any people are still in the churchD

The local churches in the city should

anser these to Euestions seriously"

, suggest that the anser !ight not be

too encouraging"

7hy donFt you go bac$ to your churches

and %ind out the statistics to tell us ho
e are doing"

The Conclusion

Pr @a!es Cress !inisterial secretary o% the &eneral

Con%erence says in the annual council 40ct" 1)'26, >7e need
to pray that that the =ord ill send $eepers" And urges
pastors and elders that our or$ is not co!pleted hen people
are bapti:ed"?

>The call to outreach and the call to nurture are both vital
part o% our !ission" ,gnore either and our !ission is distorted
and unhealthy" The church in session 0ct" 1)'2 sought to
address the to 4reapers and $eepers6 a balancing act orthy
o% our support"?

Ne %unda!ental 4*B6 >groing in Christ? ill be on the

agenda o% the &eneral Con%erence this year" =i$e baptis! is
one o% our %unda!entals nurturing ill no be one o% our
%unda!entals a%ter the *55. &eneral Con%erence" This is ho
serious the SDA church is ta$ing the nurturing o% the ne
believers"