why would a minister?

Question

why would a minister leave people on the church roll even when they have been gone for 10-15 year's and many have told him they have moved their member ship?

just wondering he handles every thing in the church but removeing their names off the roll's

Answer 1

to make his congragation look bigger

Answer 2

the same reason why people change their church affiliation, like they change their street address on driver's licenses.

Granted the church roll is not a mandated legal issue like a driver's license, but it did used to be in social settings. Even today, many families "transfer" their membership from one church to the next, instead of starting over. Like if you attended St Mark UMC and move to a new city and begin attenging St Luke UMC, the UMC membership would move with the family.

It is purely a social situation, left over from a day and time when the church had a lot of political power. To keep people on the church roll, allows those people to always claim a church home. For whatever reason. In some instances, family members did not have any other way to get in touch with their loved ones except through the church roll. Or in the past, those people were able to claim sanctuary within that specific church.

It is more of a luxury than a requirement today but it does show the compassion of human kindness.

Answer 3

Actually depending on the denomination, the pastor or minister does not run most of the churches affaris, he is there to help with spiritual issues. Smaller churches may have or allow the pastor to do the office affairs but most larger churches have church managers, officer managers, and office staff.
grounds keepers and the such.

Also some churches the senior warden ( or deacon) my handle the actual day to day operation of the physcial aspect of the church. Or it is a committe that runs certain actvities.

And in some faiths, there is a opinion that once a member always a member ( esp if they are going to some other denomination)

Answer 4

Maybe in his mind they are still members of the church even though they don't happen to attend services there since the church is a spiritual body of believers no matter where the people happen to be located here on earth. It could be that he wants to remember their names and he still prays for them or something like that.

Answer 5

Hope springs eternal I guess! Records need to be kept medically from between 7 to 10 years so maybe he's thinking about that. If anything happens to the person in the meantime, the minister could be called for service. It is up to the person themselves to have their records in order in case of emergencies. If they have found another 'minister' their own reference would count, or if they have no 'minister' hospitals, etc like to be able to call upon someone to help if necessary.

Answer 6

Because a church is like a family, and whether you went to that church for 2 weeks or 20 years, you you will always be a part of that "family".

Answer 7

Laziness maybe. A political ego. I'm not sure if their is a tax cut for a non-profit organization determined by number of members. There could be countless possibilities.

Answer 8

If he belongs to a main stream denomination it may have something to do with salary and the main office keeping that particular Church open.

Answer 9

Have you checked the church's cemetery for unmarked graves? Maybe those people are still on the church register, too. Really, though, what's the big deal?

Answer 10

People want to claim that their church is big. Some people only want to go to large churches. Your support network is bigger.

Answer 11

Maybe it is not the minister who handles this chore, but rather a volunteer.