The Seventh-day Adventist Church “has a very large agenda to engage” in dealing with things that keep—and repel—members, as well as those that nurture Christian growth, a new survey, presented Oct. 10 to the church’s Annual Council, reveals.

“The church faces large challenges in retaining its youth, speaking to the secular mind, dealing with population growth and encouraging members to remain faithful by maintaining a rich devotional life,” declared Dr. Roger Dudley, director of the Adventist Theological Seminary’s Institute of Church Ministry in Berrien Springs, Michigan. The 81-question survey was sent to 408 leaders of church regional and local units, executives in education and health care, and others. Departmental directors were also given the opportunity to participate in the survey, if regional leaders chose to make copies for them. In all, 294 leaders and 132 others who also received survey copies sent in completed forms.

The “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats,” or “SWOT,” survey, was conducted by the Institute at the request of the world church’s Strategic Planning Commission, which has long sought “data to use in helping the Adventist Church move into the future in a manner that will maximize its mission to the world,” as Dudley explained.

The departure of young members—in North America, it’s estimated that 40 percent to 50 percent of teenagers baptized either leave the denomination or become inactive by their mid-20s—is also apparently a concern in the church’s 12 other world regions. The influence of postmodern, secular and affluent societies was seen as a threat to membership growth by 75 percent of world church leaders. Third among weaknesses was the perception that only 50 percent of members are actively involved in Bible study and prayer.

The fact that Seventh-day Adventists have a Biblical basis for their doctrines, offer a message of hope, and are a multi-cultural church were cited as the top three strengths of the church. Cited as offering the greatest opportunities for church growth, were: openness to the church’s message, more technology by which that message can be communicated, and a recognition that people in situations of “personal transition” in their lives are more open to the gospel.

The major threats to the church were an increasing growth in secularism, and two societal factors: faster population growth—more people to be reached—and increasing poverty worldwide, which could cause problems for church finances.

Dr. Richard C. Osborn, president of the church’s Pacific Union College in Angwin, California, United States, supported the report, but also urged the church to consider as “high priority to correct [the] problem” of such great numbers of youth leaving the church. He said that it was important for the world church leadership to consider “what to do to transfer the young people from colleges to congregational life,” but also told ANN that leaders need to consider other factors in the loss of young people after college years.

“The report is one thing,” he told ANN, “but addressing the issues raised is another. It seems that the [membership] losses occurred in the transitioning process from attending institutional churches [on a campus] to finding a suitable local church. Issues of worship style and acceptance at the local church seemed to be the critical points.”

Osborn said a key factor for young people are their ties back to the local church community. Those coming from—and going to—churches with strong ethnic concentrations are more likely to remain affiliated than those who go to churches without that common bond.