I had a meeting once where eleven members needed to be removed from Church membership in terms of the Church constitution -- for non-attendance. I approached them all before the meeting, and spoke with them specifically about their Church attendance. But had I made it explicit, asked the meeting, that they would be removed? Well no, I said. I thought that was clear. That was not good enough, said the meeting. I had to approach them again, and make it explicit. OBSERVATION: I would make two observations. Firstly, one sees here how a minister works "in synthesis" with the Church. Secondly, none of the second attempts bore fruit. In fact there is not one person I can think of in decades of ministry who was restored more than fleetingly, once they had fallen away. This raises the question as to the best use of time for a minister. This is something that was first highlighted by Rick Warren.
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