21 Aug 2025, 11:05Emanuel Bran
Every Name Matters: The Redemptive Membership Review
Over recent months, the Secretariat Department of the North England Conference (NEC) has been leading the General Conference’s Redemptive Membership Review (RMR) initiative across our territory.
On paper, it may look administrative. In practice, it has been deeply pastoral.
At its heart, RMR is simple and biblical: notice when someone has drifted to the margins, and respond with care. In Luke 15, Jesus describes a shepherd who counts the flock, spots the gap, and goes after the one until it is found. RMR takes that posture and applies it to church life. Records become ministry tools, and every name on a list is treated as a person loved by God.
Training Across the Field
To equip local churches, the Secretariat team has travelled the breadth of the Conference delivering practical training.
The programme was led by Pastor Emanuel Bran, Executive Secretary of the NEC, alongside Dr Chioma Ikechi Ekpendu, Administrative Secretary and ACMS lead for our territory. Together, they met pastors, church clerks, and ministry leaders at six venues - Newcastle, Mansfield Woodhouse, Salford, Windsor Street South, Leeds Central and Wolverhampton Central - providing hands-on guidance for implementing RMR at local level.
From the outset, the message has been clear: RMR is not about “cleaning the books” for neat statistics. It is about recovery, reconnection, and rejoicing.
When a clerk or elder notices that someone has not been present for a while, that observation is not a tick-box exercise; it is a pastoral prompt. Churches were coached to respond warmly and proportionately - with a phone call from a familiar voice, a handwritten card, a visit arranged in advance, or even a simple offer of help.
The tone matters. This is not a summons, but an invitation back into relationship - carried out prayerfully and gently.
The Church Clerk: From Records to Relationships
A major emphasis of the training was the often-unsung ministry of the local church clerk.
Clerks are known for managing minutes, membership transfers, and statistical returns. But in an RMR culture, those same records become maps for ministry. Up-to-date information helps a church see who is present, who is participating from a distance, who is elderly or housebound, who has moved away, and who may have slipped away during a difficult season.
When clerks work hand-in-glove with pastors and elders, the church can follow up with compassion and direct people towards appropriate support, whether that means joining a small group, arranging transport to services, offering home communion, paying a bereavement visit, or simply providing a listening ear.
Good Data is Good Pastoral Care
Far from being bureaucratic fussiness, good data has a real pastoral impact.
When contact details are current - addresses, phone numbers, preferred methods of contact - communication becomes clearer and kinder. Ministries can plan more effectively, matching real people to real needs. Leaders can identify gifts and invite members to serve in ways that fit their talents and stage of life.
Limited resources like time and finance can then be directed where they make the greatest difference. And when Conference reports are compiled, they reflect the living reality of our congregations - not an idealised memory of years gone by.
Using Technology Responsibly
The Adventist Church Management System (ACMS) remains the authorised repository for membership information. Secure and structured, it helps us steward data responsibly.
Churches were encouraged to keep ACMS records current, to invite members to confirm their details, and to reduce the administrative burden through proactive updates. The point is always pastoral: the database supports relationships, it does not replace them.
A Clear Timeline
The NEC has set a structured schedule for RMR. Early in the year, resources and training materials were developed. Through spring and summer, training was delivered across the field, supported by sample letters, conversation guides, and follow-up pathways. From October to December 2025, local churches are asked to update ACMS records while engaging in redemptive contact and care.
By year’s end, each congregation should have a clearer, kinder picture of its membership - accurate in the system, healthier in real life.
A Whole-Church Effort
While pastors and clerks anchor the work, RMR is not their sole responsibility. Elders contribute relational history that helps conversations land well. Deacons and deaconesses are alert to practical needs that might otherwise be overlooked. Personal Ministries and small groups provide everyday discipleship where people belong, serve, and grow. Youth and Children’s Ministries keep the church attentive to families navigating study, shift work, and tight budgets. Communications volunteers ensure messages reach people in ways that suit them.
Even the quietest member has a part to play - by praying, writing a card, sharing a meal, or offering a lift. When every part of the body contributes, the result is not just a tidy roll, but a stronger fellowship.
Tools That Help, Stories That Inspire
Data is not an end in itself, but a doorway to relationship. With tools such as the 7me app, it becomes easier for members to update their details and stay connected when life changes.
Above all, churches are encouraged to celebrate reconnection stories. Joy fuels momentum and teaches us to expect grace.
How Members Can Help
If you are reading this as a member, you have a part to play. In the coming weeks and months, your leaders may ask you to confirm your contact details or to inquire after a friend they have not seen for a while. Please respond warmly.
If someone comes to mind who could use a call, make it. If your gifts are organisational, lend a hand with data checking. If hospitality is your strength, set an extra place at your table. If reconciliation is needed, pray for a soft heart - and, if you can, take the first step.
Redemptive membership review is not a specialist task for administrators. It is the ordinary work of a family that believes every person matters to God.
Gratitude and Next Steps
The Secretariat Department is deeply grateful for the commitment shown across the NEC: to the churches who hosted training, to the pastors and clerks who attended, and to the many members already putting principles into practice.
As we move towards the implementation phase (October to December), we ask for your continued partnership. Work with your local pastor, clerk, elders, and ministry leaders so that together, we can reach those who may feel forgotten - and equip the church to be more effective in its mission.
In the end, RMR is not about spreadsheets; it is about souls.
It is the Shepherd counting carefully, the search conducted with patience, and the homecoming celebrated with joy. One precious name at a time, by God’s grace, we will help the “lost sheep” find their way home - and rejoice together when they do.
Over recent months, the Secretariat Department of the North England Conference (NEC) has been leading the General Conference’s Redemptive Membership Review (RMR) initiative across our territory.
On paper, it may look administrative. In practice, it has been deeply pastoral.
At its heart, RMR is simple and biblical: notice when someone has drifted to the margins, and respond with care. In Luke 15, Jesus describes a shepherd who counts the flock, spots the gap, and goes after the one until it is found. RMR takes that posture and applies it to church life. Records become ministry tools, and every name on a list is treated as a person loved by God.
Training Across the Field
To equip local churches, the Secretariat team has travelled the breadth of the Conference delivering practical training.
The programme was led by Pastor Emanuel Bran, Executive Secretary of the NEC, alongside Dr Chioma Ikechi Ekpendu, Administrative Secretary and ACMS lead for our territory. Together, they met pastors, church clerks, and ministry leaders at six venues - Newcastle, Mansfield Woodhouse, Salford, Windsor Street South, Leeds Central and Wolverhampton Central - providing hands-on guidance for implementing RMR at local level.
From the outset, the message has been clear: RMR is not about “cleaning the books” for neat statistics. It is about recovery, reconnection, and rejoicing.
When a clerk or elder notices that someone has not been present for a while, that observation is not a tick-box exercise; it is a pastoral prompt. Churches were coached to respond warmly and proportionately - with a phone call from a familiar voice, a handwritten card, a visit arranged in advance, or even a simple offer of help.
The tone matters. This is not a summons, but an invitation back into relationship - carried out prayerfully and gently.
The Church Clerk: From Records to Relationships
A major emphasis of the training was the often-unsung ministry of the local church clerk.
Clerks are known for managing minutes, membership transfers, and statistical returns. But in an RMR culture, those same records become maps for ministry. Up-to-date information helps a church see who is present, who is participating from a distance, who is elderly or housebound, who has moved away, and who may have slipped away during a difficult season.
When clerks work hand-in-glove with pastors and elders, the church can follow up with compassion and direct people towards appropriate support, whether that means joining a small group, arranging transport to services, offering home communion, paying a bereavement visit, or simply providing a listening ear.
Good Data is Good Pastoral Care
Far from being bureaucratic fussiness, good data has a real pastoral impact.
When contact details are current - addresses, phone numbers, preferred methods of contact - communication becomes clearer and kinder. Ministries can plan more effectively, matching real people to real needs. Leaders can identify gifts and invite members to serve in ways that fit their talents and stage of life.
Limited resources like time and finance can then be directed where they make the greatest difference. And when Conference reports are compiled, they reflect the living reality of our congregations - not an idealised memory of years gone by.
Using Technology Responsibly
The Adventist Church Management System (ACMS) remains the authorised repository for membership information. Secure and structured, it helps us steward data responsibly.
Churches were encouraged to keep ACMS records current, to invite members to confirm their details, and to reduce the administrative burden through proactive updates. The point is always pastoral: the database supports relationships, it does not replace them.
A Clear Timeline
The NEC has set a structured schedule for RMR. Early in the year, resources and training materials were developed. Through spring and summer, training was delivered across the field, supported by sample letters, conversation guides, and follow-up pathways. From October to December 2025, local churches are asked to update ACMS records while engaging in redemptive contact and care.
By year’s end, each congregation should have a clearer, kinder picture of its membership - accurate in the system, healthier in real life.
A Whole-Church Effort
While pastors and clerks anchor the work, RMR is not their sole responsibility. Elders contribute relational history that helps conversations land well. Deacons and deaconesses are alert to practical needs that might otherwise be overlooked. Personal Ministries and small groups provide everyday discipleship where people belong, serve, and grow. Youth and Children’s Ministries keep the church attentive to families navigating study, shift work, and tight budgets. Communications volunteers ensure messages reach people in ways that suit them.
Even the quietest member has a part to play - by praying, writing a card, sharing a meal, or offering a lift. When every part of the body contributes, the result is not just a tidy roll, but a stronger fellowship.
Tools That Help, Stories That Inspire
Data is not an end in itself, but a doorway to relationship. With tools such as the 7me app, it becomes easier for members to update their details and stay connected when life changes.
Above all, churches are encouraged to celebrate reconnection stories. Joy fuels momentum and teaches us to expect grace.
How Members Can Help
If you are reading this as a member, you have a part to play. In the coming weeks and months, your leaders may ask you to confirm your contact details or to inquire after a friend they have not seen for a while. Please respond warmly.
If someone comes to mind who could use a call, make it. If your gifts are organisational, lend a hand with data checking. If hospitality is your strength, set an extra place at your table. If reconciliation is needed, pray for a soft heart - and, if you can, take the first step.
Redemptive membership review is not a specialist task for administrators. It is the ordinary work of a family that believes every person matters to God.
Gratitude and Next Steps
The Secretariat Department is deeply grateful for the commitment shown across the NEC: to the churches who hosted training, to the pastors and clerks who attended, and to the many members already putting principles into practice.
As we move towards the implementation phase (October to December), we ask for your continued partnership. Work with your local pastor, clerk, elders, and ministry leaders so that together, we can reach those who may feel forgotten - and equip the church to be more effective in its mission.
In the end, RMR is not about spreadsheets; it is about souls.
It is the Shepherd counting carefully, the search conducted with patience, and the homecoming celebrated with joy. One precious name at a time, by God’s grace, we will help the “lost sheep” find their way home - and rejoice together when they do.
