Encouraging Attendance
A wise businessman once said, "People don't do what you expect, they do what your inspect!" Others in response have said "Show me how I'm going to be measured and I'll show you how I'm going to behave!" Often times it all comes down to expectations. As a general rule, people respond positively to positive expectations.
Performance to expectations is a two-way street. If we are lackadaisical in what we expect, we generally reap what we sow. If on the other hand we take an interest in those things that are important for the general health of an organization, people will generally respond positively. So it is with the Flock Group Ministry.
Attendance is important for flock group development and when members come and go it breaks down the continuity of building relationships and encouraging one another in our walk with the Lord. Absence due to sickness, vacations, etc. is normal and expected. But tardiness and poor attendance due to other reasons may be symptoms of a lack of priorities, committment to the group, a falling away in their walk with the Lord, trouble at home, etc. Rather than beating them over the head, we need to have compassion and consider how we may spur them on. As the preacher said in the New Testament...
"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)
For tips on adding substance to our "consideration" on how we may spur one another on in the area of arriving on time and regular attendance, download Tips on Encouraging Attendance based on the experiences of Eugene and Joanne Kimble in developing small flock groups.
For a handy form that can be used to keep attendance, download a sample Attendance Form for Small Flock Groups. It's a protected Microsoft Word document with fields that can be filled in. Save the document for reuse on your computer (i.e., Attendance Form.doc). Then open the saved document in Microsoft Word and Save As a file name of your choosing to use for tracking attendance for your small flock group (i.e., Attendance Form for our Small Flock Group.doc).
Special Note: To modify the reusable attendance form, open it in Microsoft Word and select Tools/Unprotect Document from the menu and then make your changes. After making your changes, remember to select Tools/Protect Document from the menu before saving. This will reset the form so you can protect your table structure and just fill in the information in the fields. CAUTION: There's one "gotcha" that you need to be aware of. If you have filled in fields and re-protect your document, all the data is lost and the form reverts back to empty fields. Therefore, only modify the original reusable form, not one that already contains some data.