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I remember a study I read about where they asked people who no longer came to church, "what bothered them the most?". A common answer was no one came looking for them. No church should have missing members that no one cares about or fails to notice when they are no longer there.

Aubrey, I do not have good answers for that and as The Wanderer said . . . . . .

While I realize a formulaic solution may not be possible, a formulaic scaffolding (or outlined, loosely structured) "plan of action" might be. The fact that a common answer that no one came looking for them tells me there is no plan of action in place. A formulaic plan of action could lead to organic, Spirit-led reclamation of believers. So why does the SDA church not have a basic formula?

David and Sarah Emanuel went to visit a Rebbe known for his powerful blessings. “Rebbe,” David said. “We really want children and the doctor just told us we might not be able to have any. What should we do?” The Rebbe gave them some money and told them to find a certain poor widow and give it to her. “In the merit of the mitzvah of tzedakah, Hashem will bless you with children” Ten years later David ran into the Rebbe on the street. David had about twelve kids in tow. "Baruch Hashem!" the Rebbe cried out. "But tell me, where's your wife?" "Oh, she’s trying to find the widow. She wants to ask for the money back.”

I saw a car once with those family stickers on the back window. Dad, mom, about 5 kids and the dog. Someone had written on the window in the dust, "Leave her alone!"

A group of teenagers were telling jokes after the teen minyan at Beth Israel congregation and when Rabbi Solomon walked by, he didn’t like what he heard. “Boys,” said Rabbi Solomon, “Do you think those jokes are appropriate?” “What?” said David, one of the boys, “You don’t like ‘you’re momma is so fat’ jokes?” “No I don’t,” replied Rabbi Solomon. “How about this one instead,” offered Rabbi Solomon. “Cantor Nixon – you know how religious he is?” “How religious is he?” the boys jumped in. “Your Cantor is so religious, he can’t even carry a tune!”

Morris Goldman was sitting with his granddaughter Rachel on his lap, telling her a story, when his hearing aid started to beep. Surprised, little Rachel looked up at him and said, "Oh, Zadie, you just got an e-mail!"

There are multiple Internet web sites that talk about those old shoe X-ray machines. Here is what one has to say:

Chaim Yankel was sitting at the bar just staring at his drink for half an hour when this big biker sits next to him, grabs his drink and gulps it down in one swig. Poor Chaim Yankel starts crying. "Come on man. I was just giving you a hard time," the biker says. "I can't stand to see a man crying." "This is the worst day of my life," Chaim Yankel says between sobs. "I can't do anything right. I overslept and was late to an important meeting, so my boss fired me. When I went to the parking lot, I found my car was stolen and I don't have any insurance. I grabbed a cab home but, after the cab left, I discovered my wallet was still in the cab. So I came to this bar trying to work up the courage to put an end to my life, and then you show up and drink the poison!"

Shoe X-ray machines: You went into the store, stepped up on a small platform and planted your feet in the designated spot. You then logged through the provided spot in the machine to view the picture and turned it on. Immediately a view of your two feet came into view with the bones in white and an outline of the shoe to see how your feet fit in the shoe. I thought it was something wonderful. Probably our genitals got a good exposure to the X-rays.