Our church contstitution says that a member who misses church for a period of three months automatically forfeits his membership, unless the elders decide to retain the membership under special circumstances.

I think that, if a person is a member of your church, you have probably already done what is necessary to lead them to Christ. That said, you shouldn't have to chase them after six months absence, rather, you should contact them and encourage them to join in Christian community wherever they feel most at home.

Choosing a church can take some time when moving to a new area. Sometimes you think you've found the right one but after 2 or 3 months of continuing to visit, you notice some aspects that seem unhealthy. If this happened with a couple of different churches, the process could last for awhile. (A year seems like it is getting too long.)

Also, take into consideration that they may be having a very hard time finding a church that meets their expectations, especially if they are coming from a very healthy church. Some areas are very lacking for healthy churches.

I'd call them and talk with them about it. If they are doing their best to find a place, then they will likely be eager to tell you what they've been going through. If they won't return phone calls... well... I think it may be time to take a more stern approach; letting them know steps will soon by taken for removal from membership unless you hear from them.

I have a question: Why not request that anyone who moves and won't be attending the church anymore withdraw membership when they move? What's the point of having any sort of "grace period" between churches allowing them to keep "membership" at a church where they're not involved and have no plans of future involvement?

Just curious.

Just throwing this out there...

Could elders help soon-to-be-former members find a new church? No matter where you live, there are only so many churches within 5 miles. Find one that holds the Bible as its authority, and go there. If the music or leadership structure or order of service isn't what they're used to, maybe they should suck it up. There are thousands of churches in Memphis. I could probably spend a year looking around and I'd always find something I didn't like or didn't agree with. 6 months of looking sounds like their looking for the perfect place...which they aren't likely to find.

Don's thought is excellent. We did some research for my sister who hadn't been able to find a decent church in the Reading, PA area. The 9 Marks church finder was great in this regard, and she has been going to the church we recommended for over a month. She absolutely loves it.

What other resources are out there for finding good churches?

Assuming the elders have done what is reasonable in determining what is going on in the individual's life, we have sought to place the responsibility upon the person when they take out membership.

They agree that without any reasonable explanation if a they are absent more than 2 months from worship services or fail to attend two consecutive membership meetings they know they will be automatically placed on an inactive list.

If they are inactive for one year they are removed from membership.

We also choose to reinstate an inactive member expeditiously once the matter is resolved.

Considering the lack of inter-church discipline, why is it unthinkable for someone to not be on a church roll membership for a season in between churches?

Now, if the church they're leaving and the church that they're moving to actually practice church discipline, that changes things. But how many churches actually research into a new member's previous church membership?

What I'm trying to say is, we've got to do a better job of inter-church discipline. We must do more adequate research into families who move from one town to another. It's not about being the KGB, but it's about being a good steward with the Lord's Body.

I don't think that I answered the question directly but it certainly does raise this issue.

Perhaps this problems exist because salvation and the church are kept at arms length. If church attendance had more riding on it than it presently does than perhaps more parishoners would find churches and stay in them.
Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus. Outside the Church there is no salvation. Yep, this concept may fix things. Until then, we'll be chasing our own shadow.

So should one dissolve one's membership prior to finding membership within another church, if it takes longer than 6 months (or even a year) to find a new church?

Rather than be cryptic, here's my situation. My wife and I were members of a great local body in Kentucky 2 years ago. As part of that church's covenant we promised to join another like minded local body upon leaving that church. We then moved out of state. It took us a little over 6 months to find another church that we wanted to join. But before we could make it through the membership process there, we ended up moving out of state again. We've been in this state for 9 very spiritually dry months as we've searched for a new church. (Please pray that God would help us find a body to serve in and that refreshment will come soon.) During this time no one from the church our membership has been at has contacted us about it. We've been in contact with different members but never discussed our membership.

What should we do in this situation?