Dechurching

Why do people leave church, never to come back? Jim Davis and Michael Graham attempt to answer this question in The Great Dechurching. The answers they come up with will probably surprise you. My assumption had had been that people mainly leave churches because of bad experiences. Regarding this assumption, they write,

“We in no way want to downplay the hurt and suffering of the 10 million who left as casualties [of church hurt]. Numerically speaking, that group just isn’t the lion’s share of the dechurched.”

If that’s not it, what was? The authors explain,

“Are you ready for the number one reason people stopped attending church? They moved. Roughly three-quarters of the people who left the church did so casually, for pedestrian reasons including moving, the inconvenience of attending, kids’ sports activities, or family changes like marriage, divorce, or having a new child.”  

Wow! I was shocked when I read that. Here’s what that means for us, church family. Be careful moving. It can be a dangerous thing. If you move, make sure that your future home has a solid-gospel-preaching church close by. If we move to a place where there are no churches we like, we risk drifting away from the Lord. Focusing upon the local church in our moving plans helps us avoid this temptation. The local church is Christ’s bride—stick with her wherever you go! 😊 

Pastor Chance