The Pew Forum recently published a survey on why people change religions from the tradition in which they were raised as a child. They have a handy interactive graph that shows why people switch to and from and in between traditions.
But I'm particularly interested in why people who were raised as protestants leave protestantism. I'm hoping it might yield some insights on how we can minister better. Here's the relevant chart for those who were raised protestant but now choose either the Roman Catholic church or become "unaffiliated."
Reasons Those Raised Protestant Leave Protestantism
I suppose the biggest thing I see is the gradual drift that seems to factor into the highest categories named. It seems people don't wake up one day and suddenly say "no more church for me!" It's a process of alienation, one of quiet struggle I suspect.
There was a time in my life when I struggled with faith, and I wasn't too vocal about it. I questioned some teachings and I was unhappy with some heavy-handed congregational politics. The last thing I wanted was to be lectured with easy answers. Without a support system (and especially a faithful and patient wife) I could have drifted farther out too.
In my limited time as a parish pastor, it made me wonder about the time I was spending with the faithful core of my congregation. I went to many meetings and had many conversations and visits, and they were a blessing to me (and I pray I was to them), but it often seemed like I was talking to the same people repeatedly. I began to wonder about the fringes. Much of a pastor's role is to equip others for ministry, but I kept wondering if I shouldn't I be more about hanging out with the people I didn't see every Sunday.
That was a nagging thought I never resolved fully. I don't have any easy answers. What do you think? What do you see in this chart?
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Comments (41)
Where an individual church may depart the Word, I can see departing the premises.
Those who depart Christ utterly may not have understood the meaning of life in the first place.
The issue is that people and not pastors make the congregation. If the pastor is the only one keeping together the "faithful" and not everyones responsibility the the church will and has failed. It is more of a congregant issue then pastoral.
People have become as a rule less interested with genuine pietistic living and have turned towards social club Christianity. They desire nothing but connectedness. Just look at the ink spilled about the subject regarding unity and togetherness.
If all we did was focus on genuine personal revival and not "acting" like the church I know that the church would function better. The church has given out the rule book and it looks a lot like a social ethical book that will make us a better church/business entity.
Yes I am disenfranchised. I am tired of the church and I want out, but I am also a believer and know that i am supposed to submit, but sometimes I feel like I am submitting to a wet sponge.
I need a church experience with people who are not all exactly like me; who do not all think exactly like me; who do not have the same economic status as me; who do not read the same things I read; listen to the same music I listen to (demand the same worship experience I do).
I need a church that demands something of me - a church worthy of Jesus giving his life for; a church that is destined to be the spotless bride of Christ. And that same spotless bride, the New Jerusalem is the same church that infuriates us with its hypocrisy and inner conflicts and lack of compassion and sin and all the rest. But it is still the church.
Discipleship isn't this idea that we struggle to get along, it is about teaching and growing. It is about surrendering together, so that we can do Matthew 28 all over again.
The Church is supposed to be a movement of people that are moving towards righteousness, not about the struggle to get along.
The first century church was not a bunch of isolate islands of disciples all struggling on their own toward righteousness. It was a mix of large group/small group, beautiful/ugly - getting it, not getting it, movement sometimes (usually?) in the right direction.
The church getting it and doing it, by the way, is not a matter of "them" it is "us" - do I get it? Do I do it (whatever it is)?
I don't think that it is that easy. Maybe I am pessimistic, but I believe that there are very few churches out there that actually care more about the people then about the financial and social aspect of churches. It is how we have such flaky authors that produce "TOP SELLERS" with crap. I could name a few, but you know who they are. The church is in fact looking for genuine faith, that is why I believe that many are leaving and heading to Catholic church. There is a tradition and a reverence that is there that many other churches have lost. I don't believe that People leave Protestantism because they don't believe anymore, I think that they know that there is more too it then what we hear at the local church.
There is accountability. There is right/wrong! There is an ethical and moral stance in politics.
These things said I believe that maybe the answer comes in small home groups of 10 or 15 people. Together studying the word of God, but how do you keep out error? Well in the first century they had Apostles who were traveling "pastor" who would attend different meetings and help with issues of incorrect doctrine. We don't even have that accountability in the CRC. Accountability is the key to success within the body of Christ.
There is a constant need to keep us accountable. I think that all churches with significant overhead will forget at one point or another the need to be for the people and not for the Payroll.
I had a Pastor who said if U drink wine U cannot be on the church board, a deacon basically. The process was by vote and nomination. I was nominated and the pastor asked me if I had a problem with being on the board. I said I did not but that U do. I told him I enjoy wine once in awhile and informed him his position was not scriptural. I also asked him if he was willing to stand on his non scriptural positin? He said yes. I then told him Jesus nor anyone in the Bible could not qualify to be on his board. He did not care. I have heard pastors demanding God heal someone. Command the harvest to come. Say everyone should drive a Mercedes or Rolls Royce. It goes on and on. I still go to church for the fellowship of believers.
I could never be on a church board. I would leave the Church in an instant.
The big issues that become problems in the church are not because of buildings or because of structure or because of funding. Those are simply ways in which the problems find expression. The problems are essentially the same today as they ever have been: we fail to live lives empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in the kind of loving community that Jesus said would be the indication to the rest of the world that we belong to him.
The form these bodies take and the buildings they take them in is of little importance. What is of far more importance is the attitudes of superiority we maintain as we isolate ourselves from those who don't see the church the way we do.
The people I have deep sympathy for in this whole thing are those who are on the fringe because of deep hurts caused by church people who have abused them or used them for their own religious ends. They have been conditioned, in a sense, to reject a church that is not the church Christ intended. Although, it should also be said that there is a sense in which the imperfections of the church is exactly the church he intended because he intended that we would have to "BEAR WITH ONE ANOTHER" - if the church was perfect, there would be no need to bear with - we would enjoy every moment of our time together, whether in homes or stadiums, or lecture halls, or temple courts.
Imagine living in the book of Acts and living around the early believers who shared everything in common. All there needs were physical and spiritual needs being met. Would U want to become part of that? The living Bible. How about today? If U had a home church like that, and the word got out in the hood, what would happen? Huge natural expansion. There R 104 churches within 8 miles of my home in Palm Harbor Fl. If half of those love flowed out as it did in the Acts Church what do U think would happen? More love, less poverty, less crime, more people in the kingdom. The Apostle were 12 guy's who changed the world. No degrees, no church buildings, or private jets, American express cards. There R big churches who cannot change a city block. We R admonished to take care of the widows and the orphans. There R orphanages in the Tampa bay area. There should not be. I went to the leadership of a 2500 person church and had an idea. There was a low income area close to the church. I thought as the church sat empty most of the week why not bring the people in and train them to get jobs and how to keep them by teaching them skills. I was told by leadership that there was no return on their investment. How is that for love?
At one point in my life, all of that lead to me thinking I can just do this on my own. It's all about the relationship I have with Christ, not the church building. This is what I would tell myself.
Looking back, those are some of the times I was furthest from God in my lifestyle. I temporarily joined that 71% that was just sort of drifting away.
I've been blessed lately with going to church full of people who are trying to live Christian lives the best they can. Plus the teaching is solid, Bible based stuff. Not fluff.
Obviously I now think the church is a crucial part of my spiritual growth. I think our challenge is to be serving at churches to help them be a place where we realize none of us are perfect, but together we can try to live better and serve in the way Jesus calls us to. I think when the church looks more like that, we'll see less folks becoming drifters.
But my question is, how does the church better enfold those who are drifting out to the edges and beyond?
And let me flip the question around: how are those who are on the edges called to engage the community of faith and let people minister to them?
"I think our challenge is to be serving at churches to help them be a place where we realize none of us are perfect, but together we can try to live better and serve in the way Jesus calls us to" i like this very much. thanks.
here's my opinion. the study showed the main reason why people leave church...judgmental and hypocritical people, too many and too much about rules and; the church ispower-hungry and money-crazed. the key word i think is "serving". as jerod mentioned. as this thread obviously shows, there is much to criticize about organizations, people and teachings. but what steven is pointing out is that how can we serve in a way that reaches those in the fringes. those that are drifting away. there is little we can do about the reality of church politics and the many defects of structure. but i think we should focus on our calling to be the called out ones, the ones that decalare His excellencies, and not wait around to be "ministered to" . perhaps we can start by toning down our hypercritical attitude towards those in leadership. many elders, deacons and pastors would love to just sit around in houses sipping coffee and do inductive bible study. but God called them to this very thankless office. and there a few who are sincerely striving to be faithful undershepherds. lets pray for them, that the Lord would not let power or money get in the way of their calling as leaders. i also see a new legalism rising.... emerging. a legalism where there are no rules. no guidelines. no order and eventually...no scripture. just a group of people getting along fine...without Jesus. we fight against too many rules. i agree with this 100%. but the Spirit is also the God of order. i think the key to serving is accountability. it is not so easy to rant in a blog when you have made a commitment to a congregation, no matter how imperfect it is. because, well, it is all about grace isn't it?
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