One of the more surprising results about the formerly churched was the tendency to blame a physical move away from their home church as a reason for not returning to any church. About 28 percent of those reporting lifestyle changes said that a move to a new location caused them to stay away from the church. Such a reason for leaving the church demonstrates a great need for more outwardly focused churches. When a person or family moves to a new place and feels no motivation to join another church, it’s up to congregations within that community to reach out to them.
Disenchantment with the church
Like Justin, a number of the de-churched claim they’re disenchanted with the current state of their church. And 37 percent say this disillusionment is one of the primary reasons for leaving. Perhaps even more surprising than this percentage are the reasons for their cynicism. One major factor is their view of the pastor. They perceive the pastor to be judgmental, insincere and lacking good preaching abilities.
It’s interesting to note that only 15 percent of those who feel displeasure with the church say it’s due to a moral or ethical failure of the church leadership. While the local and national press often have a field day with moral breakdowns of pastors, that’s not a major contributing factor to people deciding to leave the church.
The unloving church
Not only is the pastor a contributing factor to discontentment within the church, the way the formerly churched perceived the people within the church also motivated their leaving. Of the formerly churched who expressed dissatisfaction with those in the church, 45 percent said the other members were judgmental and hypocritical.
In 1 Cor. 1:10, the Apostle Paul urged the church to preserve unity, having “no divisions” within the body. Our research shows that unity is key in the success of a church maintaining a healthy percentage of its members. If church members hold grudges against each other and don’t seek to sustain harmony within the body, people will leave. In fact, of those who said the church is unloving, many left because they didn’t believe God was at work within it. Clearly, for God to use a local body for His glory, it must keep a balance of unity and love.
Not Christians
One of the biggest mission fields may be the people sitting in your church every week. While no one will ever know exactly how many attending worship are believers, many are leaving the church because they were never Christians in the first place. Our survey found that about a quarter of people leaving the church expressed a change in beliefs or simply lost interest in religion. Of that group of people, 62 percent stated that they had stopped believing in organized religion altogether.
Don’t miss the enormity of this issue. Not only are people leaving the church, but many are coming in and out your doors without meeting Christ. Inevitably, some will simply refuse to accept Christ no matter how evangelistically healthy a church becomes. But a large group of people, possibly tens of thousands who could be reached for Christ, are leaving the church.
Bringing Them Back
Without a doubt, the American Church has a major problem as millions of people leave each year. But we think there’s a reason to remain optimistic. The second portion of our research focused on how the church can bring these people back into a local body. What we uncovered were some simple, yet exciting factors that could help people return to the church.
First and foremost, a considerable number of the de-churched said they’re willing to come back. While many are not actively seeking a church now, a large majority (62 percent) is open to the idea of returning. Conversely, only a small minority (28 percent) of the formerly churched is unlikely to consider returning in the foreseeable future. So these findings should be a huge encouragement to you. The question is what specifically can we do to see them return?
The power of the invitation
Perhaps one of the most underestimated reasons people return to the church is that someone simply invited them back. Overall, 41 percentof the formerly churched said that they would return to the local church if a friend or acquaintance invited them. Younger adults are even more influenced by the power of the invitation. Approximately 60 percent of those 18–35 would consider returning to church if someone they knew asked them to come back.
A simple, yet powerful invitation is all it may take to prompt a homecoming for the dechurched. Is your church equipping people to invite others back? When someone strays from the church, friends and family should be there to encourage him or her to return.
