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O Death, where is Your Pod? (CT) … GUEST A. Trevor Sutton … pastor, author, speaker, & professor … author of several books, including “Redeeming Technology: A Christian Approach to Healthy Digital Habits” The Plateau is Real … GUEST Dr Ryan P Burge … assistant prof of political science at Eastern Illinois Univ … author of “20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America,””The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going,” and co-author of “The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?”… His newest book is “The American Religious Landscape: Facts, Trends & the Future” … substack: Graphs About Religion and he tweets at @ryanburgeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
O Death, where is Your Pod? (CT) … GUEST A. Trevor Sutton … pastor, author, speaker, & professor … author of several books, including “Redeeming Technology: A Christian Approach to Healthy Digital Habits” The Plateau is Real … GUEST Dr Ryan P Burge … assistant prof of political science at Eastern Illinois Univ … author of “20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America,””The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going,” and co-author of “The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?”… His newest book is “The American Religious Landscape: Facts, Trends & the Future” … substack: Graphs About Religion and he tweets at @ryanburgeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Christianity’s Decline appears to have Halted (NYT)… GUEST Dr Ryan P Burge … assistant prof of political science at Eastern Illinois Univ … author of “20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America,””The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going,” and co-author of “The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?”… His newest book is “The American Religious Landscape: Facts, Trends & the Future” … substack: Graphs About Religion and he tweets at @ryanburge Severance and Pop Culture Visions of Hell… GUEST Brett McCracken … senior editor & director of communications at The Gospel Coalition … author of “The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding your soul in a post truth world” - and - “Uncomfortable: the akward and essential challenge of Christian community”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Christianity’s Decline appears to have Halted (NYT)… GUEST Dr Ryan P Burge … assistant prof of political science at Eastern Illinois Univ … author of “20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America,””The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going,” and co-author of “The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?”… His newest book is “The American Religious Landscape: Facts, Trends & the Future” … substack: Graphs About Religion and he tweets at @ryanburge Severance and Pop Culture Visions of Hell… GUEST Brett McCracken … senior editor & director of communications at The Gospel Coalition … author of “The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding your soul in a post truth world” - and - “Uncomfortable: the akward and essential challenge of Christian community”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Les Américains quittent l'Église en grand nombre. Ils sont 40 millions à s'être désaffiliés de leur pratique religieuse depuis 25 ans! Mais ils le font pour une variété de raisons. Cet ouvrage est un effort concerté de pasteurs et analystes politiques pour comprendre les différentes facettes de ce bouleversement. Dans ce balado, vous apprendrez, par exemple, que plus un croyant est éduqué, plus il aura tendance à demeurer pratiquant, contrairement à ce qu'on pourrait croire.Nos épisodes de lecture marquante servent à mettre en valeur un livre pertinent, qui n'est souvent pas disponible en français, ou qui mérite d'être revisité.Titre original : The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?Soyez au courant de ce qui se passe au Pub Socratique, en vous abonnant à notre infolettre! C'est le moyen qu'on privilégie pour communiquer. Par ici : https://convergencequebec.com/pub-socratique/ (bouton S'abonner)
Relying on God, Not America: A Report from the Church in Ukraine (TGC)… GUEST Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra… senior writer and faith-&-work editor for The Gospel Coalition … also coauthor of “Gospelbound: Living with Resolute Hope in an Anxious Age” and editor of “Social Sanity in an Insta World” Christianity’s Decline appears to have Halted (NYT))… GUEST Dr Ryan P Burge … assistant prof of political science at Eastern Illinois Univ … author of “20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America,””The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going,” and co-author of “The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?”… His research appears on his substack called Graphs About Religion and he tweets at @ryanburge . On Losing my Granddaughter… GUEST Dorothy Little Greco ... writer & photographer who lives outside Boston ... The author of "Making Marriage Beautiful," and most recently, “Marriage in the Middle: Embracing Midlife Surprises, Challenges & Joys” … Dorothy & her husband lead marriage workshops/retreats, speak at conferences nationwide. A Bit of Earth: A year in the garden with God… GUEST Andrea Burke … director of women’s ministry at Grace Road Church.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Relying on God, Not America: A Report from the Church in Ukraine (TGC)… GUEST Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra… senior writer and faith-&-work editor for The Gospel Coalition … also coauthor of “Gospelbound: Living with Resolute Hope in an Anxious Age” and editor of “Social Sanity in an Insta World” Christianity’s Decline appears to have Halted (NYT))… GUEST Dr Ryan P Burge … assistant prof of political science at Eastern Illinois Univ … author of “20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America,””The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going,” and co-author of “The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?”… His research appears on his substack called Graphs About Religion and he tweets at @ryanburge . On Losing my Granddaughter… GUEST Dorothy Little Greco ... writer & photographer who lives outside Boston ... The author of "Making Marriage Beautiful," and most recently, “Marriage in the Middle: Embracing Midlife Surprises, Challenges & Joys” … Dorothy & her husband lead marriage workshops/retreats, speak at conferences nationwide. A Bit of Earth: A year in the garden with God… GUEST Andrea Burke … director of women’s ministry at Grace Road Church.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Meagan Kohler is a Latter-day Saint convert and has a double BA in Philosophy and French from Brigham Young University. She writes for the Latter-day Saint Voices column at Deseret News, but her main (and favorite) gig is taking care of her husband and four boys. Meagan has served as a secretary in the Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary, and has taught both Sunday School and Relief Society. Links The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? "The case for ‘low-production' church" There is already a discussion started about this podcast. Share your thoughts. Transcript coming soon Get 14-day access to the Core Leader Library Highlights Coming soon The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill and many more in over 700 episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.
Episode Notes Michael Graham is the program director for The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics and coauthor of The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will it Take to Bring Them Back? In this episode, he joins Dr. Keith Plummer and co-host Pastor Ben Best to talk about the 40 million Americans who have left the church in the last 25 years. They discuss the cultural drivers behind this exodus, the various types of dechurched individuals, and their reasons for leaving. Michael also shares insights from their study on how churches and individual believers can re-engage those who have left.
A God-First Life: Week 1 - Abundant Life SERMON NOTES: Bible Reading: John 10:1-16 Shocking Statistics Gallop Poll 2021: In 2021, more Americans did not belong to a house of worship than those that did. “U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time,” 2021 The Great Dechurching: There are 40 million people in the United States today that used to attend church and no longer do. “The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?” by Jim Davis and Michael Graham with Ryan Burge, 2023 Key Ideas If we want to address this, the greatest challenge of the Church in our lifetime, we must be crystal clear on our motivation. Do we believe that being a part of the Church is important for people's lives? Do we believe that Jesus is important for people's lives? If so… why? The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. – John 10:10 Following Jesus isn't just about heaven someday it is about life, now, about the life God created you to live. III. A God-First Life includes: Beloved identity - not an “if” identity. Deep Purpose - we are part of something bigger than ourselves Abundant Time - not a scarcity of time or a life of busyness Joyful Community – the antidote to the epidemic of loneliness and despair Questions & Tools Questions: What is one practical thing you can change in your life right now that will help keep God first? (bible? Prayer? Chalk wall bible verse?) What is Jesus asking you to move into 2nd place so he can be first? Practical Tools: Ask yourself: “Have you prayed today?” A simple saying that reminds us to keep God in our focus A practice that helps us notice God's presence and work around us Ask someone: “How can I be praying for you?” This simple question communicates big things. It says: I care about you enough to keep you on my mind and in my heart It invites them space to open up and share more about whatever is going on in their life It shares you are a person who prays in a gentle, respectful way It creates an opportunity to reconnect later and deepen the relationship
July 21, 2024 - John 10 - Pastor Josh A God-First Life: Week 1 - Abundant Life SERMON NOTES: Bible Reading: John 10:1-16 Shocking Statistics Gallop Poll 2021: In 2021, more Americans did not belong to a house of worship than those that did. U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time, 2021 The Great Dechurching: There are 40 million people in the United States today that used to attend church and no longer do. The Great Dechurching: Whos Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham with Ryan Burge, 2023 Key Ideas If we want to address this, the greatest challenge of the Church in our lifetime, we must be crystal clear on our motivation. Do we believe that being a part of the Church is important for peoples lives? Do we believe that Jesus is important for peoples lives? If so why? The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10 Following Jesus isnt just about heaven someday it is about life, now, about the life God created you to live. III. A God-First Life includes: Beloved identity - not an if identity. Deep Purpose - we are part of something bigger than ourselves Abundant Time - not a scarcity of time or a life of busyness Joyful Community the antidote to the epidemic of loneliness and despair Questions Tools Questions: What is one practical thing you can change in your life right now that will help keep God first? (bible? Prayer? Chalk wall bible verse?) What is Jesus asking you to move into 2nd place so he can be first? Practical Tools: Ask yourself: Have you prayed today? A simple saying that reminds us to keep God in our focus A practice that helps us notice Gods presence and work around us Ask someone: How can I be praying for you? This simple question communicates big things. It says: I care about you enough to keep you on my mind and in my heart It invites them space to open up and share more about whatever is going on in their life It shares you are a person who prays in a gentle, respectful way It creates an opportunity to reconnect later and deepen the relationship
Host Curtis Chang invites Dr. Mark Turman, Executive Director of Denison Forum and Vice President of Denison Ministries, to join him in examining the unique challenges faced by pastors in the American evangelical tradition. Both former pastors themselves, Curtis and Mark unpack the actual and perceived struggles that have made so many pastors contemplate leaving their roles. They also champion a missional mindset that can change the way pastors do gospel work and practical advice for congregants who want to support their spiritual leaders. Donate to Redeeming Babel HERE Bring The After Party course to your church or small group! Order The After Party Book by Curtis Chang & Nancy French Check out Dr. Turman's Denison Forum work Resources mentioned in this episode: The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis & Michael Graham Barna Group Research: 7-Year Trends - Pastors Feel More Loneliness & Less Support Barna Group Research: Pastors' Credibility Is in Question—Even Among Pastors
We can't go back to the church environments we grew up with, we can only go forward. So what would a healthy modern reformation and a Great Rechurching look like? Rather than wallowing in pessimism and longing to return to the church of yesteryear, Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Justin Holcomb, and Walter Strickland discuss how the church today can reform and be marked by orthodoxy, love, and resilient joy. CHECK OUT THIS MONTH'S OFFERS: The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham, with Ryan P. Burge. Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church. Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine. Our March/April issue is “The Head & the Heart,” where we feature essays, poems, and articles about how the Bible does not separate the “rational” mind and the “emotive” heart; rather, “In the Bible, the intellect, will, and emotions are all capacities that belong to the whole, integrated person.” For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org Featuring: Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb
If you go to church, do you know why you attend? Do you know why your friends and family have casually just stopped going to church? How can we talk about the necessity of the church in a way that is beautiful and life-giving, but goes beyond personal preference? In this episode, Michael Horton, Justin Holcomb, Walter Strickland, and Bob Hiller answer these questions and more as they discuss how Christians can reach out to their dechurched friends, family, and neighbors. “When asked how willing they would be to go back to church, 51 percent said they are either somewhat willing or very willing—51 percent! Unsurprisingly, the reasons they would come back also represent a longing to belong. These dechurched evangelicals said they would come back if they made new friends (28%), if they move and want to make new friends (18%), if they became lonely and want to make new friends (20%), if their children want to go (16%), if their spouse wants to go (18%), if a friend invites them (17%), if there is a good pastor (18%), if they find a good community (17%), if they miss their church community (20%), or if they just find a church they like (14%). This group's high orthodoxy scores also inform other reasons they would come back: if they feel the distance from God (20%) or if God tells them to go back in some significant way (18%). The main takeaway here is that many dechurched evangelicals simply need a friend to invite them to church.” - The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham, with Ryan P. Burge, p. 28. CHECK OUT THIS MONTH'S OFFERS: The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham, with Ryan P. Burge. Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church. Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine. Our March/April issue is “The Head & the Heart,” where we feature essays, poems, and articles about how the Bible does not separate the “rational” mind and the “emotive” heart; rather, “In the Bible, the intellect, will, and emotions are all capacities that belong to the whole, integrated person.” For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org Featuring: Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb
In this first episode of this series, "Believe," Jeff and Laura sit down with Michael Graham, Program Director for the Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. Mike unpacks the findings of his latest book, The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? In it, he looks at the different profiles of Americans who are leaving or have already left the church. Their conversation sets up this series as we look at what it means to believe in the Christian faith, with a great reminder that belief is something we hold to, but it is also God holding on to us. Listen to this and more episodes on our Digging Deeper podcast, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast streaming platforms. Timestamps to help you follow along: (3:18) What is dechurching and who is doing it and why did you choose that title? (4:56) Who is leaving the Church? Four profiles of who is leaving evangelical churches: (5:32) Cultural Christians (6:05) Mainstream Evangelicals (7:44) “Ex”vangelicals (10:15) Black & Indigenous Persons of Color (BIPOC) (12:04) How can you relate to each profile? (13:41) What do you mean when you refer to the dechurching issue in America as a discipleship issue? (17:26) What did you learn with the large group of people who just need an invitation? Additional Resources: - Get Michael’s book, The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? - For more on this topic, check out The Gospel Coalition’s As in Heaven podcast - Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the notification bell to get notified of new episodes.
What happened in American culture and in the church from the 1970s-1990s? What were the conversations and big concerns of that time when White Horse Inn recorded its first episodes? In answering some of these questions, churches can get their bearings as to what trends have impacted those who no longer sit in their pews and what to do about it. “The early 1990s was an inflection point for American religion. Between the early 1970s and 1990s, the share of Americans who had no religious affiliation had only risen two points. But from that point forward, the nones would grow by a percentage point or two nearly every year through the following three decades.” - Ryan Burge, “‘OK Millennial': Don't Blame the Boomers for Decline of Religious America” Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb discuss how modern historical events and trends have impacted church attendance today and how to respond. CHECK OUT THIS MONTH'S OFFERS: The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham, with Ryan P. Burge. Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church. Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine. Our March/April issue is “The Head & the Heart,” where we feature essays, poems, and articles about how the Bible does not separate the “rational” mind and the “emotive” heart; rather, “In the Bible, the intellect, will, and emotions are all capacities that belong to the whole, integrated person.” For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org Featuring: Michael Horton, Bob Hiller, Walter Strickland, and Justin Holcomb
We are experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in North American history. It is faster than the First and Second Great Awakenings and revivals combined, but in the opposite direction. It wouldn't be a stretch to assume that everyone listening to this episode either has people in their lives who have left the church in recent years or you've left the church yourself. Jim Davis, co-author of The Great Dechurching, chats with Matt about the findings of their major research project that spawned the book, who's leaving, why they're going, and what it will take to bring them back. The findings and opportunities are more hopeful than you'd think!ABOUT Jim Davis (MDiv, Reformed Theological Seminary) is teaching pastor at Orlando Grace Church (Acts 29), and a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. He is the host of the As In Heaven podcast and coauthor with Michael Graham of The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? (Zondervan, August 2023). He and his wife, Angela, speak for Family Life's Weekend to Remember marriage getaways.
Justin Holcomb interviews Jim Davis and Michael Graham, authors of The Great Dechurching, to discuss why forty million Americans have stopped attending church in the past 25 years. Many attribute church decline to encroaching secular trends, abuse in the church, or spiritual deconstruction. While all of these trends have spiked in recent years, Davis and Graham, with the help of Ryan Burge, reveal that these factors are not the primary causes for the erosion of church attendance and share what the church can do to turn back those estranged from her. CHECK OUT THIS MONTH'S OFFERS: The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham, with Ryan P. Burge. Become a Partner to support the work of White Horse Inn as we apply the riches of the Reformation to the modern church. Subscribe to Modern Reformation magazine. Our March/April issue is “The Head & the Heart,” where we feature essays, poems, and articles about how the Bible does not separate the “rational” mind and the “emotive” heart; rather, “In the Bible, the intellect, will, and emotions are all capacities that belong to the whole, integrated person.” For more information, visit us at whitehorseinn.org or email us at info@whitehorseinn.org Featuring: Justin Holcomb, Michael Graham and Jim Davis
Did you know that about 15% of all Americans have dechurched? Dechurching can be defined by individuals who used to attend church once a month, but now attend only once a year. Host Joseph Backholm is joined by Michael Graham, co-author of “The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? to discuss this phenomenon that currently 40 million Americans are a part of. Michael walks through the four main groups of evangelicals who have walked away from the church and the surprising number of people who would come back if invited. Learn more about the cultural forces impacting this movement and give this episode a listen now! Resources The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? Read The Washington Stand, featuring news and commentary from a biblical worldview. Published by Family Research Council.
Did you know that about 15% of all Americans have dechurched? Dechurching can be defined by individuals who used to attend church once a month, but now attend only once a year. Host Joseph Backholm is joined by Michael Graham, co-author of “The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? to discuss this phenomenon that currently 40 million Americans are a part of. Michael walks through the four main groups of evangelicals who have walked away from the church and the surprising number of people who would come back if invited. Learn more about the cultural forces impacting this movement and give this episode a listen now! Resources The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? Read The Washington Stand, featuring news and commentary from a biblical worldview. Published by Family Research Council.
Did you know that about 15% of all Americans have dechurched? Dechurching can be defined by individuals who used to attend church once a month, but now attend only once a year. Host Joseph Backholm is joined by Michael Graham, co-author of “The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? to discuss this phenomenon that currently 40 million Americans are a part of. Michael walks through the four main groups of evangelicals who have walked away from the church and the surprising number of people who would come back if invited. Learn more about the cultural forces impacting this movement and give this episode a listen now! Resources The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? Read The Washington Stand, featuring news and commentary from a biblical worldview. Published by Family Research Council.
Michael Graham, author, “The Great Dechurching” The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? The post 0443. Dechurching in America, Part 2 – Michael Graham, 2/13/24 first appeared on Issues, Etc..
Jim Davis, pastor and co-author of the recent book, The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back, is back on the podcast to speak with Tim and Rick about some of the reasons why people are leaving churches. They talk about the role incivility, poor communication, “clustering,” and online habits play in the process of dechurching. They also reflect on the Apostle Paul's teaching on the body life of the Church and consider whether there are areas in contemporary church life and education that ought to be reconsidered.Show notes and a full transcript are available.
Michael Graham, author, “The Great Dechurching” The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? The post 0232. Dechurching in America – Michael Graham, 1/23/24 first appeared on Issues, Etc..
Guest Bios Show Transcript America is experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in its history—greater than the First and the Second Great Awakening and every revival in the U.S. combined. But instead of a massive shift into the church, what we're seeing is a mass exodus. In this edition of The Roys Report, you'll hear from Michael Graham, co-author of The Great DeChurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back. Based on the most comprehensive study of people leaving the church in America, the book gives keen insights into this phenomenon. You'll learn why people are leaving the church, which demographic groups are leaving in the greatest numbers, and what can be done to stop the bleed. And the results may surprise followers of this podcast. Though much of our reporting focuses on corruption and abuse in the church, these issues were not the greatest factors people cited for leaving. The reasons cited were much more mundane than you might think. We are living in a unique moment—what research says is the greatest “dechurching” in nearly 250 years of this nation. This exodus doesn't just affect society or public expressions of faith; it impacts family relationships and how people relate to each other. Tune in for a highly informative conversation that examines the state of the church and why restoring her matters. Guests Michael Graham Michael Graham is program director for The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. He is also the executive producer and writer of As In Heaven and co-author of The Great Dechurching. He received his MDiv at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. He is a member at Orlando Grace Church. He is married to Sara, and they have two kids Show Transcript SPEAKERSMICHAEL GRAHAM, Julie Roys Julie Roys 00:04America is experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in its history greater than the first and the second Great Awakening and every revival in the US combined. But instead of a massive shift into the church, what we’re seeing is a mass exodus, and the greatest de churching in nearly 250 years. Welcome to The Roys Report, a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church. I’m Julie Roys, and on this podcast you’ll hear from Michael Grant, co- author of the new book The Great Dechurching. Based on the most comprehensive study of people leaving the church in America, the book gives keen insights into this phenomenon. You’ll learn why people are leaving the church, which demographics are leaving in the greatest numbers, and what can be done to stop the bleed. And the results may surprise followers of this podcast. Though much of our reporting focuses on corruption and abuse in the church, these issues were not the greatest factors people cited for leaving. The reasons were much more mundane than you might think. And we’ll dig into those in just a minute. Julie Roys 01:05 But first, I’d like to thank the sponsors of this podcast, Judson University, and Marquardt of Barrington. If you’re looking for a top-ranked Christian University, providing a caring community and an excellent college experience, Judson University is for you. Judson is located on 90 acres, just 40 miles west of Chicago in Elgin, Illinois. The school offers more than 60 majors, great leadership opportunities and strong financial aid. Plus, you can take classes online as well as in person. Judson University is shaping lives that shaped the world. For more information, just go to JUDSONU.EDU. Also, if you’re looking for a quality new or used car, I highly recommend my friends at Marquardt of Barrington. Marquardt is a Buick GMC dealership where you can expect honesty, integrity, and transparency. That’s because the owners there Dan and Kurt Marquardt are men of integrity. To check them out just go to BUYACAR123.COM. Julie Roys 02:09 Well, again, joining me is Michael Grant, Program Director at the Keller Center for Cultural apologetics. He’s also the executive producer and writer for the As In Heaven podcast. And he’s also a member at Orlando Grace Church where Jim Davis, who’s the co-author for his latest book, The Great Dechurching. He is also a teaching pastor. So, Michael, welcome. It’s a pleasure to have you join me. MICHAEL GRAHAM 02:31 So good to be here with you, Julie. Julie Roys 02:32 So, Michael, your book is based on an extensive study that sought to prove or disprove this thesis that America’s in the middle of the largest and greatest religious shift in its history. And what you discovered is pretty sobering. Would you tell me about that? MICHAEL GRAHAM 02:47 Yeah. So, I mean, the Cliff’s Notes version is that 40 million adult Americans have left houses of worship, across all religious traditions. And by and large, almost all of that has occurred in the last 30 years. So, from the moment of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit to today, 40 million people have gone from, you know, the various pews of all religious traditions. Now, most of those are out of what you’d call Christian traditions, about 15 million of that out of evangelical traditions, and then about another 20 million out of Roman Catholic and mainline traditions, the other traditions are a lot smaller. So, we weren’t really sure what we would be looking at in terms of why there were two prevailing storylines, depending on what your kind of media diet looked like. If your media diet looked a little bit left leaning, then the story was basically that people had been leaving houses of worship primarily because of mistakes made by those institutions themselves. So, this would be things like racism, misogyny, abuse, political syncretism, clergy scandal. If your media diet leaned a little bit to the right, the prevailing story was basically a story of secularism, or sexual revolution, progressivism, people are leaving houses of worship, because they’re no longer worshipping the Triune God, they’re worshipping some other, you know, forms of non-Christian things. The reality is that you can find several million people who would fit both that first story or that second story. However, most of the people might have elements of either of those two stories in there, but most of them left for really, really boring reasons. So, the challenge is like not necessarily saying that story A or story B is wrong. There’s actually a story C that is not as interesting. That’s also there and is kind of the water that we’re all kind of in is the number one reason why people you know, left houses of worship, and stop going on at least a monthly basis. So that’s how we defined the charging somebody who used to go to church, or house of worship at least monthly, consistently, and now less than once per year. So even if you go to church on Christmas Eve, or Christmas, or Easter or Christmas and Easter, we still counted you in our study as being churched. So, if you think the 40 million number sounds scary, you know, if you take all the Christmas and Easter people out. Julie Roys 05:32 That is like a really, really low bar. MICHAEL GRAHAM 05:35 There’s many, many more people. But basically, the number one reason I moved, right after that is, attendance was inconvenient. After that is some kind of marriage, divorce, new child, or some other significant family change. After you kind of get past some of those reasons, you start to get into some of the reasons where people experience some more pain or some more friction, either at the individual level, or at the institutional level. But it really kind of looks like of the 40 million people who left, 30 million left, what we called casually, and about 10 million left as casualties. And so, 10 million people is a lot of people, okay, I don’t want to downplay at all the people who have significant church hurt at the individual, institutional or both levels. But there’s also just kind of 30 million people where it just kind of looks like, okay, well, just the inertia of American life and their rhythms and habits just kind of had them floating on. MICHAEL GRAHAM 06:45 Now, the interesting thing about really, across the board, both the people who left casually and unintentionally, as well as the people who left as casualties and left highly intentionally, most of them are willing to return today to a house of worship of some sort. Some of them were willing to go back to exactly what they left and some of them are not willing to go back to exactly what they left, but willing to go to something that we would all consider as being part of the historic Christian tradition. Julie Roys 07:18 Yeah, I was surprised when I read it, how many people just dropped out because well, even COVID. Like, they just got out of the habit. And I guess we’re seeing that. I mean, I know that’s a phenomenon. But it’s stunning in some ways that something that you would expect to be so central to a person’s life, that they would give it up just because it’s inconvenient, or they get out of the habit of going. And yet, maybe that speaks to where the spiritual state before that happened. But that was surprising, I thought finding of the study. Julie Roys 07:48 I thought too just thinking through what’s at stake, which you do kind of in that first section relationally, what’s happening, you know, between parents and their kids, and you had this one line which struck me because I’m over 50. And it says, anecdotally, we know, of almost no parents over the age of 50, who don’t have at least one child who is dechurched. And I’ve got three kids. I guess I read that, and I just was very grateful, because none of my kids are dechurched. But I mean, certainly, wow, we felt like we have been in a war for their soul at different times within their lives. And just, by the grace of God, I think, have seen them embrace faith. But there are a lot of things in here that remind me of the situation that we’re in. I mean, this between parents and their children. And of course, I have so many friends, I mean, that are just beautiful parents and probably did a 10 times better job than I did. And they’re dealing with just such heartache over their kids leaving their faith leaving the church. But even you know, it’s culturally how fractured we are mentally. I mean, talk about some of these impacts on who we are as communities and as Americans that are really going to be impacted as we see this begin to play out. MICHAEL GRAHAM 09:15 Let’s start at the purely secular level. Why would I care about this if even I was an atheist or agnostic or a nothing in particular? The first thing I would say is you should care about this phenomenon, because it’s going to at least sociologically reorder many aspects of American culture and society. How many different trends can you think about that impact one in six adult Americans? There aren’t many. And so, the implications of this will have implications in terms of politics and political voting groups. It will have an impact on the social safety net in our country. There are certain studies that have shown that as much as 40% of America’s social safety net, the social safety net being the kinds of things that are there for people, when they’re, at their hardest or most challenging moments, that 40% of the social safety net in this country is basically coming from religious nonprofits. And so, when you see one in six adult Americans, you know, opt out of those kinds of ties, thicker ties, and local ties to local religious institutions, that’s going to have an impact for sure, on the social safety net. And I don’t think that that’s in the interest of either common good or human flourishing. MICHAEL GRAHAM 10:41 We estimate in the book that that’s probably about $25 billion that just exited out of the religious nonprofit world. I mean, you’re talking about $1.4 trillion dollars, in terms of the total income of the people who have disconnected from local churches. A lot of implications for institutions, certainly, you’re going to see churches and houses of worship that are going to struggle, perhaps even close. You’ll have others where the trend of decline will continue. And that will put additional strain on those institutions. There will probably be consolidation that takes place that’s there. But if you’re listening to this, and maybe you yourself are dechurched, is it’s like, what, I miss you, okay? Because I go to church, and if you’re not there, I’m worse off because of your absence. At the local church level, it’s like, well, dechurching is impoverishing our churches, because you have all these people who are amazing image bearers, and then who liked I want to know, and love and experience. And I think about like the 59 one another's in the New Testament. At least over half of those require, we have to be embodied in order to even get to do those things. And so, I’m just worse off when there’s people who aren’t there anymore, and they’re missed. And so, and then zooming all the way down to, like, the familial level, there’s tremendous pain and hurt there. We’re not talking about just a number on a spreadsheet, you’re talking about real people’s lives, and real things in their story, and real pains, and real hard sometimes. Sometimes for very good reasons people disconnect themselves from these things. Anybody familiar with you and your ministry, knows these stories, and they know them well.. And so, I think on that front, there’s just tremendous things at stake. What’s the Thanksgiving or the Christmas dinner table look like? And what pieces of sadness are there?, or these places where people land different from their family members in terms of how they process really big conversations. Those can be really hard and lonely and isolating things when you find yourself in a very different place. MICHAEL GRAHAM 13:25 But you know, one of the things that we advocate in the book is a posture of quiet, calm curiosity for everybody. You can only find yourself in that, in that place of being quiet, calm, and curious with other people, when you have a sense of security in yourself. And I think that security is best found when we’re confident in our identity as image bearers made in the image of God, redeemed by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and confident of our future, our eschatological future in the kingdom of God. And so, when we have that, that gives us the freedom to not feel like we need to be defensive, we can just listen to other people and hear what they have to say and believe people when they’re telling us about the wins and losses, particularly the wins and losses and their experiences with people who claim Christ or institutions that claim to be Christian. And so, I think there’s a lot of implications for these things. There’s just a lot that’s at stake. I think that there’s much work to be done, both on the individual front, and there’s a lot of work to be done on the institutional front. Julie Roys 14:43 How we lead as institutions, I think, is probably an area that energizes me because I have found so much dysfunction within those institutions. And I did like that you said, we don’t have to go back to the church we left and I’m in a house church now, I love it. And I find myself questioning a lot of the stuff that I just took on face value. I was having discussion recently, I’m like, I don’t know, like preaching is that really the best way for us to study the Bible? We get together and we open the Bible, and we study it together. And I found that incredibly rich, richer than a lot of times when I have somebody giving me basically a lecture for 30 or 40 minutes on their opinion of what it says. And I find it just much richer to go right in and dig in ourselves. So, I find myself at least among the people that I’m in contact with, are all asking these questions. What is it really have to offer look like? I am just in contact with so many people where it hasn’t felt safe. And so, I just have such a degree of empathy for those who have trouble and I say, even my own children, I watched them try to find a church. And it is unbelievably hard, unbelievably, and that just breaks my heart because I feel like so many of the vibrant churches that I knew when I was their age, don’t exist anymore, or they’ve been just the ministries that I think of that were so vibrant on campuses, and so forth just aren’t there. And so, we do have an unbelievable amount of work to do. And I thought it was interesting, you also found, like, when we’re talking about leaving the church, like, who’s dechurching?, this isn’t any particular group. This like everybody across the board, right? MICHAEL GRAHAM 16:27 It’s unilateral across the board,. In certain places, it’s maybe a little bit more prominent or pronounced than others. And the timing of which various different groupings may have kind of floated on looks different. But by and large, yeah there’s no group that’s immune. Julie Roys 16:48 Well, let’s dig into some of the groups because that’s what I do find really fascinating, but also, I think, really educational, because if we’re going to be relating to these folks in hopefully a winsome way, it’s helpful to know who they are. And I think there are some misconceptions of who they are. So, you basically found there’s five groups of dechurched individuals, cultural Christians, dechurched mainstream evangelicalism, exvangelicals, dechurched, BIPOC. So Black, Indigenous and People of Color, and dechurched mainline Protestants. Let’s dig into each one of those groups. Let’s start with the cultural Christians who, I’m guessing these are the people that grew up went to church on Christmas and Easter, and maybe a few times in between, but basically a little bit of church background, but not really a saving faith, probably. MICHAEL GRAHAM 17:46 Yeah, so every one of those groups we mentioned had one thing in common, they all went to a house of worship, at least consistently on a monthly basis, but now less than once per year. So, the culture in terms of size, the 15 million people who left evangelical traditions, and that’s the first four profiles that you just read off: cultural Christians, dechurched mainstream evangelicals, exvangelical, and then the BIPOC dechurched. The cultural Christians are about eight of those 15 million people. And then the next three groups are between two and two and a half million each. So, the cultural Christians, they look like people who are upwardly mobile, who did not have a deep understanding of the gospel, or the Bible, and the inertia of just their rhythms and habits basically has them out of the habit of going to church anymore. They’ve been gone from church for about 12 years now. They’re in their early 40s, on average. They’re overwhelmingly white, 98% white, and they’re doing well from an education and income standpoint. Interestingly enough, about half of them are willing to return to an evangelical church today. The top reasons why they left attendance was inconvenient, their friends weren’t worshiping at church anymore, they moved. More casual reasons than casualty and painful and the reasons why they said that they wouldn’t be willing to return were largely things that were relational in nature; new friends, lonely and want to make new friends, they miss church, a friend invites them, a spouse wants to go, they move and want to make new friends in a good community. So those were the reasons why about 4 million of them were willing to return to an evangelical church right now. Julie Roys 19:36 Throughout these profiles, you often talk about their relationship to their parents, because again, they were brought up a certain way and obviously they’re doing life differently now than their parents did. And there were a couple things with their parents, one turned off by their parents commitment to culture wars and refusal to listen. And then the second one, they’re not seeing the fruit of the Spirit in their parents. It’s tough to hear that. I think it’s a reminder that you know, as parents wow, I mean, what a responsibility. I’m curious if those relationships, and I don’t know how much you dug into it, but do they just remain fractured? MICHAEL GRAHAM 20:21 We don’t know yet. The hard scientist in me would say we need to ask the same people the same question years later. And to drill down to get at the heart of those things. Probably in the three-to-five-year timeframe, we want to ask a lot of the same questions and see what looks similar, see what looks different. The stuff with the parents is really hard. And it’s challenging, and it’s sad. I don’t know if it’s necessarily surprising. Obviously, for most of us, that’s one of the most formative relationships, if not the most formative relationship, at least in certain times of our life. And so, I think, also the last decade, in American public life, and I think particularly with the advent of social media, and the ways in which social media, you know, you have the like button, I think that was introduced, I want to say in 2009. Every platform has their dopamine-inducing reward structure for creating content that some people find interesting. The challenging thing about all of that is now, when you have a reward mechanism built into social platforms, people are more self-revelatory than what they would have been before. And so, I think, in terms of public communication and discourse, there is the freedom for people to communicate more about their perspectives than probably what there was before this dynamic of American public life existed. And so, I don’t think that’s necessarily all good or all bad. It’s just, there are implications that are downstream from that. And now, it’s where everybody is at, is far more clear than what it was 10 plus years ago. And there’s going to be implications from that, particularly as people have divergent perspectives, and sometimes strongly divergent perspectives. And again, all of these things are algorithmically incentivized. And in some ways, the stronger you feel about those things, sometimes that reward mechanism rewards you even further. And so, I think over time, there aren’t many impulses that are there baked into these things that create people finding as much common ground. And oftentimes, our digital interactions become power over persuasion. MICHAEL GRAHAM 22:56 And so those are challenging dynamics. And what do you do if your parents are behaving poorly on the internet, and are getting cheered on from those things? You can flip that script in the other way, as well. So those things are going to have implications at the dinner table. And I’m sure that many people have experienced some challenges during looking back at their Thanksgiving and their Christmas. And I think that some of these things are just downstream from these particular dynamics of how technology has inserted itself into our lives and revealed things about people that we loved that have maybe changed our perspectives about how we view them and have altered maybe the amount of relational intimacy that we feel comfortable with. Those are hard and sad things. Julie Roys 23:44 And one thing I found really interesting about this group, I mean, obviously, there’s the family fracture, well, that’s going to leave you more lonely, maybe depressed. But then there’s the relational fracture, like most of us, I mean, I know for me, my closest friends are my church friends, right? And without that community people are, and you even found, like more depressed, higher anxiety, I mean, all those things. And so, the reverse then, is that, and we often think, how do we invite people back to the church?, and I thought it was insightful that you’re like, these people need a dinner-table invite. In other words, they’re looking for a relationship, right? That’s most likely what’s going to bring them back to the church. MICHAEL GRAHAM 24:26 What we talked about in the book is there’s three levels of relationship that different broadly speaking profiles probably need. The second profile that you’ve mentioned, the dechurched mainstream evangelicals, these folks left on average about three or four years ago. They’re about the same age as that first group, early 40s. But this group is whereas the cultural Christians only 1% of them said that Jesus is the Son of God, 98% of this second group said Jesus is the Son of God.. These people have a very deep understanding of the Gospel, the Bible, and the kinds of things that you want to see from Nicene-creed level of Christianity. And 100% of that group are willing to return to an evangelical church today. MICHAEL GRAHAM 25:08 And so, the three levels of kind of relational need that’s there, that group really they just need a nudge. A nudge is something like a text, a phone call a water cooler moment, talking out on the porch, or in the cul de sac, hey, I got this really cool thing going on at church, or I’m speaking up this thing, or I think you’d really like our pastor, would you be willing to come to church with me? Let’s go grab lunch after at such and such place, that’s a nudge. I think when there is more pain, or church hurt, or these different kinds of things. And this should be obvious, when you think about it, it’s just people need the kind of intimacy that occurs around breaking bread together in a home at the dinner table. Literally, or figuratively and metaphorically, I think that when people need to be able to have an avenue, when there’s either interpersonal or institutional or both friction, then they need to be able to have a place that is where they can experience somebody who’s going to be willing to quietly, calmly and with curiosity, engage them in their story in a way that they would want to be treated. So, we have a third category of people who are just, they’re probably just never going to return to a house of worship. Julie Roys 26:26 The exvangelicals. No? MICHAEL GRAHAM 26:28 The exvangelicals are done with the evangelical expression of the faith. Okay. 79% of them were willing to return to some form of Christian tradition. That was something that was very surprising. Julie Roys 26:44 So just 100%, they will not go back to the church they came from, which may be a good thing, in a lot of ways. MICHAEL GRAHAM 26:51 Well, I mean, certainly there are many different institutions I could think of where it would be very unhealthy to return to. So, and that’s the good news about all of this stuff, you don’t have to return to what you left if there was something unhealthy. I always think about these things in terms of truth, goodness, and beauty. Well, what’s a healthy church? Where you can see the truth of the gospel, the goodness of the gospel, and the beauty of the gospel, all in the same place. Julie Roys 27:21 The exvangelicals, I just want to camp there just a little bit, because these are folks that I mean, honestly, I have a lot of empathy for and understanding. I mean, they’ve been through some things that were pretty toxic in the church. In fact, you found they scored 74% higher on experiencing a lack of love from their congregation than the other four groups combined. And that’s heartbreaking, like the place where you should most experience love, they experience a complete lack of love. And I’d be curious how many of them come from a fundamentalist background as well because I mean, there just seems to be a correlation there between just a rigid adherence to rules and so forth, and even the culture wars and all of that, and just a lack of caring for the soul and caring for the human being, whether they agree with you or not. But these folks, where they look for answers; talk about that a little bit. MICHAEL GRAHAM 28:26 We ended up calling this group exvangelicals because none of them are willing to return to an evangelical church. But what was really surprising was that 79% of them said that Jesus is the Son of God, and they had the second highest view of the Bible, as well as Nicene Creed-level Christianity. And so that would be things like the Trinity, the seamlessness of Jesus, these kinds of things. But what was interesting is this group was overwhelmingly female, two thirds female. And they were middle aged, average age 53. And they left a little bit after 9/11, on average, in terms of the bell curve. And what does seem to be occurring there is they had the lowest income and the lowest education of any of the groups, and their relationship towards institutions in general, was very strained. And so that was really interesting to see. It’s not just that the church isn’t working for this particular group, particularly the evangelical church. But American institutions in general aren’t working well for this group. Much lower rates of marriage, much higher rates of divorce, the rates of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and suicidal thoughts were also elevated across the board, but particularly suicidal thoughts were very bad. I think I made a note of this in the book, describe how you’re doing with respect to suicidal thoughts. And we’re basically 100 is I have no suicidal thoughts; everything is rainbows and Skittles. And where zero is deeply, deeply struggling with suicidal thoughts, the average score among this group of people, the exvangelical group, was 16. I just started crying, these are real people. And there’s several thousand people that we surveyed here. Are some of these people no longer with us?, is some of these people? So, I don’t know, given the number of people we surveyed probably. So, I’m looking at that., and it just can’t not impact you at a deep level, when you have any measure of empathy to think, oh, my gosh, these are image bearers. And this is a group of people that are clearly there’s a lot of pain that’s here. And there’s a lot of things that just aren’t working. And I don’t know how many institutions there are, depending on where you’re located, and how many options you have. I think many people might have to go a long distance to find a place where they’d find a church that would have that kind of empathy and understanding, given whatever is there in the story. Julie Roys 31:07 Well, it becomes almost cyclical, because if you’re divorced, I mean, I hear this from so many of my divorced friends, that you go into a church and you feel judged right away, or you feel like you don’t fit in, and so it can become very self-perpetuating, makes it very hard to go to any place. So, wow, let’s move to the dechurched/BIPOC because this one was surprising to me, too. I was not expecting the profile that you found of this group. So, describe the black indigenous persons of color who have dropped out of their church. What kind of person are we talking about here? MICHAEL GRAHAM 31:43 Yeah, so this group was fascinating too. Over two thirds of this group was male. Yeah. And the average age there was early 50s. And this group on average left in the late 1990s. Okay. Now, something that’s really fascinating, when the machine learning algorithm that we used to sort the dataset into these different profiles, we didn’t let it see ethnicity or race in the dataset, and sort based on that. Now, what’s interesting, though, is that you have profiles like cultural Christians that are 98% white, and you have profiles like this one that are 0% white. And note, so while race is a biological fiction, it is a sociological reality. And so, you can see that race and ethnicity has a significant impact in terms of the ways that you’re experiencing America and American institutions, and it has an influence on those things. So that was interesting. Another thing that was interesting was that this group, and you’re talking two to two and a half million people, had the highest income and the highest education of any of the different groups. Now, bear in mind, this is a group of people who aren’t white, who probably largely willfully chose to connect themselves to evangelical institutions, which we all know trend from a sociological and demographic standpoint, most evangelical churches trend in the Anglo direction of things. And so, it wouldn’t be wise to take the particular perspectives of this particular group and assume that everybody who’s BIPOC in America would share the same perspectives: very high incomes, very high education, head and shoulders above any of the other groups. And the cultural Christians are the next to that. And the BIPOC groups just stands head and shoulders above them. Julie Roys 33:39 So, this is a group that generally, I mean, those that have dropped out, at least the profile you gave was of somebody who’s BIPOC that lives in a pretty white space. And so, I mean, I’m looking at that thinking, Is it easier to disconnect from that church community? Because the black church is such a cohesive community that, I mean, almost, it’s so strong in the community. I think it is even stronger than most white churches. Is it easier to disconnect from church once you kind of moved out of that space? And then you’re in really, almost an alien space in some ways. MICHAEL GRAHAM 34:26 Yeah. In terms of black Protestantism, the black churches in American US history, have played more of a role in the local community life than say their predominantly Anglo counterparts. And I think a lot of that has to do with the amount of pressure that was placed on those communities over time. The BIPOC group was 76% African American and 13% Latino. So, when you combine the predominantly male with predominantly African American means over half of this group was extremely upwardly mobile black men. So, you’re talking to at least a million black men of the 15 million people who left evangelical churches. The most pain in church hurt comes from the exvangelical group and the BIPOC group. By far, the exvangelical group, they’re all the church casualties. The BIPOC group is a mixture of casual and casualty. The dechurched, mainstream evangelicals are all casual. And then most of the cultural Christians you’d characterize as casual. Julie Roys 35:35 The last group we don’t have much time to spend on because I do want to talk a little bit about some of the messages and the things that we need to say to all five of these groups. But the dechurched, mainline Protestants and Catholics, not a lot of surprises there I thought. That they’re really concerned about the church doing some good when maybe the church they grew up in and I know the profile, you get profiles for all these different groups, but the profile was a man who grew up Catholic and the clergy sex scandal just rocked his world because it impacted his brother. And those people are kind of done with church if it doesn’t make a difference in a positive way for the community, right? MICHAEL GRAHAM 36:16 Yeah. And in the dechurching that occurred among mainline and Roman Catholic occurred earlier than the dechurching that we’re seeing among evangelicals. Dechurching among mainline Protestants is more starting in the mid-80s. and extending into the late 90s. And then you can kind of shift that up about five years, for those who are leaving Roman Catholicism from the early 90s to like early aughts. And then you know, dechurching among evangelicals kind of looks like the Apple stock chart, just a little bit later, going hockey stick. Julie Roys 36:54 Yeah. Well, the last segment of your book does talk about those who had dechurched from evangelical churches, how we might be able to bring them back. And, you know, I really appreciated that you talked about not just beliefs, because that’s what we hear so much about. In fact, when you were talking in the beginning you’re saying, you know, we think of people who don’t believe in the Bible anymore, don’t believe in God. And that’s not what we’re finding, by and large with a lot of these groups. But where we’re not looking is the sense of belonging and the behavior. So, would you talk just a little bit about that? and why this is important? MICHAEL GRAHAM 37:30 Yeah. In sociology of religion, Jim and I learned from our conversations with Ryan, that they have these three categories of belief, behavior and belonging. I think in the 20th century, most of the ways in which we communicated the gospel to people was belief centric. And when you look at like, apologetic literature from that century, most of it is focusing on, oh, the claims of the Bible, or the claims of Jesus, or the Gospels are true. And it’s okay, that’s good. But I think the kinds of questions that we’ve seen more frequently, in the last decade or two, have been questions about whether is Jesus good? Or Is he beautiful? And what does that mean for me in terms of how I relate to other people and to community? And so those are more of belonging-type questions than truth questions. And so, I think that it is important for us that we be building healthier institutions. And like I said before, we want to have churches that emphasize the truth of the gospel, the goodness of the gospel, and the beauty of the gospel. Is the Jesus way a path towards to human flourishing to me?, will I find people who treat me with the fruit of the Spirit, with love, joy, patience, peace, all of these kinds of things? The good news about all of that is those are things that are within our control. We can walk and keep in step with the Spirit. And we can bring the kinds of change needed at the institutional level, to try to really bring our churches in line and instep with the Holy Spirit and inline and in step with what God has revealed in his word. And as we do those things, we can be building beautiful places for people. Will those things ever be perfect or whatever? No. But I think that impulse to be always reforming. It needs to be there. And we need to be willing to have hard conversations with ourselves calmly. But we need to be willing to hold up mirrors to ourselves and ask ourselves, How can we do better? Julie Roys 39:48 A question that you asked in the book that I think is powerful, is does your church operate more like an event or a family? And I have found it just in so many churches, it is an event where you can come, and you can go, and nobody even knows you. And it’s no wonder if that’s what people think of the church that they’re leaving. So, if there’s not that family component, yeah, they’re just not going to stay. I think it was interesting, too, that you found that online church is basically a back door. Like people might go there for a while. But if they’re not connecting relationally, which how can you, you're a virtual church?, they ended up leaving, and I thought, on the behavior side, where you talked about that the church talk about hypocrisy, if they don’t see our beliefs and our actions lining up, they’re not going to stay. And so, we can only touch the surface, really, in a podcast, but the book, I would just highly, highly recommend. There’s so many good things in there, I think, instructive for us, and how we can do better how we can reach out, but how we need to be something different, I think, before we can even invite people to what we have, because if we’re not really functioning healthy as a church, then we can’t invite people to it. But before you go, I just want to give you an opportunity to any last thoughts that you’d like to say, to those, and especially those right now who are listening, who, they’re still dechurched, they’ve had it. MICHAEL GRAHAM 41:21 What I want to say is that, regardless of how people, humans, and human institutions have hurt and harmed or failed you, I have never been hurt or harmed by Jesus. And I continue to fall more in love with just the goodness of his gospel. And look, I’ve been before, in my current role I’ve been a pastor for some 15 years. And I should probably be dechurched based on the things that I’ve seen over the years. There’s nothing that’s in the book, aside from the parental pain, I don’t have that there. But pretty much any other category that you can talk about, I’ve seen it, and I should be at risk. But I just know at the end of the day, if anybody else had the words of life, I would go and I would go there, but nobody else has the words of life but Christ, and he has died for his church. Is she a mess? Yeah. Is some of her parts way more messed up than others? Yes. Some to a fatal extent? Yes. Should there be some institutions that don’t exist? Yes. However, and sometimes for certain people, it’s going to be more proximate than others. But there are still good places where you can find that, where the body of Christ functions like a family. So, I’d encourage you to go back to God’s Word and look at all those one another's that are there in the text and find a place where you see those one another’s embodied, and where you can see that the truth, goodness, and beauty of the gospel all in one place. There’s just such tremendous hope in Jesus. It is the treasure in a field that is worth selling, metaphorically speaking, all that you have to go and pursue. Only Christ as the words of life. And only in Him can we find redemption, and the hope of a future where re-creation is happening, and redemption is happening as far as the curse is found. Julie Roys 43:46 So good. And I think what we’re finding is that people are open to Jesus. It’s just the church. So, I do pray. I know for me; I feel just extraordinarily grateful that I found a body of believers and it’s been a lifeline for me. So, I just pray for that for other people. But I thank you, Michael, for helping us understand these different groups of people and also understanding what maybe we’re doing wrong that we can fix. Appreciate that, love your book. So, thank you again, so much for taking the time. MICHAEL GRAHAM 44:17 Thank you, Julie. Appreciate it. Julie Roys 44:19 And thanks so much for listening to The Roys Report, a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church. I’m Julie Roys. And just a quick reminder, if you’d like a copy of Michael’s book, The Great Dechurching, we’d be happy to send you one for gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month. Again, we don’t have any large donors or advertising we simply have you the people who care about reporting the truth and restoring the church. So, if you’d like to support our work and get The Great Dechurching, just go to JULIEROYS.COM/DONATE. Also, just a quick reminder to subscribe to The Roys Report on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts or Spotify. That way you’ll never miss an episode. And while you’re at it, I’d really appreciate it if you’d help us spread the word about the podcast by leaving a review. And then please share the podcast on social media so more people can hear about this great content. Again, thanks for joining me today. Hope you are blessed and encouraged. Read more
For our December episode on books we, the CPT staff, have been reading:Aldous Huxley – Brave New World (1932)Johann Hari – Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention — and How to Think Deeply Again (2022)Jim Davis and Michael Graham – The Great DeChurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? (2023)P. D. James – The Children of Men (1992)Leif Enger – Peace Like a River (2002)Chaim Potok – The Gift of Asher Lev (1990)Joseph Minich – Bulwarks of Unbelief: Atheism and Divine Absence in a Secular Age (2023)Patrick J. Deneen – Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future (2023)Rory Stewart – How Not to Be a Politician: A Memoir (2023)
Glen Scrivener interviews Jim Davis and Michael Graham about their book, 'The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?'See 321: http://321course.com/Subscribe to the Speak Life YouTube channel for videos which see all of life with Jesus at the centre:youtube.com/SpeakLifeMediaSubscribe to the Reformed Mythologist YouTube channel to explore how the stories we love point to the greatest story of all:youtube.com/@ReformedMythologistDiscord is an online platform where you can interact with the Speak Life team and other Speak Life supporters. There's bonus content, creative/theological discussion and lots of fun. Join our Discord here:speaklife.org.uk/giveContact the show: info@speaklife.org.ukSpeak Life is a UK based charity that resources the church to reach the world.Learn more about us here:speaklife.org.ukSupport the show
“We had this hunch that we could be in the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country.” Co-authors Jim Davis and Michael Graham join the podcast to discuss their book, “The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?” Jim is teaching pastor of Orlando Grace Church and host of the As in Heaven podcast. Michael is the program director for the Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/thekellercenter/). A book study of “The Great Dechurching” is coming through the NAFWB Growing Together Initiative beginning in January. Find more at https://nafwb.org/grow/. #NAFWB #BetterTogether #TheGreatDechurching #Church #Religion
We are currently experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in US history. It is greater than the First and Second Great Awakening and every revival in our country combined...but in the opposite direction. On this episode of the FTC Podcast, Jared Wilson chats with Jim Davis and Michael Graham, co-authors of the new book The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?, about the eye-opening and challenging findings of the first-ever large-scale sociological research study of the American de-churching phenomenon. Maybe your assumptions about why people are leaving the church in massive numbers will be subverted, as well. Davis and Graham provide key insights to the challenge and applicational takeaways for evangelicals and church leaders in rising to the challenge. Find out more info at dechurching.com
“Forty million Americans have stopped attending church in the past 25 years. That's something like 12 percent of the population, and it represents the largest concentrated change in church attendance in American history.” Religious abuse, moral failure of church leaders, and the pressures of culture that lead to deconstruction of faith all contribute to “dechurching.” Surprisingly, research reveals a less apparent reason driving the statistic cited above: a slow drift away from church participation.In this episode, Autumn and Hunter discuss an Atlantic article by Jake Meador that examines this slow drift. Meador suggests a response to waning participation in American churches. He states that churches in our cultural climate must call their people to a more committed, robust, interdependent way of being the body of Christ.Resources mentioned in this episode:"The Misunderstood Reason Millions of Americans Stopped Going to Church" by Jake Meador"The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?" by Jim Davis, Michael Graham, et al
Jim Davis, pastor and co-author of the recent book, The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back, comes on the podcast to talk about the current and fastest religious shift going on in America. Tim and Rick speak with Jim about a comprehensive study he help conduct looking at people who are leaving churches and the reasons why they are leaving. They discuss characteristics of people who are “dechurching,” including misconceptions on why people are leaving, as well as cultural factors and hinge points which have contributed to this phenomenon. Show notes and a full transcript are available.
Get notes on this podcast here: https://churchleaders.com/podcast/461251-ryan-burge-biggest-reason-people-leaving-church.html Dr. Ryan Burge joins “The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast” to share what the data actually shows about why people are leaving church (and not returning) and what church leaders can do to encourage them to come back. What did you think of Prime Video's “Shiny Happy People”? Alex Harris joined us last week to explain why he appeared in the docuseries, what he sees as its shortcomings, and how church leaders can benefit from watching it. Check out our conversation with him here: https://churchleaders.com/podcast/460810-alex-harris-shiny-happy-people-serves-church.html ► Listen on Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-churchleaders-podcast/id988990685 Visit ChurchLeaders Website: https://churchleaders.com Find ChurchLeaders on Facebook: https://facebook.com/churchleaders Follow ChurchLeaders on X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChurchLead Follow ChurchLeaders on Instagram: https://instagram.com/churchlead/ Follow ChurchLeaders on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/churchleaders/ “20 Myths about Religion and Politics in America” by Dr. Ryan Burge “The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?” by Michael Graham and Jim Davis with Dr. Ryan Burge “The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going” by Dr. Ryan Burge “Religion Has Become a Luxury Good” by Dr. Ryan Burge Check out Ryan's website Follow Ryan on X/Twitter
We will wrap up our 5-message series in the Letter of Jude this Sunday with a look at the closing doxology; two verses of high-impact vertical focus. As we have considered the contemporary trend around deconstruction of the faith—something many have done leading to a rejection of Jesus and his gospel—we will be encouraged and exhorted to look to Christ alone for the building material necessary to construct or reconstruct a life founded on a faith that endures. Jude's concern has been for a first century local church beset by false teaching; a concern that requires vigilance in our day as false teachers influence us through social media and innocent web searches. We must not let our guard down but rather, as Jude wrote, “contend for the faith.” Series: Deconstructed-Reconstructed (Jude) Todd Dugard Message: 5 – Glorifying the only God and Saviour Harvest Bible Chapel Text: Jude 1:24-25 October 15, 2023 Doxology – a short hymn, song or poem praising God, sung or said as part of a Christian church service.—Cambridge Dictionary δόξα (doxa) (Greek) – a manifestation (revealing) of power characterized by glory which causes wonder, amazement.—L&N 76.13 When I build my life on Jesus, I have…… (v. 24) …present confidence …future hope 1 Peter 1:19 Romans 8:30 2 Corinthians 3:18 Lasting transformation is a spiritual consequence of “beholding the glory of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). That's why we're here: to behold. To set our sights on a higher love. To see who Adam hid from, who the psalmist sang to, who the prophets spoke for, who the disciples walked with, and who Jesus made known. Jackie Hill Perry, Holier Than Thou …and unending joy …because he is… (v. 25) …the only John 14:6 Acts 4:12 …saving …glorious 1 Peter 1:16 …majestic …sovereign Philippians 2:10-11 …authoritative Deconstruction is a shift from the authority of the Bible (absolute truth) to the authority of self. It is a move from a truth-quest to a happiness-quest. Alisa Childers; Frank Turek …and eternal God …worthy of my devotion and praise. RESOURCES Holier Than Thou: How God's Holiness Helps Us Trust Him by Jackie Hill Perry https://a.co/d/hbxvbOj Addressing Deconstruction in the Church: An Interview with Barnabas Piper and Jason Min https://sola.network/article/addressing-deconstruction-in-the-church/ A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie https://a.co/d/fxj2qKQ The Valley of Vision - A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions https://a.co/d/0NuDwOI The Prisoner in the Third Cell https://a.co/d/3rrTEfY Doctrine and Obedience Are Friends https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/straight-paths/doctrine-and-obedience-are-friends/ The Most Dangerous Form of Deconstruction https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/february-web-only/russell-moore-deconstruction-faith-church-dangerous-form.html Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers and Lee Strobel https://a.co/d/fXuuEaT The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Michael Graham https://a.co/d/etjiIIq I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion but Found My Faith by Lecrae https://a.co/d/7lFqs2H Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church https://a.co/d/6r7v4lg Alisa Childers podcasts https://alisachilders.com/podcast/ Cross Examined podcasts https://crossexamined.org/podcasts/ Red Pen Logic https://www.youtube.com/c/RedPenLogic https://www.facebook.com/redpenlogic https://www.instagram.com/redpenlogic/
We will wrap up our 5-message series in the Letter of Jude this Sunday with a look at the closing doxology; two verses of high-impact vertical focus. As we have considered the contemporary trend around deconstruction of the faith—something many have done leading to a rejection of Jesus and his gospel—we will be encouraged and exhorted to look to Christ alone for the building material necessary to construct or reconstruct a life founded on a faith that endures. Jude's concern has been for a first century local church beset by false teaching; a concern that requires vigilance in our day as false teachers influence us through social media and innocent web searches. We must not let our guard down but rather, as Jude wrote, “contend for the faith.” Series: Deconstructed-Reconstructed (Jude) Todd Dugard Message: 5 – Glorifying the only God and Saviour Harvest Bible Chapel Text: Jude 1:24-25 October 15, 2023 Doxology – a short hymn, song or poem praising God, sung or said as part of a Christian church service.—Cambridge Dictionary δόξα (doxa) (Greek) – a manifestation (revealing) of power characterized by glory which causes wonder, amazement.—L&N 76.13 When I build my life on Jesus, I have…… (v. 24) …present confidence …future hope 1 Peter 1:19 Romans 8:30 2 Corinthians 3:18 Lasting transformation is a spiritual consequence of “beholding the glory of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). That's why we're here: to behold. To set our sights on a higher love. To see who Adam hid from, who the psalmist sang to, who the prophets spoke for, who the disciples walked with, and who Jesus made known. Jackie Hill Perry, Holier Than Thou …and unending joy …because he is… (v. 25) …the only John 14:6 Acts 4:12 …saving …glorious 1 Peter 1:16 …majestic …sovereign Philippians 2:10-11 …authoritative Deconstruction is a shift from the authority of the Bible (absolute truth) to the authority of self. It is a move from a truth-quest to a happiness-quest. Alisa Childers; Frank Turek …and eternal God …worthy of my devotion and praise. RESOURCES Holier Than Thou: How God's Holiness Helps Us Trust Him by Jackie Hill Perry https://a.co/d/hbxvbOj Addressing Deconstruction in the Church: An Interview with Barnabas Piper and Jason Min https://sola.network/article/addressing-deconstruction-in-the-church/ A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie https://a.co/d/fxj2qKQ The Valley of Vision - A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions https://a.co/d/0NuDwOI The Prisoner in the Third Cell https://a.co/d/3rrTEfY Doctrine and Obedience Are Friends https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/straight-paths/doctrine-and-obedience-are-friends/ The Most Dangerous Form of Deconstruction https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/february-web-only/russell-moore-deconstruction-faith-church-dangerous-form.html Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers and Lee Strobel https://a.co/d/fXuuEaT The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Michael Graham https://a.co/d/etjiIIq I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion but Found My Faith by Lecrae https://a.co/d/7lFqs2H Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church https://a.co/d/6r7v4lg Alisa Childers podcasts https://alisachilders.com/podcast/ Cross Examined podcasts https://crossexamined.org/podcasts/ Red Pen Logic https://www.youtube.com/c/RedPenLogic https://www.facebook.com/redpenlogic https://www.instagram.com/redpenlogic/
In a wide ranging conversation, founding friend David French takes over the reins for Curtis Chang and discusses the new book, The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan Burge. David and coauthor Graham discuss all the reasons for “the great dechurching” with a particular emphasis on the more surprising results, as well as the difficulty reversing the decline in church attendance. We want to hear your “Campfire Stories” about living out your good faith! Share your stories with us today. The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan Burge
Seriously. People think churches should be perfect, never experience conflict, and never split. So naïve. I'll admit that reaching for that ideal is a good thing, but the reality of attempting to do what we're doing in building the church requires a more realistic view of things. Bottom line: Satan doesn't want the church to thrive, and he has many human agents who do his bidding in local churches just like ours. And that's why Jude wrote his letter. In the passage in front of us on Sunday (Jude 1:17-23), he makes the point that it is a given that there will be ungodly people in the church and that they will cause division, and so the faithful Jesus-loving, gospel-centred members must fight it. They'll do that by building up their faith through praying in the Spirit, keeping everyone reminded of God's love, by waiting expectantly for the day Jesus will break through the clouds and end all the nonsense. In the meantime, to keep our focus on what's important, we should be showing compassion to those struggling in their faith. Series: Deconstructed-Reconstructed (Jude) Todd Dugard Message: 4 – Building yourself up in the faith Harvest Bible Chapel Text: Jude 1:17-23 October 1, 2023 Ungodly people in the church will cause division. (v. 17-19) Matthew 7:15 Acts 20:29-30 1 Timothy 4:1-2 Proverbs 6:16-19 Ephesians 4:3 Titus 3:10-11 So, fight it. Build up your faith by… (v. 20a) …praying in the Spirit (v. 20b) …keeping everyone in God's love (v. 21a) 1 John 4:9-10 …waiting for the day (v. 21b) Revelation 21:4 …and showing compassion to those struggling (v. 22-23) RESOURCES A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie https://a.co/d/fxj2qKQ The Valley of Vision A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions https://a.co/d/0NuDwOI The Prisoner in the Third Cell https://a.co/d/3rrTEfY Doctrine and Obedience Are Friends https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/straight-paths/doctrine-and-obedience-are-friends/ The Most Dangerous Form of Deconstruction https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/february-web-only/russell-moore-deconstruction-faith-church-dangerous-form.html Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers and Lee Strobel https://a.co/d/fXuuEaT The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Michael Graham https://a.co/d/etjiIIq I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion but Found My Faith https://a.co/d/7lFqs2H Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church https://a.co/d/6r7v4lg Alisa Childers podcasts https://alisachilders.com/podcast/ Cross Examined podcasts https://crossexamined.org/podcasts/ Red Pen Logic https://www.youtube.com/c/RedPenLogic https://www.facebook.com/redpenlogic https://www.instagram.com/redpenlogic/
Seriously. People think churches should be perfect, never experience conflict, and never split. So naïve. I'll admit that reaching for that ideal is a good thing, but the reality of attempting to do what we're doing in building the church requires a more realistic view of things. Bottom line: Satan doesn't want the church to thrive, and he has many human agents who do his bidding in local churches just like ours. And that's why Jude wrote his letter. In the passage in front of us on Sunday (Jude 1:17-23), he makes the point that it is a given that there will be ungodly people in the church and that they will cause division, and so the faithful Jesus-loving, gospel-centred members must fight it. They'll do that by building up their faith through praying in the Spirit, keeping everyone reminded of God's love, by waiting expectantly for the day Jesus will break through the clouds and end all the nonsense. In the meantime, to keep our focus on what's important, we should be showing compassion to those struggling in their faith. Series: Deconstructed-Reconstructed (Jude) Todd Dugard Message: 4 – Building yourself up in the faith Harvest Bible Chapel Text: Jude 1:17-23 October 1, 2023 Ungodly people in the church will cause division. (v. 17-19) Matthew 7:15 Acts 20:29-30 1 Timothy 4:1-2 Proverbs 6:16-19 Ephesians 4:3 Titus 3:10-11 So, fight it. Build up your faith by… (v. 20a) …praying in the Spirit (v. 20b) …keeping everyone in God's love (v. 21a) 1 John 4:9-10 …waiting for the day (v. 21b) Revelation 21:4 …and showing compassion to those struggling (v. 22-23) RESOURCES A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie https://a.co/d/fxj2qKQ The Valley of Vision A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions https://a.co/d/0NuDwOI The Prisoner in the Third Cell https://a.co/d/3rrTEfY Doctrine and Obedience Are Friends https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/straight-paths/doctrine-and-obedience-are-friends/ The Most Dangerous Form of Deconstruction https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/february-web-only/russell-moore-deconstruction-faith-church-dangerous-form.html Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers and Lee Strobel https://a.co/d/fXuuEaT The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Michael Graham https://a.co/d/etjiIIq I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion but Found My Faith https://a.co/d/7lFqs2H Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church https://a.co/d/6r7v4lg Alisa Childers podcasts https://alisachilders.com/podcast/ Cross Examined podcasts https://crossexamined.org/podcasts/ Red Pen Logic https://www.youtube.com/c/RedPenLogic https://www.facebook.com/redpenlogic https://www.instagram.com/redpenlogic/
This week we continue our Meet a Member series with an interview with long-time SVCC member and Finance Administrator at Shades, Scott Ledbetter! Email Us: midweek@shadesvalley.org Visit Us: shadesvalley.org JM's Album Of The Week: Harvest - Glad Bradford's Book Club: The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going and What Will It Take To Bring Them Back by Jim Davis, Michael Graham and Ryan Burge
To be fair, this message isn't only about loud-mouthed boasters. It is also about blasphemers, rebels, the presumptuous, empty-shirts, grumblers, malcontents and all those who are only in it for what they can get out of it. Should be a fun Sunday together. The passage is Jude 1:8-16 and it is a doozy. The outline is five “Don't…” imperatives. And the point of the whole thing is to not be like “certain people” who resist God in a myriad of ways. Jude (and the Holy Spirit) thought it to be something we needed to read all these years later. These people present an existential threat to the local church, and so we'll dive into it together on Sunday. In case you missed it, we are compiling a resource list for this series, Deconstructed-Reconstructed, as we examine this important topic. You can find the list in the sermon notes each week and on social media. Series: Deconstructed-Reconstructed (Jude) Todd Dugard Message: 3 – Loud-mouthed boasters Harvest Bible Chapel Text: Jude 1:8-16 September 24, 2023 Don't be like “certain people” who resist God. Don't presume upon him (v. 8-9) Don't distort his word (v. 10-11) 1 Corinthians 2:14 A Christian who remains stuck with an elementary understanding of doctrine is a Christian who is in danger of abandoning Christ. Darryl Dash Life itself has a way of forcing us to deal with theology—that is, what we believe—sooner or later. The difficult experiences of life raise important questions about God and what he is up to. We especially must be focused in the deeper matters of the faith if we are to withstand the fire of persecution. Those who are shallow theologically manifest that superficiality in the face of strong challenges that oppose continued commitment to Christ. George Guthrie Don't chase after the wind (v. 12-13) Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 Don't rebel against him (v. 14-15) Don't pursue self-interest (v. 16) Philippians 2:3-4 RESOURCES The Prisoner in the Third Cell by Gene Edwards https://a.co/d/3rrTEfY Doctrine and Obedience Are Friends https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/straight-paths/doctrine-and-obedience-are-friends/ The Most Dangerous Form of Deconstruction https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/february-web-only/russell-moore-deconstruction-faith-church-dangerous-form.html Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers and Lee Strobel https://a.co/d/fXuuEaT The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Michael Graham https://a.co/d/etjiIIq I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion but Found My Faith https://a.co/d/7lFqs2H Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church https://a.co/d/6r7v4lg Alisa Childers podcasts https://alisachilders.com/podcast/ Cross Examined podcasts https://crossexamined.org/podcasts/ Red Pen Logic https://www.youtube.com/c/RedPenLogic https://www.facebook.com/redpenlogic https://www.instagram.com/redpenlogic/
To be fair, this message isn't only about loud-mouthed boasters. It is also about blasphemers, rebels, the presumptuous, empty-shirts, grumblers, malcontents and all those who are only in it for what they can get out of it. Should be a fun Sunday together. The passage is Jude 1:8-16 and it is a doozy. The outline is five “Don't…” imperatives. And the point of the whole thing is to not be like “certain people” who resist God in a myriad of ways. Jude (and the Holy Spirit) thought it to be something we needed to read all these years later. These people present an existential threat to the local church, and so we'll dive into it together on Sunday. In case you missed it, we are compiling a resource list for this series, Deconstructed-Reconstructed, as we examine this important topic. You can find the list in the sermon notes each week and on social media. Series: Deconstructed-Reconstructed (Jude) Todd Dugard Message: 3 – Loud-mouthed boasters Harvest Bible Chapel Text: Jude 1:8-16 September 24, 2023 Don't be like “certain people” who resist God. Don't presume upon him (v. 8-9) Don't distort his word (v. 10-11) 1 Corinthians 2:14 A Christian who remains stuck with an elementary understanding of doctrine is a Christian who is in danger of abandoning Christ. Darryl Dash Life itself has a way of forcing us to deal with theology—that is, what we believe—sooner or later. The difficult experiences of life raise important questions about God and what he is up to. We especially must be focused in the deeper matters of the faith if we are to withstand the fire of persecution. Those who are shallow theologically manifest that superficiality in the face of strong challenges that oppose continued commitment to Christ. George Guthrie Don't chase after the wind (v. 12-13) Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 Don't rebel against him (v. 14-15) Don't pursue self-interest (v. 16) Philippians 2:3-4 RESOURCES The Prisoner in the Third Cell by Gene Edwards https://a.co/d/3rrTEfY Doctrine and Obedience Are Friends https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/straight-paths/doctrine-and-obedience-are-friends/ The Most Dangerous Form of Deconstruction https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/february-web-only/russell-moore-deconstruction-faith-church-dangerous-form.html Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers and Lee Strobel https://a.co/d/fXuuEaT The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Michael Graham https://a.co/d/etjiIIq I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion but Found My Faith https://a.co/d/7lFqs2H Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church https://a.co/d/6r7v4lg Alisa Childers podcasts https://alisachilders.com/podcast/ Cross Examined podcasts https://crossexamined.org/podcasts/ Red Pen Logic https://www.youtube.com/c/RedPenLogic https://www.facebook.com/redpenlogic https://www.instagram.com/redpenlogic/
@americanvaluescoalition4471 Paul D. Miller on Christian Nationalism https://youtu.be/OkBOw8IREvA?si=h11vosMcV5TEjXL0 @SeanMcDowell Is Christian Nationalism Dangerous? A Conversation with Paul Miller and R.R. Reno https://youtu.be/e2mSsFQRUXs?si=uVdOCoN0J-2Ofjzu @MelissaDougherty Asking Christians on the Spot Questions. https://youtu.be/W1qrNVBzD5o?si=P48y5pQbmd2RGn-W @TheoVon John Vervaeke | This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #462 https://youtu.be/GxE2c_PNgR0?si=dd0PZCRpneTnFpbd American Nations https://amzn.to/3ZEINQl The Churching of America, 1776-2005: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy https://amzn.to/46iExI2 The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? https://amzn.to/45YT3oF Upcoming TLC Events Breakwater Festival Mannheim Germany October 27-29 2023 Event Details and Tickets: https://buytickets.at/breakwater/935800 T-shirts: https://buytickets.at/breakwater/store Discord: tinyurl.com/BreakwaterDiscord Festival Email: contact.breakwater@gmail.com Flyer https://bit.ly/breakwaterfestival2023 Convivium 2023: Poetry as Perception, November 17-18, Hector, AR https://events.eventzilla.net/e/convivium-2023-poetry-as-perception-2138588315 Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGsDIP_K6J6VSTqlq-9IPlg/join Paul Vander Klay clips channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX0jIcadtoxELSwehCh5QTg Bridges of Meaning Discord https://discord.gg/UkptDXrP https://www.meetup.com/sacramento-estuary/ My Substack https://paulvanderklay.substack.com/ Estuary Hub Link https://www.estuaryhub.com/ If you want to schedule a one-on-one conversation check here. https://paulvanderklay.me/2019/08/06/converzations-with-pvk/ There is a video version of this podcast on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/paulvanderklay To listen to this on ITunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/paul-vanderklays-podcast/id1394314333 If you need the RSS feed for your podcast player https://paulvanderklay.podbean.com/feed/ All Amazon links here are part of the Amazon Affiliate Program. Amazon pays me a small commission at no additional cost to you if you buy through one of the product links here. This is is one (free to you) way to support my videos. https://paypal.me/paulvanderklay Blockchain backup on Lbry https://odysee.com/@paulvanderklay https://www.patreon.com/paulvanderklay Paul's Church Content at Living Stones Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh7bdktIALZ9Nq41oVCvW-A To support Paul's work by supporting his church give here. https://tithe.ly/give?c=2160640
John Hall and Kathy Emmons talk with Jim Davis, teaching pastor at Orlando Grace Church, about his book he co-wrote, The Great Dechurching:Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
I was born and raised until age 13 in Québec. I'm an anglophone but entered the first iteration of French Immersion when I started grade 4. When we moved to Ontario, I carried on with the program through to the end of high school with a third of my secondary credits being classes in French. I was fluent in the language and given a Certificate of Bilingualism when I graduated. But living in English Canada for all these years, I have had few opportunities to speak French, and my language skills are, at best, rough. When I get the opportunity to spend time in a francophone context, the words and phrases begin to come back pretty quickly. I remember what I once knew. It is a fact that unless we continue to rehearse and use what we know, it slips into some deep recess of our brain and is all but unretrievable without some effort to remember what we once knew well. That is Jude's point in addressing the significant challenges that his readers were facing with respect to false teachers. He wrote, “I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it…” and goes on to begin a recounting of basic gospel principles. And that's what we'll look at in Jude 1:5-7 this Sunday. Contending for the faith starts with reminding myself constantly of the gospel. In the language of our series, if we are to deconstruct and then properly reconstruct our faith, it must be on the basis of these gospel principles. Otherwise, the false teachers have their way with us and the building of our life and faith crumbles. Series: Deconstructed-Reconstructed (Jude) Todd Dugard Message: 2 – Remembering what you once knew Harvest Bible Chapel Text: Jude 1:5-7 September 17, 2023 In truth, there are only two kinds of people; those who accept a set of beliefs and know it, and those who accept a set of beliefs and don't know it.—G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy To contend for the faith means reminding myself that… …unbelief destroys—am I a believer? (v. 5) Romans 2:29 Israel's apostasy stands as a warning to all those who think that an initial commitment secures their future destiny without ongoing obedience. Thomas R. Schreiner We are not told in the Sermon on the Mount, ‘Live like this and you will become a Christian'; rather we are told, ‘Because you are a Christian live like this.' Martyn Lloyd-Jones …pride imprisons—am I humble? (v. 6) 1 Peter 5:5b When others tell me that the reason I left the Church was simply because I really didn't know the ‘One True God', the truth is, I did. The problem was that in order for me to keep believing in 'Him', I had to keep abandoning myself. So instead, I chose ME for the first time. For many people, deconstruction isn't about submitting to God. It's about choosing to be your own god. redpenlogic Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you. Andrew Murray, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness Humility is the displacement of self by the enthronement of God. Andrew Murray Matthew 16:24 …immorality condemns—am I pursuing holiness? (v. 7) ἐκπορνεύω; ekporneuō – to engage in sexual immorality of any kind, often with the implication of prostitution; to engage in illicit sex, to commit fornication L&N 88.271 Ezekiel 16:49-50 Sometimes we don't want God to be real because we want permission to sin without consequence. We want an intimate God on Sundays and an impersonal God who looks the other way for the rest of the week. Lecrae, I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion but Found My Faith RESOURCES Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers and Lee Strobel https://a.co/d/fXuuEaT The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Michael Graham https://a.co/d/etjiIIq I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion but Found My Faith https://a.co/d/7lFqs2H Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church https://a.co/d/6r7v4lg Alisa Childers podcasts https://alisachilders.com/podcast/ Cross Examined podcasts https://crossexamined.org/podcasts/ Red Pen Logic https://www.youtube.com/c/RedPenLogic https://www.facebook.com/redpenlogic https://www.instagram.com/redpenlogic/
I was born and raised until age 13 in Québec. I'm an anglophone but entered the first iteration of French Immersion when I started grade 4. When we moved to Ontario, I carried on with the program through to the end of high school with a third of my secondary credits being classes in French. I was fluent in the language and given a Certificate of Bilingualism when I graduated. But living in English Canada for all these years, I have had few opportunities to speak French, and my language skills are, at best, rough. When I get the opportunity to spend time in a francophone context, the words and phrases begin to come back pretty quickly. I remember what I once knew. It is a fact that unless we continue to rehearse and use what we know, it slips into some deep recess of our brain and is all but unretrievable without some effort to remember what we once knew well. That is Jude's point in addressing the significant challenges that his readers were facing with respect to false teachers. He wrote, “I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it…” and goes on to begin a recounting of basic gospel principles. And that's what we'll look at in Jude 1:5-7 this Sunday. Contending for the faith starts with reminding myself constantly of the gospel. In the language of our series, if we are to deconstruct and then properly reconstruct our faith, it must be on the basis of these gospel principles. Otherwise, the false teachers have their way with us and the building of our life and faith crumbles. Series: Deconstructed-Reconstructed (Jude) Todd Dugard Message: 2 – Remembering what you once knew Harvest Bible Chapel Text: Jude 1:5-7 September 17, 2023 In truth, there are only two kinds of people; those who accept a set of beliefs and know it, and those who accept a set of beliefs and don't know it.—G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy To contend for the faith means reminding myself that… …unbelief destroys—am I a believer? (v. 5) Romans 2:29 Israel's apostasy stands as a warning to all those who think that an initial commitment secures their future destiny without ongoing obedience. Thomas R. Schreiner We are not told in the Sermon on the Mount, ‘Live like this and you will become a Christian'; rather we are told, ‘Because you are a Christian live like this.' Martyn Lloyd-Jones …pride imprisons—am I humble? (v. 6) 1 Peter 5:5b When others tell me that the reason I left the Church was simply because I really didn't know the ‘One True God', the truth is, I did. The problem was that in order for me to keep believing in 'Him', I had to keep abandoning myself. So instead, I chose ME for the first time. For many people, deconstruction isn't about submitting to God. It's about choosing to be your own god. redpenlogic Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you. Andrew Murray, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness Humility is the displacement of self by the enthronement of God. Andrew Murray Matthew 16:24 …immorality condemns—am I pursuing holiness? (v. 7) ἐκπορνεύω; ekporneuō – to engage in sexual immorality of any kind, often with the implication of prostitution; to engage in illicit sex, to commit fornication L&N 88.271 Ezekiel 16:49-50 Sometimes we don't want God to be real because we want permission to sin without consequence. We want an intimate God on Sundays and an impersonal God who looks the other way for the rest of the week. Lecrae, I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion but Found My Faith RESOURCES Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers and Lee Strobel https://a.co/d/fXuuEaT The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Michael Graham https://a.co/d/etjiIIq I Am Restored: How I Lost My Religion but Found My Faith https://a.co/d/7lFqs2H Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church https://a.co/d/6r7v4lg Alisa Childers podcasts https://alisachilders.com/podcast/ Cross Examined podcasts https://crossexamined.org/podcasts/ Red Pen Logic https://www.youtube.com/c/RedPenLogic https://www.facebook.com/redpenlogic https://www.instagram.com/redpenlogic/
Davis and Graham write in their book, “The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?” that “more people have left the church in the last 25 years than all the new people who became Christians from the First Great Awakening, Second Great Awakening, and Billy Graham crusades combined.” What does the falling away look like? It looks like this, but even worse than you think it is. Let me explain. On this episode of the NTEB Prophecy News Podcast, the professing Christian Church entered into a period of falling away from preaching and teaching rightly divided Bible doctrine in the tail-end of the 19th century with the emergence of the modern version ‘bibles', the Revised Version was released in 1881, and the American Standard Version in 1901. With the launch of those two books, a ‘direct hit' was leveled against the Church and the King James Bible that resulted in an ever-widening apostasy. By the time you get to the end of the 20th century, there are over 250 ‘bible' versions, all of them bad. Here in 2023, the vast majority of people who identify as Christian could not tell you the gospel of the kingdom of God that Paul preached if their lives depended on it. As a result, people are fleeing in record numbers even the feel-good, love gospel churches because they have no connection of any kind to God and the Bible. There is indeed a ‘dechurching' underway, and on this episode we show you just how bad it really is, and what you can do about it. We will also cover the Joe Biden impeachment, the Hunter Biden indictment, and the collapse of America. TO THE FIGHT!!!
Join Cameron and Anna for this fascinating interview with Jim Davis and Michael Graham, authors of The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? According to the research commissioned by Davis and Graham, 40 million people have left the American church in the last several decades. Americans are most vulnerable to dechurching between the ages of 13-30. This important new book uncovers the primary reasons why people leave the church. Parents will be particularly interested in knowing how they might influence their child's decision to dechurch."The American Church has tended to work best for those who fit the 'American path': marriage, then children after marriage. If you get off that path, the American church doesn't work as well for you, which is really sad because if you go back to the early church, the people church worked best for were the disenfranchised." Jim DavisResources:The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael GrahamThe Next Generation: Forming Middle and High School Students for Lifelong Faith (As In Heaven podcast episode with Cameron Cole)Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation by Christian SmithGod's Grace For Every Family: Biblical Encouragement for Single-Parent Families and the Churches that Seek to Love them Well by Anna Meade HarrisJoin us November 2-4 for Rooted 2023!
The Great Dechurching:Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? (new book co-written with Michael Graham & Ryan Burge) … GUEST Jim Davis … teaching pastor at Orlando Grace Church … host of “As it is in Heaven” podcast on The Gospel Coalition podcast network. Why Seminary Is Worth It for Women … GUEST Lianna Davis … student of the Word with a B.A. in Ministry to Women from Moody Bible Institute.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Great Dechurching:Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? (new book co-written with Michael Graham & Ryan Burge) … GUEST Jim Davis … teaching pastor at Orlando Grace Church … host of “As it is in Heaven” podcast on The Gospel Coalition podcast network. Why Seminary Is Worth It for Women … GUEST Lianna Davis … student of the Word with a B.A. in Ministry to Women from Moody Bible Institute.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hey friends! This week we jump into the conversation on a new book "The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?" 40 million Americans are no longer going to church -- what does this mean for the country and for the Church? There are several excellent reviews and discussions on the topic of church decline, and we have some thoughts to add to the discussion. As always, you can become a subscriber and support our work over at Substack. Subscriptions fuel this podcast and helps fund the dozens of hours we put into this podcast and our content each week. Use this link: https://wearweare.substack.com/subscribe If you'd like to partner with us as a sponsor for Wear We Are, please fill out our Advertise With Us form. Thanks for listening, rating/subscribing Wear We Are on your favorite podcast platform, and following/liking The Center for Christianity and Public Life (@ccpubliclife). You can pre-order Michael's new book, The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life today! You can pre-order on Amazon, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, or at your favorite local bookstore. Join the conversation and follow us on: Instagram: @michaelwear Twitter: @MichaelRWear And check out @tsfnetwork Music by: King Sis #politics #faith #religion #religious #culture #news #church #christian #christianity #dechurch #data #study #deconstruct #deconstruction #ReligiousRight #nones #WearWeAre #MichaelWear --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support
The Christian Outlook – September 2, 2023 Scott Furrow and Erik Baptist, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, discuss the legal challenges against the FDA's approval and distribution of the abortion pill, as well as the ethical concerns, and safety issues surrounding it. Scott Furrow and Nicole Hunt of Focus on the Family talk about the abortion industry's opposition to legislation supporting alternatives to abortion and women's choices for life. Despite claiming to be pro-choice, the industry resists measures that don't align with their profit-driven focus, as seen in examples from Colorado and California. Brian From and Aubrey Sampson invite Michael Graham to discuss his co-authored book, The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? Georgene Rice talks with Heidi St. John, a homeschool mom of seven, a podcaster, and author of MomStrong 365: A Daily Devotional to Encourage and Empower Everyday Moms., about how everyone has a unique role to play in fulfilling God's purposes, in this time and season in their life. John Hall and Kathy Emmons talk with Grant Horner, a professor at the Master's University in Santa Clarita, California, about how the transgender movement is attempting to erase the way God has designed humanity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode 1304 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com Questions in this Episode 1. Does Matthew 6:24 teach that I must hate money to love God? 2. Why do Christians have differing beliefs if we have the same Holy Spirit? 3. Were there people on Earth before Adam and Eve? 4. Why does the Bible mention slavery so many times? 5. Should churches offer more services throughout the week? Today's Offer Bible Studies Request our latest special offers here or call 1-833-THE-CORE (833-843-2673) to request them by phone. Want to partner with us in our work here at Core Christianity? Consider becoming a member of the Inner Core. Resources Book - The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by Jim Davis and Michael Graham Book - Core Christianity: Finding Yourself in God's Story by Michael Horton
Michael Graham, Program Director for The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics, reveals the number one reason people leave church: moving. Michael has just co-authored a book called The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?, and says that life events that disrupt schedules--like marital changes, kids, or pandemics--are actually the biggest congregation-stealers... and present the greatest opportunity for ministry. Then, Brian and Aubrey interview enneagram expert Jackie Brewster, and chat about what Jesus meant by encouraging Christians to be a city on the hill--vs. what politicians mean when they use the same phrase. Follow The Common Good on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Hosted by Aubrey Sampson and Brian From Produced by Laura Finch and Keith ConradSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Why do people leave church? And what can parents know and do so their kids aren't casualties to a mass church exodus? Church planter Michael Aitcheson and author Jim Davis, author of The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? as the two explore what's happening in the church—and how parents can actively, intentionally shape kids who stay. Show Notes and Resources Hear more from Jim Davis on his podcast. And grab Jim's book, "The Great Dechurching" in our shop. Intrigued by today's episode? Catch more on deconversion and deconstruction in FamilyLife Today episodes with Dr. John Marriott. Find resources from this podcast at shop.familylife.com. See resources from our past podcasts. Find more content and resources on the FamilyLife's app! Help others find FamilyLife. Leave a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Check out all the FamilyLife podcasts on the FamilyLife Podcast Network
Michael Graham discusses findings from his book, The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?. He profiles four different groups of these dear friends who have left the church and shares what it might take to bring them back. Michael Graham is Program Director at The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. He produces and writes for the As In Heaven podcast and is a member at Orlando Grace Church.
When is the last time you attended a worship service? For 40 million of us, the answer is, not in quite some time. Listen to Pastor Jim Davis, co-author of "The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?" Davis is teaching pastor at Orlando Grace Church. Original air date 10 July 2023. The book will be published on 22 August 2023.
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