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. Zondervan. 272 pages. 2023
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This important new book, written by Jim Davis (teaching pastor at Orlando Grace Church, Michael Graham (Program Director at The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics) with Ryan Burge (associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University), uses research on some forty million Americans (about 15 percent of American adults living today), who have left the church over the last twenty-five years. They tell us that we are in the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country. This would be an excellent book for church leaders to read and discuss and might also be a good topic for an adult Sunday School class.
What began as a desire to equip the primary author’s local church through a podcast called As in Heaven, became a research project that eventually developed into this book. They engaged social scientists Dr. Ryan Burge and Dr. Paul Djupe to do an academic-review-board-approved, nationwide, quantitative study to answer their questions about the dechurching phenomenon. The authors tell us that the size, pace, and scope of dechurching in America is at such historic levels that there is no better phrase to describe this phenomenon than the Great Dechurching.

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For the purposes of the study, a dechurched person was defined as someone who used to go to church at least once per month but now goes less than once a year. What they learned was that every possible category of people is leaving the church. This book is the compilation of their research and practical pastoral applications to better understand and address the Great Dechurching.

The authors tell us that for the first time in the eight decades that Gallup has tracked American religious membership, more adults in the United States do not attend church than attend church. There have been roughly three periods of rapid growth in religious adherence in the United States: the First Great Awakening (1730s–1740s), the Second Great Awakening (1790–1840), and the four decades following the Civil War (1870–1906). Sadly, more people have left the church in the last twenty-five years than all the new people who became Christians from the First Great Awakening, Second Great Awakening, and Billy Graham crusades combined.

The authors tell us that the 1990s is when churchgoing in America really changed. The size and scope of this shift away from church is unprecedented in our country. It is likely rare for a family, or for you to have friends, who once attended church but are no longer attending church today.

The book looks at four distinct types of dechurched evangelicals along with a profile combining mainline and Roman Catholic dechurched individuals. Each includes a fictionalized portrait of someone who might fit that description.

Despite the data revealed in the book, the authors remain optimistic. They state that the Great Dechurching is reversible and doesn’t have to have the final word for faith communities in our country. They tell us that the Great Dechurching could well be the American church’s most crucial moment and greatest opportunity.

They state that if there is one single application from their research that you walk away with, let it be this: invite your dechurched friends back to a healthy church with you.

The book includes a lot of data, but it is presented in an easy-to-understand manner. It also includes a lot of ideas on how to bring the dechurched back to church. This is a book that I recommend that you read, especially, though not exclusively, if you are a church leader. The one thing I would have added is questions for discussion at the end of each chapter. Perhaps there will be a study guide released.

Below are some quotes from the book that I found particularly interesting:

• The dechurching phenomenon is likely to hit smaller churches proportionally much harder, and we will likely see more consolidation of churches into medium and larger churches.
• The part of our study concerning dechurched evangelicals provided possibly the biggest surprise and the most hope. Dechurched evangelicals are still largely orthodox in their faith.
• Not only is the scope of dechurching large; the need to engage the dechurched is urgent. In just a generation, the children of the dechurched will be unchurched, changing the nature of spirituality in America significantly.
• The most important thing to know about dechurched mainstream evangelicals is that 100 percent of those in our study are actively willing to return to an evangelical church. This fact gives us tremendous hope.
• The heartbreaking truth is that 0 percent of exvangelicals in our survey are actively willing to return to an evangelical church. Zero percent! They are done.
• The value and priority of church membership already appears in decline among evangelicals.
• Dechurching was first a mainline phenomenon, then a Catholic one, and now an evangelical one. It is difficult to say if we have reached peak dechurching yet.
• According to our study, the more education a person has, the less likely that person is to dechurch.
• It’s worth noting that those who are involved in a campus ministry during their college years are more than three times more likely to stay in church after college.
• America of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s encouraged people to be a part of a church in a way that it no longer does. In addition, the growth of extracurricular activities and sports demanding Sunday morning attendance have created an additional pull away from church involvement.
• Missional and confessional aren’t two opposing ideas we need to hold in tension; they are two truths designed to work together.

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• Learning for Those Who Don’t Love Learning. On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper continues a series based on his new book Foundations of Lifelong Learning, speaking to those who don’t feel the joy of discovery, or don’t think of themselves as lifelong learners.
• Go to the Ant. On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper addresses this question regarding his new book ‘Foundations of Lifelong Learning’ “How does this new book relate to ‘Think’, your previous book? How is it different? And as you wrote this recent book, what did you learn as you put all the pieces together about how the Bible pushes us outside the Bible to learn? What struck you in a fresh way?”
• The Collected Best Christian Books of 2023. Tim Challies has gathered several “Best Books” lists and selected five books that appeared repeatedly on those lists. It’s a nice resource for book lovers.
• Tim Challies’ Top Books of 2023. Here are Tim Challies’ top books of 2023.
• How John Piper Marks Up His Books. On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to the questions “Can you walk us through your book-marking strategy? When did you start the practice? Why do you do it? What types of marginalia are you adding to your books? And of course, we all want to know: pencil or pen?”
• Remembering R.C. Sproul’s ‘The Holiness of God.’ Stephen Nichols writes “The Holiness of God confronts us, compellingly, dramatically, palpably, with the full gravitas of who God is. Our response? Worship with reverence and awe.”
• Knowing God Turns 50: Why We Still Need J. I. Packer’s Classic Book. Sam Storms writes “Knowing God isn’t a quick read, but it is quickening. It will illumine your mind, stir your affections, and strengthen you to face a lost world with hope rooted in the character of a great God.”
• Study, Savor and Share Scripture: Becoming What We Behold. My wife Tammy has published a book about HOW to study the Bible. The book is available on Amazon in both a Kindle and paperback edition. She writes “Maybe you have read the Bible but want to dig deeper and know God and know yourself better. Throughout the book I use the analogy of making a quilt to show how the Bible is telling one big story about what God is doing in the world through Christ. Quilting takes much patience and precision, just like studying the Bible, but the end result is well worth it.

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Won’t you read along with us?

We are reading through Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith by R.C. Sproul. From the Ligonier description:

“The Westminster Confession of Faith is one of the most precise and comprehensive statements of biblical Christianity, and it is treasured by believers around the world. R.C. Sproul has called it one of the most important confessions of faith ever penned, and it has helped generations of Christians understand and defend what they believe.

In Truths We Confess, Dr. Sproul introduces readers to this remarkable confession, explaining its insights and applying them to modern life. In his signature easy-to-understand style and with his conviction that everyone’s a theologian, he provides valuable commentary that will serve churches and individual Christians as they strive to better understand the eternal truths of Scripture. As he walks through the confession line by line, Dr. Sproul shows how the doctrines of the Bible—from creation to covenant, sin to salvation—fit together to the glory of God. This accessible volume is designed to help you deepen your knowledge of God’s Word and answer the question, What do you believe?”

This week we look at WCF 9: Of Free Will. Here are a few helpful quotes from this chapter:

• The prevailing view of free will in the secular culture is that human beings are able to make choices without being encumbered by sin. This view of human freedom is on a collision course with the biblical doctrine of the fall, which speaks of the radical corruption of our human condition.
• Whenever our desire for obedience is greater than our desire for sin, we will obey Christ. However, whenever our desire for sin exceeds our desire to please God, we will sin.
• We make choices according to what seems best or most pleasing to us at the moment of decision.
• Before conversion, we are free to sin; after conversion, we are free to sin or to obey God. In heaven, when we are in glory, we will be free only to obey.

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