Leaving the Church for Jesus?

On Monday (March 29, 2021), Gallup published an article titled “U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time” (link below). The article reports on the 2020 religious survey that Gallup has conducted every year, I think since 1937. According to Gallup, “U.S. church membership was 73% when Gallup first measured it in 1937 and remained near 70% for the next six decades, before beginning a steady decline around the turn of the 21st century.”

The gist of the article is that for the first time in American history, church membership has fallen below 50%.

And the three big takeaways from the article, according to Gallup, are these:

1. In 2020, 47% of U.S. adults belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque.

2. That number is down more than 20 points from turn of the century.

3. And according to Gallup, that change is primarily due to the rise in the number of Americans with no religious preference.

But here’s the thing about all this — numbers never tell the whole story, particularly when it comes to societal change. And that’s especially so when we’re talking about church affiliation as the single barometer of faith.

So what’s really going on here? That is what we’re gonna talk about today.

Join me today as we discuss:

1. Two kinds of religiously unaffiliated people

2. How to make sense of this trend

3. Why people are leaving the church, according to the people who leave the church.

4. What churches can do about this.

5. What you can do if you feel the need to leave your church.

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Thanks for listening!

And remember, you are greatly loved.

Music and audio production by Nathan Longwell Music 

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Resources for Today’s Show:

1. Jeffrey Jones, “U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time.”March 29, 2021 (https://news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx)

2. Pew Research Forum, “America's Changing Religious Landscape.” May 12, 2015 (https://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/).

3. Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope, Church Refugees (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1470725924/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_ZY2W77T0EVWGRQK38T1E)

4. Wayne Jacobsen, “The Phenomenon of the Dones,” December 8, 2015 (https://www.lifestream.org/the-phenomenon-of-the-dones/).

5. Wayne Jacobsen, Beyond Sundays (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0983949190/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_E7EJQYVRWTQGR8MHHBD6)