A new survey from LifeWay Research shows that most Christians in the United States are leaving for another church.
The study found that 60% cited physical mobility as the main reason for the change. The remaining 40% gave mixed answers.
“After the church reopened, of course we went back to church, but we really started to feel like we needed something more,” Heather Edwards said. CBN News In an interview.
She and her husband, Norm, live in Northern Virginia.They said they felt disconnected when they attended a large church in Washington, D.C.
“We’ve seen this at the church where we staffed, and we’ve seen it at other large churches. You literally walk in, walk past everyone, and there’s a nice greeting that says, ‘Welcome home, good morning.’ There are a lot of things like that,” Norm explained. “And it’s kind, it’s nice, it’s well-intentioned, but it’s literally sitting in your seat and not being able to talk to anyone, very professional, very neatly buttoned-up worship, both the worship and the message.” , and then they say their prayers and file out, and they say, “Thank you for coming,” but they don’t really talk to anyone, they just go straight home and that’s it.”
After the pandemic, the Edwards sought out more communities, smaller churches, and preaching with deeper meaning than just talk.
LifeWay’s research found that 40 percent of “church changers” are like Heather and Norm and are changing churches for reasons other than changing location.
“When we dug into the reasons behind that disillusionment, what we found were some of the accusations we’ve heard on other occasions: the church is critical, the church is hypocritical, and sometimes pastors are He was not a good preacher,” explained Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research.
McConnell said the data presents an opportunity for the church to take a more outward-looking approach.
Meanwhile, Pastor Alex Young of Crossroads Presbyterian Church in Northern Virginia says churches often stop preaching the Bible, people stop believing, or people move from one church to another because of disagreements. He pointed out that this is the cause of people leaving the church.
“I think all Christians have a common core belief, but we have disagreements on these secondary issues,” he told CBN News.
Such issues include baptism, church government, and the interpretation of specific scriptures.
Heather and Norm currently attend a small church in Northern Virginia that they feel is a good fit.
“I think the church is a community. It’s about living this life together. So we encourage each other and we hold each other accountable. We’re there for each other. But that didn’t happen in that big environment,” Norm said. “And it’s certainly not as polished and professional, but that’s not really what matters to us. It’s credibility in the community.”
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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributor to Christian Headlines and host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast dedicated to sound doctrine and Biblical truth. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Alliance Theological Seminary.
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