The Washington Times religion editor Julia Duin says many Christians have stopped going to church because they are not getting meaningful worship, teaching, or fellowship.
In her new book, Quitting Church, Duin contends church dropouts often feel like they have heard all the sermons and served their congregations for years, but have simply burned out. As a result, she notes many faithful Christians have replaced Sunday worship with private devotions or informal home groups.
Duin adds that churches tend to be family-focused -- not always with positive results.
"I think a lot of church planters have given up on the baby boomers entirely. They're just like, 'they don't exist' -- which is crazy because they have all the money; they have all the leisure time," Duin explains. "No, churches concentrate on young families. There's [sic] 86 million singles, and no one really cares about them. They're just chased out of church or barely tolerated."
Duin says pastors need to be aware of the problem, and to ask why people are leaving.
"The folks that I've interviewed who had left church were all surprised that no one ever came after them. No one asked why they were gone," Duin points out. "Businesses find out why no one wants their product anymore. Why can't churches do a little bit of asking the hard questions?"
Source: OneNewsNow
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