What leavers say

The book "Life After Church" is written for and about people in the process of leaving church. Here are some of the quotes from "leavers":

"Church used to be exciting to go to. It's not like they did anything different back then but I guess it was new and we were younger and hadn't heard these sermons. But as the years have gone by it seems a bit like Groundhog Day. The church has failed us because it really only serves new believers. I'm not sure if that's what they're setting out to do, but everything seems so basic." - Dave

"Sometimes I feel like I would get as much out of staying at home as going, or better yet fishing or reading a good book. I might experience truth at the very least-more than the morning at church. It just feels like one more thing on my week of things to do and there is a lack of joy associated with it, an obligation moreso." - Crystal

"The thing that strikes me most is the manner in which church has become a routine. Everyone falls into line, follows the events in the service: when to greet and say hello, when to pray, sing, shout etc. I felt like one robot in the midst of others - emotionless, passionless, without zeal." - Joann

"The focus was always on what we needed to stop doing and never what we ought to be doing. There wasn't much mention of Christ's redemptive power. This combination caused me to fell hopeless because it put the onus of perfection on me and I knew that wasn't working. The only reason I ever went back was guilt." - Dan

"We're told not to go where the non-Christians are because it's potentially dangerous and we should be in church as much as we can. Wednesday night service, Sunday morning service, Saturday (7am!) men's group, a small group etc. Where are the relationships with those not in the church? It's almost as if we put the evangelism on God. No seeking at all. Just waiting." - Dave

What can we learn from what these people say? Clearly they're not done with faith. If anything they long for more than church can currently deliver.

4 stages of leaving church

People leave church. Some are shopping for a better church. Some no longer believe. Others are leaving the church not God.

These leavers (the subject and audience of this book) are leaving because of their pursuit of God. They "want to do what is right and to live in a way that honours Jesus" but find that "for them to stay (in church) and to remain faithful to Jesus are mutually exclusive".

So how does this happen? Author Brian Sanders says there are 4 stages:

Contentment

You're growing and learning and everything seems fine. At least if it's not fine we are able to focus on the positives.

Disaffection

Physically present. Emotionally absent. Thinking about leaving. You and the church are in different places. This might have been from a crisis or just from maturing as a Christian.

Threshold

Physically absent. Emotionally present. Now you've stopped attending church events. You still feel connected. You may still hope for change.

Full Exit

Physically and emotionally absent. You've now disconnected from church. Occasionally you may try to reconnect but generally the stage of contentment will disappear even quicker than before.

The author wonders if this leaving, rather than being a problem, is exactly what is needed. Perhaps it is too late to change church. Perhaps we need to leave it and build something new. Something closer to what Jesus taught.

Living Questionable Lives

Can I go now?

When I learned the topic would be evangelism, my enthusiasm for the mission seminar dropped sharply. I was already there so it was too late to leave. But I was in for a surprise.

Living questionable lives

Based on the bible passages 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 and 1 Peter 3:15-16 the premise of the talk was that few people are the evangelism type. The rest of us can live "questionable lives". What does that mean? Sometimes 'questionable' can means dubious, but in this context it just means something that might cause someone to ask a question.

In 1 Peter 3:15, St Paul gives advice for when we're asked about our faith. But that hardly ever happens. Our lifestyles are generally so predictable and non-intriguing that no questions are asked.

High predictability, low impact

There's nothing evil about a "fine upstanding middle-class lifestyle in the suburbs ... but if we’re trying to live questionable lives, then cutting the lawn, saying hi to the neighbours, washing our car, walking the dog and driving to the office every day is hardly an intriguing lifestyle".

Five Habits

The talk was based around the book Five Habits of Highly Missional People by Michael Frost. Both as individuals and as groups our habits are what make us the type of people we are. The habits outlined in the book, and the talk I was at, help us to be people (or churches) who are missional. They help us become more Christlike, more generous, and more connected to people outside of church.

I recommend reading book. Here are the five habits/challenges:

1. Bless 3 people this week. It can be an affirmation, by serving or with a gift.
2. Eat with 3 people this week. We have to eat anyway, why not eat with someone?
3. Listen. Designate some time with no distraction to let God in and follow his prompting
4. Learn. Designate time to learning about Jesus. Read the Gospels or other books.
5. Sent. Journal the ways you're demonstrating the values of God.

There's more detail in the book, but that's the basics.

Overall, this is quite different from a lot of what church does. But church can possibly help. If you're in a church and can find others in who are interested in this, it may be helpful to make a small group to help you form these habits as part of your life.

Are the TV people right?

The Census data is out now!

Headline stats

The fraction of Australians who identify as Christian has gone from 61.1% to 52.1%.
"No religion" at 30.1% is now higher than any one denomination.
Catholics is highest with 22.6%.

My stats

I compared denominations. e.g. Catholics went from 25.3 to 22.6%, shrinking by a tenth.

Here is each denomination's shrinkage over 5 years.
Catholics: 10.7% smaller
Anglicans: 22.2% smaller
Uniting Church: 26% smaller
Presbyterian & Reformed: 17.9% smaller
Eastern Orthodox: 19.2% smaller
Other Christian: 2.4% smaller

TV people guessing

The TV talk that suggested that the child abuse crimes played a big part in the decrease seems to off-base given that the Catholic church (the most publicised during the child abuse investigations) showed the smallest decrease. The 'Other Christian' is a mixed bag of various small denomination and people who write just "Christian".

The ABC does a great interactive visualisation of the census - This is Australia as 100 People. Here's a screenshot of the religion bit.

Time ticking for Uniting Church

The Uniting Church is now just 4 dots. Even that is generous. It is 3.7% of Australia, down from 5.1% last time. This is not new news.

It is the church's biggest drop so far, and since 1991 it loses about one dot per census.

With just 4 dots left, its future is interesting.
Perhaps my projection of a 2041 end was too generous.