The Church’s Hidden Back Door

Beef up outreach. Emphasize evangelism. Plant more churches. Polish the marketing. None of this is reversing the overall trend of church decline. Even when a church attracts new members it doesn’t grow. Why? It can’t add people fast enough to make up for the legions slipping out the back door. They are the Dones–those who […]

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Done with Church, but Not with God

They’re done. Done with the institutional church. They are millions strong. And millions more are about to join them. The Dones, as I refer to them, include some of the established church’s previously most active members, best givers, and most mature believers. Their exodus presents one of the most perplexing challenges for the church as we know it. […]

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Saying ‘Good Riddance’ to Church Dropouts

News of the decline among America’s churches is producing a strange new effect. Elitism. While church involvement continues to slide, some people are attempting to spin the decline into an odd source of pride and superiority. It’s beyond putting “lipstick on a pig.” It’s trying to turn the pig into a prima donna. “IT’S NOT US” […]

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Breaking the Moldy Sunday Mold

This city has one of the highest unchurched populations in the country. It may just foretell the future. And that may be a good thing. There’s an innovative church here that’s bucking the odds. It’s growing. And not just in numbers, but in life change and commitment to Christ. Union Church, in the middle of […]

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Blame the Unchurched for Everything

They’re fed up with the unchurched and the dechurched. They’re sick and tired of their lame excuses for avoiding church. Whenever anyone reports on the growing majority of people who choose to stay away from church, many church leaders put the blame on the lost sheep. For example, after my article, “4 Reasons the Majority […]

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