The Great Dechurching: Whos Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back

(Hardback)

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We are currently experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in US history. It is greater than the First and Second Great Awakening and every revival in our country combined but in the opposite direction. Yet precious little rigorous study has been done on the broad phenomenon of dechurching in America. Jim Davis and Michael Graham have commissioned the largest and most comprehensive study of dechurching in America by renowned sociologists Dr. Ryan Burge and Dr. Paul Djupe. The Great Dechurching takes the insights gleaned from this study to drill down on how exactly people are dechurching with respect to beliefs, behavior, and belonging.

The Great Dechurching gives the church in America its first ever deep dive into the dechurched phenomenon. Readers will learn about the dechurched through a detailed sketch of demographics, size, core concerns, church off-ramps, historical roots, and the gravity of what is at stake. Then they will explore what can be done to slow the bleed, engage the pertinent issues winsomely and wisely, and hopefully re-church some of the dechurched.

Author Bio

Jim Davis is teaching pastor at Orlando Grace Church (Acts 29). He is the host of the As in Heaven podcast on The Gospel Coalition podcast network and serves as a writer for The Dechurched Initiative. Jim writes frequently for The Gospel Coalition, Acts 29, and Family Life. He and his wife, Angela, speak for Family Lifes Weekend to Remember marriage getaways. Michael Graham is executive pastor at Orlando Grace Church (Acts 29). He is the Executive Producer of the As in Heaven podcast and the executive director of The Dechurched Initiative and has written multiple articles for The Gospel Coalition, Mere Orthodoxy, and Christ and Pop Culture. He is married to Sara, and they have two adoptive children. Ryan P. Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. Author of numerous journal articles, he is the cofounder of and a frequent contributor to Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a general audience. Burge is the author of The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going and a pastor in the American Baptist Church.