Are Devoted Christians Leaving the local Church?

HappyHope

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I have begun to pick up on a few stories where lifelong servants of God are leaving the local church. A neighbor with a theology degree left his church after years of church leadership...my uncle who was the head deacon of his church for many years and one of my mentors... a few members of this site have mentioned leaving their local churches.

Maybe I am reading too much into this? Or is there a growing trend of older believers leaving their local churches? I'm super sad after just hearing my uncle and aunt's story. I'm trying to make sense of this kind of thing.
 

mama2one

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we haven't been in-person due to virus

churches have reached out to youth
our preteen did online event this summer with one church & is in a multi-week fall group with another church

although in-person is starting back, there is still online avail. so might be difficult to determine who has left & who are online
 
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Sabertooth

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A neighbor with a theology degree left his church after years of church leadership...my uncle who was the head deacon of his church for many years and one of my mentors...
Has there been any recent changes in your church? A lot of people have been leaving over the [de-sinification?] of homosexuality.
 
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hedrick

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Has there been any recent changes in your church? A lot of people have been leaving over the [de-sinification?] of homosexuality.
It's my impression that those people typically went to conservative churches, i.e. didn't drop out.
 
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*LILAC

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Yes. We left the church almost a year before any virus drama. God revealed many things to us and once we researched and questioned what our church was really teaching, it was time to hit the bricks! This verse strongly comes to mind as to our situation: Revelation18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
 
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*LILAC

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I suppose what is important is, are they leaving Christianity as well?
I can assure you, that is not the case here. If anything, faith around here has grown. We know quite a few other people who are in the same position.
 
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HappyHope

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we haven't been in-person due to virus

churches have reached out to youth
our preteen did online event this summer with one church & is in a multi-week fall group with another church

although in-person is starting back, there is still online avail. so might be difficult to determine who has left & who are online
The people I'm looking at left their churches before the virus. I only just found out my aunt and uncle stopped trying to even visit other churches. Maybe they will wait for the virus to lessen before trying new churches. It just breaks my heart because these are faithful people.
 
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Albion

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I have begun to pick up on a few stories where lifelong servants of God are leaving the local church. A neighbor with a theology degree left his church after years of church leadership...my uncle who was the head deacon of his church for many years and one of my mentors... a few members of this site have mentioned leaving their local churches.

Maybe I am reading too much into this? Or is there a growing trend of older believers leaving their local churches? I'm super sad after just hearing my uncle and aunt's story. I'm trying to make sense of this kind of thing.
There's not much doubt about it being true. Just what the motivation is would be harder to come by.

There probably are a variety of reasons, and some people who leave are motivated by one or two of them while others who are leaving are more concerned about something else.

Because it was mentioned a few posts ago, I do NOT agree that the departures have gone to another religion. There must be some examples of that happening, but I am confident that they are few.
 
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HappyHope

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HappyHope

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Yes. We left the church almost a year before any virus drama. God revealed many things to us and once we researched and questioned what our church was really teaching, it was time to hit the bricks! This verse strongly comes to mind as to our situation: Revelation18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Ouch, strong verse.
 
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Sabertooth

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We still identify with a particular church, but do not attend because they cannot accommodate our 26yo daughter who has aggravated autism. (She randomly bites people and does not always give advance warning.)
 
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HappyHope

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I suppose what is important is, are they leaving Christianity as well?
I do not think another religion is in question. My neighbor is reportedly bitter. I have another Christian neighbor who has been working with him. My aunt and uncle at least tried another church for a time before stopping church attendance altogether.
 
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HappyHope

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We still identify with a particular church, but do not attend because they cannot accommodate our 26yo daughter who has aggravated autism. (She randomly bites people and does not always give advance warning.)
Thanks for sharing. I can only imagine your struggles there. My heart goes out to your family.
 
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hedrick

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Wow, I knew teens and young adults who grew up in church had high drop out rates. I did not know much about the older adults. Sad no matter who. I'm in between churches but I haven't given up--just waiting to move.
I have a theory. No one seems to agree. But I don't think the churches are too conservative or too liberal. There are enough that you can find one you like or (as in the case of many Catholics) ignore official teaching.

I think there are increasing numbers of other things you can do, and people just don't find church on Sunday all the interesting or useful. So far most churches still assume that the minimum and required level of commitment is going to church, so when someone stops, they consider themselves no longer part of the church.

Personally I think churches should stop assuming that members go to church. There are plenty of other things to do, and churches could probably find additional ones.

Our kids really like youth fellowship but hate worship service. Yet when they finish high school we only provide the worship service and not anything like youth fellowship. That seems stupid.

Evangelical churches did a better job of making worship exciting, but in the end, you can find more interesting rock concerts somewhere else.
 
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thecolorsblend

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I have begun to pick up on a few stories where lifelong servants of God are leaving the local church. A neighbor with a theology degree left his church after years of church leadership...my uncle who was the head deacon of his church for many years and one of my mentors... a few members of this site have mentioned leaving their local churches.

Maybe I am reading too much into this? Or is there a growing trend of older believers leaving their local churches? I'm super sad after just hearing my uncle and aunt's story. I'm trying to make sense of this kind of thing.
There are hundreds or maybe thousands of reasons to go to (or even take a leadership role in) church. Sadly, ardent and sincere faith is only one reason. Other reasons might include networking/career opportunities, basic social needs, free coffee, meeting a romantic partner, just plain getting out of the house, etc.

In the not too distant past, publicly identifying as a Christian carried absolutely no social consequences whatsoever. And in fact, publicly identifying as a Christian may have even carried certain social benefits.

That is no longer the case tho.

In today's world, identifying as a Christian could carry social consequences. And those other reasons I mentioned for going to church may not seem as attractive to the less-than-devout under our current circumstances.

On that basis, it shouldn't be a big surprise to anybody that people are abandoning their local congregations. I'm not saying everybody who leaves the local assembly is a faithless heathen. But I am saying that faithless heathens who attended anyway back in the old days have fewer reasons to show up today.

And this is not to speak of the fact that some people think streaming video on their phone can somehow replace in-person worship. It can't.
 
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