Sam Rainer: Inside the minds of church dropouts

The dropouts are not mad. Many still claim their faith. They can still have a positive view of their pastor and church. They aren't losing their religion. Most just see no reason to stay; the church is not essential to them. It is just another social venue with which they have little in common. Dropouts feel this way because many within the church assumed that they would stay. Their parents assumed that the teachings of the church would be well received via religious osmosis. But the Great Commission explicitly commands us to teach and disciple. Neglecting this element of the gospel imperative creates an atmosphere of spiritual and doctrinal atrophy resulting in a nonessential church.

UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute recently reported through their research that students may be less likely to attend religious services while in college, but this lack of attendance does not mean that they are wrestling with their faith. In fact, after three years of college, students are more engaged in a spiritual quest than they were as freshmen.4 But during this same time period, college students attend church much less frequently. Among incoming freshmen, 43.7 percent said they frequently attend religious services, but by the end of their junior year attendance was down to 25.4 percent.

During college, interest in religious matters goes up, yet attendance in church falls precipitously. Interest in religion clearly does not equate to believing in the fundamentals of the Christian faith. But the church is not capturing and engaging these students' spiritual interests. In fact, the church is doing the opposite. We're losing them because the church is uninteresting to them.

The major source of disillusionment within the church stems not from the expected differences of worship style wars, time slots, day of worship, or even geographic location of the church. While some do leave for these oft-stated reasons, the major loss originates from the lack of discipleship within our churches.

No doubt, some dropouts leave regardless of the health of the church. Some exit because they renounce their religion, which we address in the next section. Some are angry. Some are looking for a different spin on church. But the vast majority do not lose their religion. They simply lose the church.

Rainer III, Sam S. (2008-09-01). Essential Church (pp. 7-8). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Sam Rainer is speaking as part of the All Star Sunday School Training Team. To attend an event, or host an event. see http://allstarsundayschool.com/