Post by Guadalupe on Aug 8, 2015 9:37:47 GMT -5
The Pew Research Center made headlines earlier this year when it released a study on America's rapidly growing religious "nones" - atheists, agnostics and others with no religious affiliation.
Friday, August 7, 2015 | Bill Bumpas (OneNewsNow.com)
But one researcher warns that the institutional church also needs to be aware of the "dones."
"We saw people that would have preferred to stay in church but they felt like they couldn't do what God was calling them to do inside of these institutional structures, and so they had to get out," remarks Dr. Josh Packard, who conducted the study.
Packard, director of the Social Research Lab at the University of Northern Colorado, found that 31 percent of U.S adults - about 65 million - were at one time involved in church but are done with it, not because they are rejecting faith but because they want to retain it.
These church "refugees," as Packard calls them – felt stifled. Their average age is mid-40s.
"They take whatever they can," he says of these adults, "and when they leave, they create some pretty amazing new things. They're getting together in their homes for meals, they're getting together in small groups to do service work around the city, and they're doing so intentionally with the idea of exploring their faith together, and the meaning of life, and getting in touch with God."
Packard believes the institutional church will rise to meet the challenge but says it won't come without pain and more losses, as the study found that 10 percent of all adults still attending brick and mortar churches are almost done with it and on their way out the door.
Friday, August 7, 2015 | Bill Bumpas (OneNewsNow.com)
But one researcher warns that the institutional church also needs to be aware of the "dones."
"We saw people that would have preferred to stay in church but they felt like they couldn't do what God was calling them to do inside of these institutional structures, and so they had to get out," remarks Dr. Josh Packard, who conducted the study.
Packard, director of the Social Research Lab at the University of Northern Colorado, found that 31 percent of U.S adults - about 65 million - were at one time involved in church but are done with it, not because they are rejecting faith but because they want to retain it.
These church "refugees," as Packard calls them – felt stifled. Their average age is mid-40s.
"They take whatever they can," he says of these adults, "and when they leave, they create some pretty amazing new things. They're getting together in their homes for meals, they're getting together in small groups to do service work around the city, and they're doing so intentionally with the idea of exploring their faith together, and the meaning of life, and getting in touch with God."
Packard believes the institutional church will rise to meet the challenge but says it won't come without pain and more losses, as the study found that 10 percent of all adults still attending brick and mortar churches are almost done with it and on their way out the door.