The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?

by Jim Davis, Michael Graham, Ryan P. Burge

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.

This book gives the church in America its first ever deep dive into the dechurched phenomenon. You'll 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 you'll explore what can be done to slow the bleed, engage the pertinent issues winsomely and wisely, and hopefully re-church some of the dechurched.

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian, Religion, Church, Christianity, Sociology, Faith

253 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 22, 2023

About the author

James Robert "Jim" Davis is an American cartoonist who created the popular comic strip Garfield. Other comics that he has worked on are Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, Slapstick, and a strip about Mr. Potato Head.

Jim Davis was born in Fairmount, Indiana, near Marion, where he grew up on a small farm with his father James William Davis, mother Anna Catherine (Carter) Davis, brother Dave, and 25 cats. Davis' childhood on a farm parallels the life of his cartoon character Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, who was also raised on a farm with his parents and a brother, Doc Boy. Jon, too, is a cartoonist, and also celebrates his birthday on July 28. Davis attended Ball State University. While attending Ball State, he became a member of the Theta Xi fraternity. He earned the dubious honor of earning one of the lowest cumulative grade point averages in the history of the university, an honor incidentally shared with Late Show host David Letterman.

Davis as of 2007 resides in Muncie, Indiana, where he and his staff produce Garfield under his company, Paws, Inc., begun in 1981. He was married to Carolyn, a singer and elementary teacher whom he met while both were attending college, and has a son named James with her. However, the couple divorced, and Davis since 2000 has been married to Jill, Paws' senior vice president of licensing, who has worked there approximately 25 years.

Ironically, Davis did not own cats when he started Garfield because of Carolyn's allergies, but they owned a Labrador retriever named Molly. With Jill, the family has expanded to include children Ashley and Chris; three grandchildren, Chloe, Carly and Cody; cats, Spunky and Nermal; and a dog, Pooky.

Reviews

[CatReader · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a confirmed "none," I picked this book up thinking it would be similar to Stephen Bullivant's Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America (2022), which was a nice, generally well-researched look at why many Americans have left organized Christianity from a fairly non-biased, non-judgmental perspective. I would definitely recommend that book over this one. Davis and Graham are religious leaders who commissioned two sociologists to conduct a limited survey of people who've left several Christian sects (mainstream Christian churches, Catholic churches, and evangelical churches), used this limited data to create biased archetypes of church leavers, and then implore their target audience (religious leaders, church-goers) to actively try to bring folks back. Because, as the authors explicitly say, the business of organized religion is having to pinch its pocketbook now that so many fewer folks are tithing.

So why are people leaving organized Christianity, according to the survey?
- they fail to follow the American success formula of graduating high school, working full-time, and not having kids out of wedlock -- the authors say this without irony several times
- they are busy
- they have slipped into "lives of immorality" and feel judged
- they grow up and no longer feel compelled to follow the rules/religion they had to follow growing up
- they or their loved ones have been personally victimized by the church
- they don't feel the church does enough good in the community, and they'd rather spend their time and money at organizations that do a better job of this
- they have access to the internet and have spent time learning about other world religions and belief systems

The solution for all these problems is the same: just keep harassing reaching out to them, inviting them to come back, and maybe eventually they'll come to a service just so they appease you, and then, just like magic, their faith, attendance, and monetary contributions will be restored.

Overall, I was very turned off by this book. I felt the tone was condescending, espousing a very particular set of moral beliefs that the majority of Americans do not support, and purporting an oversimplification of a very complex problem and brushing aside or ignoring the reason why so many of us are now "nones" or "dechurched."

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3.5 stars (between good and very good).

Church attendance has been declining for decades and the trend has been accelerating since the mid-90s. This book presents the demographic data that reveals the underlying reasons for this massive societal shift.

The authors identify 5 distinct demographic groups that make up the “dechurched”:
-Cultural Christians
-Dechurched Mainstream Evangelicals
-Exvangelicals
-Dechurched BIPOC
-Dechurched Mainline Protestants and Catholics

Fictional vignettes are then presented for each group to give a better feel for what these people are going through and the reasons why they stopped attending church. Broadly speaking, there are people who are “casually dechurched” and others who are “dechurched casualties.”


Here are some of the more interesting findings:
-“About 40 million adults in America today used to go to church but no longer do, which accounts for around 16 percent of our adult population.”

-Millennials and younger people are dechurching at the highest rates

-The more education people have the more likely they are to stay in church. Yes, you read that right.

-Dechurched evangelicals are still largely orthodox in their faith.

-There is actually more dechurching on the right than on the left. (“There are those who become disenfranchised with the church because it is too synchronized with right-wing politics and those who become disenfranchised with the church because it is not synchronized enough. This is supported in our research, as 28 percent of the dechurched evangelicals we surveyed believe that the United States should be declared a Christian nation and that the success of the United States is part of God's plan for the world.”)


In the second half of the book the authors provide their recommendations for how churches can and should change to reach out to the dechurched. The advice seems reasonable, if not terribly surprising. Once the data is laid out, the needed remedies seem somewhat obvious.

Here’s a TGC article that summarizes some of the book’s more interesting points:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/ar...

[Barnabas Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 2/3 of this book are wonderfully helpful as a diagnostic with some built in prescriptions. The last 1/3 was fine, but less compelling as it attempted to get more prescriptive and practical.

[Carmen Imes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The burning question these days for nearly every pastor and ministry leader is 'where did everyone go?' and 'how can we bring them back?' The landscape of social values and norms is shifting fast, and those in the church are caught up in the currents. What was a given for our parents' generation -- consistent church attendance -- is increasingly rare.

Polls are notoriously inaccurate these days, in our post LAN-line world with caller ID. For that reason, one may wonder how accurate the statistics are. However, Davis, Graham, and Burge do their best to unpack the data they have on who's leaving the church and why. Forty million Americans (16% of adults) who used to attend church regularly no longer do. Pastors and other ministry leaders and the professors who train them will learn much from this book about the reasons behind this major shift. We have work to do in learning how to engage more meaningfully in the wider culture, learning to tolerate differences, and learning to love well.

In spite of some of the sobering statistics, I'm encouraged to know that a strong percentage of those who no longer attend church still believe. Many of them have either lost connection by moving or church meetings have simply become lower priority. Many say that all it would take to get them back is a personal invitation from a friend.

I'm convinced that the church still matters. It's time to make the case again to a new generation! I'm working on a new work of biblical theology for IVP Academic that will do just that. Watch for Becoming God's Family: Why the Church Still Matters in 2026.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

Davis and Graham stand as prophets at the intersection of sociology and a tri-perspectival Reformed theology. They’ve written a brilliant book that sees clearly what’s happening in the church today and offers a clear way forward.

[Rachael Dockery · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 - While I found the research interesting and the writing accessible, I found the fictional examples a bit reductive. The book also frequently lapsed into evangelical preaching, which I (as an exvangelical) found off-putting.

[Anne Michal]

One of the most practical but encouraging books I’ve read in awhile

[Amanda McClendon · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you say it’s important to learn from minority voices and listen to dechurched people and then have almost no representation of minority voices or dechurched people in your book 🤔

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We don’t have to trivialize what is lost when people leave the church in droves. We don’t have to pretend they weren’t true friends or that it didn’t hurt or that we were perfect and it was all their fault. . . The gospel means we have something to offer when, by God’s grace, some choose to return. . . It will be our responsibility to drop everything and run alongside the Father to welcome them home.”

[Devin Moncada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book.

Before this book, I would not have said reaching the dechurched was important. We should be doing evangelism, right? But David and Graham show why the dechurched matter. It is evangelism, either for the person who left or for the kids who won’t grow up in church.

The narratives turn statistics into real people. The suggestions for reaching the dechurched are helpful. Everything is grounded in the gospel. I will use this book as a resource to help train people in my church.

If you’re a pastor or church leader, put this book on your shelf this year.

[Stephanie Greer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve had a lot of conversations lately with people about how sharing your faith with someone in our age and culture is less about apologetic based-truth and more about inviting people to know beauty and goodness of the gospel. Telling a better story. All 3 (truth, beauty, and goodness) are real and important. I love how this book gives data and examples that trace that cultural shift in people leaving the church but also a hopeful outlook on what it would look like for them to come back.

[Samuel Kassing · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting study on who is dechurching and why. I appreciated the authors hopeful tone and their practical advice.

This is a helpful read for a current cultural moment.

[Samcwright · Rating 3 out of 5]

The decline of religion in America is impacting almost all faiths and has wide-ranging societal impacts. This book is written from an evangelical perspective, but includes some data on Mainline Christianity and Catholicism.

I didn’t find the book particularly insightful, but that may be because I’ve spent time researching this topic. The data in the first few chapters is the most interesting.

While the book doesn’t reference Mormonism, there is definitely overlap in why people leave Mormonism. Sometimes people believe the primary reasons for leaving religion are questions related to historicity or lgbtq issues. Those are not the primary drivers for the majority of those who leave.

Lastly, and controversially, though the book does not spend much time on this reason, I believe there is a large social component that makes faith crises and leaving religion not only acceptable, but encouraged.

Here’s an overview of the books chapters.

- Church attendance in America has been declining for decades, and the trend is accelerating.
- People of all ages, races, and genders are leaving the church, but millennials and young adults are leaving at the highest rates.
- People are leaving the church for a variety of reasons, including the rise of individualism, the decline of trust in institutions, and the changing religious landscape of America.
- Dechurching is having a negative impact on American society, leading to increased social isolation, loneliness, and mental health problems.

The book then moves into recommendations for how to respond to the great dechurching.

- Churches need to become more outward-focused, focusing on serving their communities and sharing the gospel with others.
- Churches need to create environments where people feel loved and accepted, regardless of their background or beliefs.
- Churches need to be more authentic and transparent, admitting their mistakes and being open about their challenges.
- Churches need to be open to change, adapting to the changing needs of their communities and the world around them.

The future of the church is uncertain, but it is clear that churches need to change if they want to remain relevant and impactful.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written for pastors and active leaders in the church, this book basically takes data from The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going, does more categorization, draws more sociologically- and theologically-based conclusions, and creates action points for current churched Christians who want to grow their numbers. Taking into account 2020, the authors categorize the recently unchurched into: cultural christians, casually de-churched mainstream evangelicals, ex-vangelicals who intentionally fled the church based on tragedy or disillusionment, de-churched BIPOC, and de-churched mainline Protestants and Catholics. There are plenty of flaws, large generalizations, and I think in ten years or less the book will feel out of date. Gets a little preachy in the second half (what can you expect in a book written by pastors). But I'm giving it five stars as I still found it helpful and insightful. Would recommend.

[Christian Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important book for church leaders and sociologists alike as we seek to minister in a post-covid age that has many abandoning the church. The data is helpful, the encouragement is hopeful, and the call to reach out to the de-church is evident. This is a 2023 must read.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

The United States is undergoing it’s greatest shift in religious participation and pastors Jim Davis and Michael Graham wanted to understand it better. They engaged social scientists Dr. Ryan Burge and Dr. Paul Djupe to do an academic-review-board-approved, nationwide, quantitative study to answer their questions about the dechurching phenomenon.

Their solid data is quite eye-opening as this rigorous approach reveals that “no theological tradition, age group, eth-nicity, political affiliation, education level, geographic location, or income bracket escaped the dechurching in America.” Within the data are surprising insights such as, “In every tradition, the more education people have, the more likely they are to stay in church.”

They are evangelical pastors and view them data from that vantage point and yet as a bishop in a mainline denomination, I find their data helpful to my call as well. Hearing the varied reasons that people have left is illuminating as they all point to the way the church has failed to be the community we are called to be as followers of Jesus. The abuses within the church and our lack of concern for our neighbors have made it easy to walk away and stay away, not from God, but from the church that is all too fallen short of the glory of God. I appreciate this glimpse into the thinking of the millions of people who no longer attend any church. While I pastor from a different standpoint on interpretation of scripture and so reach different conclusions about how to respond yet for those of us who care for Christ’s Body, the church, the authors have provided solid data that we dare not ignore if we want to call ourselves faithful.

[Jacob Hudgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important book.

Notable findings:

“In every tradition, the more education people have, the more likely they are to stay in church”(25). Maybe we can start to retire the narrative that education is somehow hostile to the gospel.

There is more dechurching on the right than the left. A lot of the compromises churches have made by aligning with republicans on all issues have come home to roost. “More than one-quarter of the dechurched evangelicals in our survey believe the United States should be declared a Christian nation and no longer attend church”(32-33).

During 18-25 age range, the group the authors call “cultural Christians” begin to dechurch because of “struggling to fit in at church, having some bad experiences at church, a lack of people their age they connect with, life getting busy, having their main friends at work, and wanting to enjoy surplus income to travel and buy things”(44). All of these ring very true.

A major theme of people leaving church is the sense that Christians are unable or unwilling to listen, appreciate other perspectives, or speak kindly to those they disagree with.

There is much more here. I am not an alarmist who believes that this is the end of Christianity in America. However, we are living through an important moment which should breed some self-reflection.

[Kyrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I obviously didn't like this book. Despite careful reading, I remain unclear on what exactly the authors wanted to say and wanted to occur.

Their survey group seemed very small. I think they started with 7,000 people. Hardly seemed enough to cover a nation as large as the USA. That made me distrust their conclusions.

It seemed they want a return to what they view as the best era for evangelical churches. Their utopia didn't exist for some of our families. I applaud their suggestion that people listen to why others left, but I have doubts that just listening will make people leap up and want to rejoin a church.

To be fair, I'm not a big evangelical church fan. I'm more of a "if a church fits a person, then that's the church for them". That attitude has gotten me in trouble with a fair number of church leaders. I also know that if you live or lived way out in the country, church every Sunday with the whole family was a rarity, not the norm.

The whole thing was like a rambling musing with vague suggestions, along with Biblical references, as to how to get people back in a church. It failed to inspire me to head back to church or even get in touch with old church friends.

[Mitchell Dixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could have been a blog post.

This book has incredibly vital information for every church leader to know and grapple with. It is so helpful to know that 50% of those Dechurched are willing to return to an evangelical church. But they stories they make up bloat the book. This could have been a very helpful 5 minute explainer video and covered the same amount of information.

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Lexie Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Not typically my cup of tea as there were a lot of statistics, but I did enjoy this book! I am coming away from this book with resources on how to love others more and hopefully bring them back to church! Very helpful for ministry, but also if you aren’t. We all have people in our lives who don’t go to church, and the best news from this book is that they are probably more willing to go than you think! There is hope!!!!!❤️

[Sara Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll give it 3.5 rounded up :)

A little too boring and statistical for my taste and didn’t start getting good until about halfway through sadly but chapters 8 to the end are awesome!!!!!! This book did encourage me in my calling as a minister of the gospel to college students and I believe that this work is the most important thing I could be doing with my life!

[Grant Carter]

If you're in ministry or have an interest in the dechurcing phenomenon of the West you should read this

[Tom Walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the information I wanted. I probably should have researched the Book and its Authors more before reading.

I was born and raised a Roman Catholic, educated by Nuns and Priests through College, Philosophy and Theology only to ultimately reject any Religious Faith or Church affiliation. As a confirmed None, I have become increasingly concerned and even fearful of the growing threat of Xtian Nationalism and Autocratic Theocracy seeping into our Politics and Culture.

My only hope has been that the combined corruption of the Megachurches, the obscene scandals of the Mainstream Churches, and the obvious Insanity of the Right-Wing MAGA Wingnuts, was finally driving the current Generations to flee Religion and come to their senses. I was pleased to see that this book would document my fondest hopes.

Unfortunately, since it was written by Pastors committed to reversing that Dechurching and preaching a return of the Lost Sheep, this was not what I was looking for. The only real value for me lay in the Data they had accumulated showing that the Flight from Religion had indeed begun and was likely to continue.

The Authors did a good job of telling stories of the why’s and wherefore’s of the rationales of the various cases though they always came back to some Biblical context that convinced them that the tide was reversible. It isn’t, because Religion is based on a foundation of sand that the Reality exposed by Science is eroding at an irrecoverable pace.

So I didn’t need to hear their attempts to comfort their readers with Bible Verses. The Times They are A’Changein’ and nothings going to stem the tide.

The first section of Dechurching is worthwhile but the pep-talk fell flat for this Reader. Two Stars. **

[Max Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This remarkably informative book breaks down the largest religious shift in American history—the great dechurching—which has had a greater impact than the great awakenings, but in the opposite direction. The study which eventually became this book cost over $100,000.00 in polling data and research to produce, but thanks to the pleasant writing style, the vast amount of statistics and information is easy to digest. The authors created five profiles based on their findings and filled the book with helpful charts and even mock stories of each profile type.

I began reading this book at the same time I was starting up a local Bible study, and the information and statistics were enlightening. The research made available in this book is very helpful if not viewed from a seeker-sensitive slant. It is clear from the authors that their intention is not to appease people to come back to church at all costs, but rather to present data that contains lessons every church that is striving to be a healthy organization could learn a great deal from. It’s not a study about what we are willing to do to bring the dechurched back, but what would they be willing to come back for. Some would not be willing to come back period. Others are looking for things we are not willing to supply. It’s the third category we are interested in pursuing—those who are willing to go to a church they know is genuine. But you have to be able to identify what category a person is in, in order to determine how to effectively pursue them.

The beginning of the book is worth buying the book for, however the latter sections seemed less relevant and there were several interpretations of various Scripture passages I did not find compelling. In general, I was not overly impressed with the last quarter of the book, which was mostly the authors’ lessons for the church. And shockingly, the authors might have used God’s name in vain on page 221?! Another criticism is that the discussion on abuse seemed strangely neglected, almost absent, except a short section on pages 176-178. This seems dramatically underemphasized based on my personal experiences and reading. Other than these criticisms, there were great examples throughout, interesting references to modern events such as Covid and January 6th, they emphasized education on page 111, and argued for doctrine over preferences on page 115. Overall it was an insightful read.

[Brian Parks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve listened to the audible version of this book, but have ordered the hardback as well to be able to see the charts and graphs that the author is known for. Very insightful into why people have left the church, and encouraging that many would be willing to return.

[Meranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fascinating read!! Chose this because it’s a book talked about a lot at work.

A lot of great insight into why people are leaving church and validity to the reasons people feel left out/not heard/hurt - but also how to bring them back in. Really data heavy, so I wish I had read instead of listened because of the many lists of #’s.

[Courtney Harp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting and beneficial read in understanding those who have left the church. The statistics included were not necessarily surprising but helpful to hear. I feel this is an important book for believers, especially after Covid pandemic and the current changes in our culture.

[Zach Barnhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really important statistics and observations for pastors to face in our day and age. Helpful.

[Jake Preston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for all pastors and ministry leaders in America. Well-researched and biblically sound, this book not only provides context and background on the dechurched and their reasons for leaving, but also calls the church to remain hopeful and steadfast. Davis and Graham are convincing in their argument that the Great Dechurching is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to draw people back to communities focused not just on evangelism, but on deep discipleship to Jesus.