Why They Left: Listening to Those Who Have Left Churches of Christ

by Flavil R. Yeakley Jr., Howard W. Norton (Foreword)

Why have people left Churches of Christ? Doctrinal Differences? Neglect? Instrumental Music Issues? The Role of Women? Divorce and Remarriage? Misunderstandings? Will the current generation of high school and college students remain in Churches of Christ after they graduate and leave home?

In Flavil Yeakley's latest book, Why They Left: Listening to Those Who Have Left Churches of Christ, these and other essential questions will be answered. As former director of the Harding University Center for Church Growth Studies, Yeakley's extensive research in this area provides reasons given by former members explaining why they left Churches of Christ.

Critically important lessons can be learned from listening to the ones who have left so that we can do a better job of ministering to those who are still faithful and encouraging future generations to remain in the church.

Flavil R. Yeakley Jr., Ph.D., has been a researcher and statistician for more than 40 years. His work on the Churches of Christ provides a lens by which to view their historical trends, as well as a tool for helping to shape their future. Yeakley was the director of the Harding University Center for Church Growth Studies for more than 20 years and has written several books and papers on church growth and church leadership.

Genres: Religion

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 19, 2012

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know it seems like I like everything I read but honestly for me this was one of the best things I have read. It fits my circumstances perfectly. I am an elder in the churches of Christ and this book will help me be a better elder. Every church leader in the churches of Christ needs to read this. There are just too many people who are falling through the cracks. Sometimes it happens from neglect but often times it is insensitivity to feelings and/or needs not being considered. There is so much here that we need to be aware of and I for one plan to do something about the things I've learned. My brother Tex recommended it to me and I had been planning to read it even before he mentioned it to me. But upon his recommendation I jumped on it and I am so glad I did. I hope Yeakley will do another book if he learns of more things we might need to consider. If you love your fellow church members and consider them the holy people that God says they are, then elders need to be careful and attentive to their members.

[Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this book is primarily concerned with those of the conservative branches of the restoration movement historically, and the Church of Christ theologically, the writing also pertains to all Christian religious groups in America. Religion in America is in a significant decline due to many issues. Many are beyond the control of the average Christian soul winner, because the heats of Americans have "grown dull of hearing." However, the churches of Christ are one of the most successful movements in existence. This counters many of the negative thoughts being dispersed by our liberal brothers. A must read.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

AN ADMITTEDLY “NON-RANDOM” SURVEY OF 300 INDIVIDUALS

Author Flavil R. Yeakley Jr. wrote in the Preface to this 2012 book, “The study reported in this book has its limitations and its strengths. If it were possible to do a random sample of those who have left Churches of Christ, we could know how much confidence we could have that the sample was truly representative of all those who have left Churches of Christ. This survey was not like that… The way to judge the accuracy in this kind of study is to compare the reasons these former members give for leaving Churches of Christ with what you have observed among people you have known who have left Churches of Christ… This study is a report of some reasons given by some former members explaining why they left Churches of Christ at some time in the past.” (Pg. 11)

He continues, “In this book you will read what some people who have left Churches of Christ say about their reasons for leaving… It is not my purpose to condemn the people who responded to the ‘Why I Left Churches of Christ’ survey. My hope is that church leaders will learn important lessons from listening to those who have left so that they can do a better job of ministering to those who have not left.” (Pg. 12)

He explains in the first chapter, “This book is about Churches of Christ in the United States… it is about some former members of this fellowship who accepted an invitation to take an open-ended online survey called ‘Why I Left Churches of Christ.’ This book is written with the assumption that most of the readers will be present or former members of the Churches of Christ. It is likely, however, that some members of other religious groups may read this book to see what lessons they might learn and apply in their churches.” (Pg. 13)

He suggests, “Having carefully studied all of the open-ended online essays written by Christians who left Churches of Christ, I have a very strong impression that many of them would not have let if they could just have engaged in an authentic dialogue concerning the things that troubled them.” (Pg. 26) Later, he adds, “Reading more than 300 open-ended essay responses to the ‘Why I Left Churches of Christ’ survey left me with a very strong impression… Successful communication does not always mean that the people involved agree. Sometimes they have a fundamental clash of values… All that I am saying is that the right kind of communication could have helped with these people who left…” (Pg. 51)

He states, “The approach used in the present study involved setting up a website to host an online survey called ‘Why I Left Churches of Christ.’ An article in ‘The Christian Chronicle’… announced this survey. The Presidents of Christian colleges and universities personally contacted people they knew who have left Churches of Christ and asked them to consider responding to this online survey… By the time this website was taken down in 2009, more than 300 individuals had written essays responding to a few basic questions… This kind of survey obviously does not produce a random sample… I had the help of others in doing content analysis… In this kind of research, it is not essential to have a very large sample. What is essential is that there are enough responses to include all of the kinds of things people are saying. By the time we passed the 200 or 250 mark in this study, the responses did not say much that was new. They just said the same things with different words.” (Pg. 47-48)

He observes, “three-fourths of the drop-outs from the most liberal congregations joined some other religious group when they left home and left the Churches of Christ. Among those from the most conservative churches only one-fourth joined another religious group, but a large percentage had no religious affiliation. The same pattern of joining another religious group is seen when the two more liberal groups are averaged and compared with the average of the two more conservative groups.” (Pg. 43)

He points out, “The doctrinal differences mentioned most often in this survey involved something that is not as central in our belief system as things like the existence of God and the deity of Jesus Christ. But the difference about one issue is real. That issue involves the use of instrumental music in the worship assemblies of the church. Fifty-three of those who left joined Christian Churches. The most obvious difference is that the Christian Churches use instrumental music, and most Churches of Christ do not.” (Pg. 75-76)

He notes, “Only six responses to this survey came from people who had been full-time, church-supported ministers…. That is a very small sample. However, some of their reasons for leaving Churches of Christ were very similar to the responses in two very large samples… Results of that study showed that the two main reasons ministers were leaving full-time church-supported ministry were: (1) problems in dealing with elders and other church leaders; and (2) inadequate financial support---especially the lack of any retirement plan or insurance.” (Pg. 144)

This book will be of great value to those in the Churches of Christ who are interested in those who have departed from their fellowship; but those in other Christian churches may find the book interesting as well.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

READ FEB 2012

Nice summary of eight key areas that have influenced some who have left the churches of Christ. Best quote: "I am convinced that many of the Christians would not have left if someone had communicated with them the right way" (p. 51).

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the author's tone and intent. That said, for a survey driven book, I wish there were more stats and survey breakdowns, and less doctrine and anecdotes based on survey results. Good reading for church of Christ leaders, but nothing overly insightful if you're paying attention in leadership.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have been helpful to see more of the data. Updated research is likely needed.

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of thought provoking content. Definitely worth reading, especially for anyone in a church leadership role.

[Texx Norman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read more comments from people who left the church of Christ. Instead, the author spends a lot of time defending the church of Christ and explaining why the reasons people left come down to their misunderstanding of what the church of Christ actually teaches. In the introduction the writer says the purpose of the book is to understand what was causing people to leave the church of Christ and to present information in a more delicate way on maters that are "non-negotiable." If you are an Elder in the church of Christ, or an apostate/escapee like me, doing research on my own book, this is a good resource.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

some good insights into why people are leaving the church, although some of his personal opinions about what most churches are like don't really fall in line with my experiences around the country (not in the bible belt)

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and engaging, drawing on personal anecdotes from former church members. Some good lessons to consider.