Stopping the Exodus: Why Are People Leaving the Church
Albert O. Hirschman’s book, Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations and States is a complex work that defines the choices people have when the organization, state or firm no longer is operating to the expectations of its clients or consumers. Hirshman promotes three basic choices from the consumer. First, they can both exit and take their business or support elsewhere. Secondly, they can oppose the changes through dissent within the organization. Thirdly, they can remain loyal although they may still not embrace the changes.
Analysis:
There are several parallels between what Hirschman presents for organizations and church life. Over the past several years, research has proven that the church in America is in decline. Some would say steep decline. A study from churchleaders.com states,
“The actual rate of church attendance from head counts is less than half of the 40 percent the pollsters report. Numbers from actual counts of people in Orthodox Christian churches (Catholic, mainline and evangelical) show that in 2004, 17.7 percent of the population attended a Christian church on any given weekend.Another study published in 2005 in The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion by sociologists C. Kirk Hadaway and Penny Long Marler—known for their scholarly research on the church—backs up his findings. Their report reveals that the actual number of people worshipping each week is closer to Olson’s 17.7 percent figure—52 million people instead of the pollster-reported 132 million (40 percent).[1]
If this research is accurate, then it makes Hirschman’s work even timelier given the fact that the recent past has put church attendance to closer to 40%. While Gallup still reports that number that has been relatively the same for the past 70 years, the concept of what true participation within the church has changed. It is no longer that weekly attendance is the norm, but rather monthly is the typical average.[2] What this tells us is that people have migrated from the church, and it is an afterthought for many.
I think Hirschman’s book should make us take a sobering look at the church. Why are people exiting? Why are people dissatisfied with the church? This is the question that I think every pastor is trying to answer. Here is my crack at it and maybe it will help stop the exodus in your ministry context.
I believe the church has by and large stopped being the church. In others words we have traded our essential mission, making disciples, and have shifted to filling pews. In other words, we have stopped being life giving. We instead have become pop-psychologists. We no longer preach the inerrant word, but rather we use sermonettes that trade truth for opinion. When our approach is no longer life transformation, then we no longer are useful as an organization. As preachers we are to be Moses speaking on behalf of God to the people. When the people leave our churches they should know that they have come into contact with God either through Word or worship and hopefully both.
People are exiting because they can find what the church offers somewhere else. If they want pop-psychology, then Oprah and Dr. Phil do it better. If they want social justice, then they feel more useful at a secular institution. If they want political rants, then Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN have us beat. If we want to stop the exit and produce great loyalty, then we must have a fresh word of God for everyone who walks in the door weekly. Then and only then will we be able to stop the exit.
[1] http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/139575-7-startling-facts-an-up-close-look-at-church-attendance-in-america.html
[2] IBID
About the Author
Jason Kennedy
I am a pastor of a thriving church in Grapevine, Texas. With two little girls (5,8), and a wife that is a medical doctor (family practice), life is non-stop.18 responses to “Stopping the Exodus: Why Are People Leaving the Church”
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Jason,
Describing what you have written about the church (I agree with you) I would say things like, we’ve watered down or dumbed down the Gospel and the Church. Rather than a challenging call to discipleship it seems like people want therapy.
This past year my wife and I visited a different church almost every Sunday (since I had to step out of my church for a year after retiring). One thing that I saw – that I think I accurately observed – in worship services is too much music that was about “me and Jesus” and not enough music that focused me totally on the holy character of God.
It left me with the bad taste in my mouth that worship has been reduced to group therapy.
Somewhere in these thoughts there is a question for you.
Have you found my experience to be common in the circles in which you move? Might this focus-shift from ‘Holy God’ to ‘us and God’ be a part of our failure to keep the focus of the people where it belongs? Is this dumbing down of worship part of the dumbing down of church and discipleship? If people DID have their gaze fixed on God by worship would that slow the exit?
Ok – now there are too many questions. Pick what you want to address. Thanks.
Marc,
I do think the call to discipleship is lacking in many movements. I think we do focus too much on how it feels to us. We are conditioning our people to feel God. This is a problem because when the feeling is gone, so is the love for God. It is very alarming. Thanks,
Jason
Jason,
I concur with all that you and Marc are saying about the status of the church and what the worship experience should be. Being pastors and in the circle of other pastors, you know far better than I about this exodus.
But, everywhere I go I seem to encounter so many people who are not church-goers at all. Some who have grown up in the church and had enough of it, others who went sporadically as adults, and still others who basically have no interest in church. You are correct, “People are exiting because they can find what the church offers somewhere else.” Nowadays people have so many choices as to how they want to use their Sundays. Back in the day when I was coming along everything was closed all day on Sundays and the respectable thing to do was to go to church or spend time with family. That fresh word of God (fresh anointing) weekly may well be the essential component in the worship experience that people cannot get somewhere else in the secular environment.
Thank you Claire.
Jason:
Careful with the Dr. Phil jabs!!!!! Of interest are your statistics on church attendance are staggering. In light of Hirschman’s info on exit/voice/loyalty what are you doing to build:
1. Loyalty
2. Listening to the “voice”
With organizational loyalty waining, the church is being challenged to reflect the commitment of Jesus that He had for us.
Great post that was quite alarming.
Phil
Phil,
I am trying to build loyalty by offering something they can get no where else. I am trying to be a purple cow. We focus on biblical preaching and community. While other churches around us offer biblical preaching, we can do community a little better because of our size. I think you have to constantly assess your purple cow (Seth Godin) as well.
Jason
Jason, thank you for good insights and informational statistics. I have three thoughts after reading your blog.
In light of my experience in explaining the gospel and doing one-on-one mentorship with new believers, I have discovered an interesting effect. When people understand their identity in Christ, they are naturally moved to embrace their role in the church. In other words, as long as people think that church is an event to attend, they will see it as optional. Yet, when they realize that we are the church, that we have been entrusted with a mission, and that we will give an account to Christ for our service to him, suddenly they desire to be engaged with the church ministry. Thus, I have concluded that a lack of interest in church is normally rooted in lack of theological understanding. This discovery has made me shift the way I use my time. I now try to spend more time in doing one-on-one mentorship because that is where I see that I have the most influence in helping people gain theological understanding that leads to maturity.
When it comes to numbers, I am always challenged by the life of Christ. He turned to the crowd of followers and pushed them away. He warned them that if they were not willing to eat his flesh and drink his blood they had no business with him. He then turned to the apostles and confronted them too. He was not interested in numbers but in disciples. It seems that exit is not always something negative. In fact, if people are following Christ for the wrong reasons, exit should even be encouraged. My fear is that as long as pastors are more concerned with having numbers rather than disciples, they will tend to see exit as something negative.
Now, the final thought is related to the second one. I am not implying that I am not concerned about people exiting the church, or that numbers are not important. In fact, I am much interested in growing the church. Yet, I recently asked myself. “Why do you want the church to grow?” The answer to that question requires some soul searching. Am I interested in growing the church so I can be the pastor of a thriving church? So we can have more resources to do more? Why do I really want the church to grow? I concluded that I should want the church to grow not for the sake of the church growing, but because I want to see people in darkness come to light. In other words, if my interest in church growth is not rooted in a compassion for the lost, then I have a misplaced motivation that is more likely to be rooted in selfishness.
Thank your for allowing me to share my random thoughts with you. Great blog.
Pablo
Pablo,
Thanks. I really think people exit because they start feeling like they are a number and not a soul. Pastors are the only ones who care about the number. In our obsession to chase a number, I believe more people are exiting. They are not exiting because we are challenging them to be a disciple. It is tries that will happen. People are leaving because they see no reason for our existence.
Jason
Jason,
Very interesting perspective and statistical analysis of the book and its concepts. I agree with you on the exiting of church and the alarming numbers in which it is occuring. Do you have people exiting your congregation? If so, why do you think they are leaving? If not, why do you think you are bucking the trends?
Aaron
Aaron,
No, we do not have a lot leaving. I think for three reasons. They have a leader who has a clear vision for the church and their lives. They have someone who will preach a biblical message which they were starving for. They also have a shepherd. These were the three things I believed the church needed. So, this has brought us to health.
Jason
Thanks Jason!
Excellent blog, you have exposed some conditions of the church that has been hidden much too long.
I did a study some time past, “Why people are leaving the church”? I learned that 49% of people leaving the church doesn’t believe in God Anymore Why? You will find the answer in the … ways our churches services are conducted. The silent voice of the people needs and questions aren’t being addressed; therefore, the people exit.
People often leave a church when they never really “connect” to the vision and direction of that particular church,because their voices are silent, so they exit.
Then you have the church hoppers, many are leaving because of offense. This is common in the local church. The Scripture tells us the stronghold that offense can bring: “A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, and contentions are like the bars of a castle” (Prov. 18:19).
Because the church should be stepping out into the neighborhoods around people and partnering with the amazing things already happening, and the beautiful stuff God is already doing, the churches seem content to franchise out their particular brand of Jesus-stuff, and wait for the sinful world to beat down your door.
.
The book is great read and it is time the church heed to “exit, voice and loyalty” theory. Great sharing with you! Rose Maria
Rose,
I believe that they do not believe in God anymore because we, as pastors, have traded the God of the Bible for pop-psychology. They do not know they need God because they don’t see a difference between God of the Bible and the latest pop-psychology. Preachers must reveal the God of the scriptures.
Jason
Thanks Jason,
I believe you may be correct, the leaders have a great job on their hands now. Rose Maria
Jason,
Great post and take away. I do have a question for you. Do you believe people are exiting or just coming less frequently? Do you think other things have become more a priority? Would they say it is “family” that is more important as they go to tournaments and other “things” that they are more committed to? How can this trend be reversed? Loyalty? How do you build this?
I know I am full of questions and you are out of time. Thanks for posing some great thoughts.
Kevin
Kev,
I do think the greatest idol in America is the family. They are coming less frequently because they do not see the value and wrongly assume that God does not permeate all areas of their lives.
Jasom
Nice ideas and I’m enjoying the discussion.
What is a Purple Cow? I know Godin, just haven’t come across that one.
It is a metaphor. A purple cow is a cow that does not look like the others. The idea is if you are driving past a farm, you really stop noticing the cows. They all look the same. The purple cow though is the one that is different. You will stop to check it out. This is a marketing principle. What will make you different.
Jason
Jason,
This was a great blog. You suggested that the church in general has shifted to filling the pews. As you can see, the challenge is that we often laugh about the half-filled sanctuaries and suggest that something is wrong with their church growth. While this is true, we often forget that these churches might have been active in the community. These once effective churches now finding themselves competing twofold (1) people see the church as supply and demand so they try to create a great church product (2) they try to respond to the Barna report (or others) that never surveyed their church. We have to find ways to measure the exit of our churches locally. For example: we now have an online church so we encourage people to stay home but the problem is that they disqualify themselves to have a voice; business meetings don’t happen online. An online church could rival an empty building if the leaders of that old church is active in the community. The similarities? Both lack people in the pews.
Garfield
Garfield