Religion: Why Americans are leaving church

Leo Moriachelli, "Losing My Religion" (R.E.M. cover); Meghna Chakrabarti, On Point, npr.org, 1/24/24; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

'The great dechurching': Why so many Americans are leaving churches

About 40 million Americans have stopped attending a place of worship in the past 25 years.

What's driving it, and what does it tell us about the importance of faith in America?

Michael "Mike" Graham and Pastor Jim Davis join On Point Host Meghna Chakrabarti.

• AUDIO: The Great Dechurching of America (pscrb.fm)

Dechurching?

The Great Dechurching

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 Americans 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.

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 explore what can be done to slow the bleed, engage the pertinent issues winsomely and wisely, and hopefully re-church some of the dechurched. [Or decide it's better this way.] More

ABOUT: Hosted by Meghna Chakrabarti, On Point is WBUR's award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Its unique combination of original reporting, first-person stories, and in-depth analysis creates an experience that makes the world more intelligible and humane. Deep dives, original stories, fresh takes, On Point tries harder.

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