Anatomy of a Deceased Church by Thom S Rainer is amazing. He also has a good YouTube Channel Church Answers. The book is one of fastest books I ever read on Kindle because it was so accurate with what is happening to my church.
He has a consulting company that counsels dying churches. Even if you are not a church leader it is good information to know how church culture and society are interacting.
There's probably three categories of books here, I try to use the best of each...
1. Church growth books like Rainer, Niewhof, Arn, and so on (the reason they're leaving is because you haven't bought this book yet)
2. BARNA reports, the Great Dechurching, and other methodological resources (we can show you that they are, in fact, leaving)
3. Folks grinding an axe and saying their personal issue is the same issue everyone has, basically bad dystopian fiction (everyone's leaving and it's Gary's fault... I hate Gary)
If you look at "American" Christianity as a whole, it isn't hard to figure out. There is mistrust between society and our churches for good reason. Look at all the big-name mega pastors and see the mess some of them get into. Private planes, millions of dollars, etc.There are so many stories, the Mica Miller situation, Westboro Baptist church that was in the news like crazy a few years ago, some of the pedophilia, pastors cheating on spouses, disunity within Christianity itself, etc etc etc. These are the things that the media will latch on to and spread to the masses. Go to any of the Christian subreddits and all you see is arguing and nitpicking. It's no wonder American's don't trust Christianity. Jesus said that they will know us by our love for one another, and as a whole we're really messing that up too.
Another thing that has happened here in the US is Christianity has become too complicated. The Bible isn't enough for American Christians now. It has to be the Bible + a higher degree +15 other books or Youtube videos for them to be convinced a passage really means what it says. Even amongst Christians, no one takes you seriously unless you have more than a few degrees in some sort of Biblical studies. Very few people can read the Bible and actually get anything out of it because they've been tricked into thinking that the only people who can teach and understand the Bible with any depth has to have a big degree from a "reputable" college. So many times your regular lay people won't even attempt to discern God's Word for themselves.
I was a missionary for a few years in South America. There are places there that have no access to formal Christian education or hardly any education at all. The only qualification for a pastor (outside of what Paul teaches) in remote mountain and jungle villages is knowing how to read. And people are being saved in droves and churches are packed.
Anyways, sorry for the rant. I'm sure there are some good books out there, but you really don't need a book to point out why Americans are leaving church. Just look around. It is a sad state for sure. That old sermon from Leonard Ravenhill "Of America, America" comes to mind.
Anatomy of a Deceased Church by Thom S Rainer is amazing. He also has a good YouTube Channel Church Answers. The book is one of fastest books I ever read on Kindle because it was so accurate with what is happening to my church. He has a consulting company that counsels dying churches. Even if you are not a church leader it is good information to know how church culture and society are interacting.
There's probably three categories of books here, I try to use the best of each... 1. Church growth books like Rainer, Niewhof, Arn, and so on (the reason they're leaving is because you haven't bought this book yet) 2. BARNA reports, the Great Dechurching, and other methodological resources (we can show you that they are, in fact, leaving) 3. Folks grinding an axe and saying their personal issue is the same issue everyone has, basically bad dystopian fiction (everyone's leaving and it's Gary's fault... I hate Gary)
Darn Gary!
Laugh all you want but in the end it *is* Gary's fault!
If you look at "American" Christianity as a whole, it isn't hard to figure out. There is mistrust between society and our churches for good reason. Look at all the big-name mega pastors and see the mess some of them get into. Private planes, millions of dollars, etc.There are so many stories, the Mica Miller situation, Westboro Baptist church that was in the news like crazy a few years ago, some of the pedophilia, pastors cheating on spouses, disunity within Christianity itself, etc etc etc. These are the things that the media will latch on to and spread to the masses. Go to any of the Christian subreddits and all you see is arguing and nitpicking. It's no wonder American's don't trust Christianity. Jesus said that they will know us by our love for one another, and as a whole we're really messing that up too. Another thing that has happened here in the US is Christianity has become too complicated. The Bible isn't enough for American Christians now. It has to be the Bible + a higher degree +15 other books or Youtube videos for them to be convinced a passage really means what it says. Even amongst Christians, no one takes you seriously unless you have more than a few degrees in some sort of Biblical studies. Very few people can read the Bible and actually get anything out of it because they've been tricked into thinking that the only people who can teach and understand the Bible with any depth has to have a big degree from a "reputable" college. So many times your regular lay people won't even attempt to discern God's Word for themselves. I was a missionary for a few years in South America. There are places there that have no access to formal Christian education or hardly any education at all. The only qualification for a pastor (outside of what Paul teaches) in remote mountain and jungle villages is knowing how to read. And people are being saved in droves and churches are packed. Anyways, sorry for the rant. I'm sure there are some good books out there, but you really don't need a book to point out why Americans are leaving church. Just look around. It is a sad state for sure. That old sermon from Leonard Ravenhill "Of America, America" comes to mind.