Leaving Church

Leaving Church
Author: Barbara Brown Taylor
Publisher: Canterbury Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2013-01-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1848253575

Tells how a renowned preacher left her ministry to rediscover the authentic heart of her faith. A moving reflection on keeping faith amidst the relentless demands of modern life.

You Lost Me

You Lost Me
Author: David Kinnaman
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2011-10-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1441213082

Close to 60 percent of young people who went to church as teens drop out after high school. Now the bestselling author of unChristian trains his researcher's eye on these young believers. Where Kinnaman's first book unChristian showed the world what outsiders aged 16-29 think of Christianity, You Lost Me shows why younger Christians aged 16-29 are leaving the church and rethinking their faith. Based on new research, You Lost Me shows pastors, church leaders, and parents how we have failed to equip young people to live "in but not of" the world and how this has serious long-term consequences. More importantly, Kinnaman offers ideas on how to help young people develop and maintain a vibrant faith that they embrace over a lifetime.

Already Gone

Already Gone
Author: Ken Ham
Publisher: New Leaf Publishing Group
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2009
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0890515298

NATIONWIDE POLLS AND DENOMINATIONAL REPORTS ARE SHOWING THAT THE NEXT GENERATION IS CALLING IT QUITS ON THE TRADITIONAL CHURCH.

Why Are the Young People Leaving the Church

Why Are the Young People Leaving the Church
Author: Ruben Joseph
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 101
Release: 2011-08-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1465343814

If you are a parent, an elder, a youth leader, a pastor, a priest, or a young person, inside or outside of the church, this book is written just for you. The youth of today are facing serious issues, causing an unprecedented apathy in their walk with God. It is said throughout the Bible that the youth will finish the battle. They shall rise and have visions; they will lead a holy revolution and finish the gospel. Therefore, the enemy is like a roaring lion seeking them especially to devour. This book offers an analytic view of what is going on in our churches and provides practical solutions. The book is not at all biased; it is well-grounded. The book merely advocates religion but greatly elevates the Bible as the one and true guide to living a godly life. Sometimes the youth are overlooked, but that does not mean they must leave. There is a raging storm on the outside, and the only safe place is in the ark of safety. As described in the chapters, there is much fun in the world, but they also come with consequences as did for Adam and Eve. Traditions and culture can sometimes wrongly influence the youth, but knowing Gods truth should serve as an anchor to keep Christians grounded. The enablers tacitly infiltrate pagan customs, which causes other religions to question Christianitys genuineness, but the truth of the matter is Christianity is not the problem. We must remain faithful, be active in sharing the gospel, and when Jesus, our redeemer, returns as the groom to take His bride, the church, hopefully we will all be part of the remnant elect.

Exit Interviews

Exit Interviews
Author: William D. Hendricks
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1993-09
Genre:
ISBN: 9780802423184

53,000 people leave churches every week and never come back. Curious, William Hendricks interviewed many of these people and discovered that a craving for spirituality leads many outside the established churches.

Empty the Pews

Empty the Pews
Author: Chrissy Stroop
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2019-12
Genre:
ISBN: 9781946093073

Unfollow

Unfollow
Author: Megan Phelps-Roper
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2019-10-08
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0374715815

The activist and TED speaker Megan Phelps-Roper reveals her life growing up in the most hated family in America At the age of five, Megan Phelps-Roper began protesting homosexuality and other alleged vices alongside fellow members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. Founded by her grandfather and consisting almost entirely of her extended family, the tiny group would gain worldwide notoriety for its pickets at military funerals and celebrations of death and tragedy. As Phelps-Roper grew up, she saw that church members were close companions and accomplished debaters, applying the logic of predestination and the language of the King James Bible to everyday life with aplomb—which, as the church’s Twitter spokeswoman, she learned to do with great skill. Soon, however, dialogue on Twitter caused her to begin doubting the church’s leaders and message: If humans were sinful and fallible, how could the church itself be so confident about its beliefs? As she digitally jousted with critics, she started to wonder if sometimes they had a point—and then she began exchanging messages with a man who would help change her life. A gripping memoir of escaping extremism and falling in love, Unfollow relates Phelps-Roper’s moral awakening, her departure from the church, and how she exchanged the absolutes she grew up with for new forms of warmth and community. Rich with suspense and thoughtful reflection, Phelps-Roper’s life story exposes the dangers of black-and-white thinking and the need for true humility in a time of angry polarization.

Dear Church

Dear Church
Author: Lenny Duncan
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2019-07-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1506452574

Lenny Duncan is the unlikeliest of pastors. Formerly incarcerated, he is now a black preacher in the whitest denomination in the United States: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Shifting demographics and shrinking congregations make all the headlines, but Duncan sees something else at work--drawing a direct line between the church's lack of diversity and the church's lack of vitality. The problems the ELCA faces are theological, not sociological. But so are the answers. Part manifesto, part confession, and all love letter, Dear Church offers a bold new vision for the future of Duncan's denomination and the broader mainline Christian community of faith. Dear Church rejects the narrative of church decline and calls everyone--leaders and laity alike--to the front lines of the church's renewal through racial equality and justice. It is time for the church to rise up, dust itself off, and take on forces of this world that act against God: whiteness, misogyny, nationalism, homophobia, and economic injustice. Duncan gives a blueprint for the way forward and urges us to follow in the revolutionary path of Jesus. Dear Church also features a discussion guide at the back--perfect for church groups, book clubs, and other group discussion.

Leaving Church

Leaving Church
Author: Robin Stockitt
Publisher:
Total Pages: 28
Release: 2020
Genre: Church attendance
ISBN: 9781788271264

Leaving Church Becoming Ekklesia

Leaving Church Becoming Ekklesia
Author: Tim Kurtz
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2017-05-07
Genre:
ISBN: 9780998895208

Church - the central identifying word that encompasses the entire religious spectrum. It is the buildings we go to, the sectarian ideology we adhere to, the core of our spiritual identity. Church - the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, the called-out ones. Church - Evangelical, Pentecostal, Catholic, and Non-Denominational. Church - the guardian of doctrine, the ark for lost souls, the social bastion for the righteous. We have embraced and perpetuated a culture around this single word - church; a word that should have never existed.In this this book, Tim Kurtz challenges the use of the 'word' church found in most bibles by suggesting it is a willful mistranslation of the original Greek word ekklesia. This book does not 'beat up' the church world, but rather explores how powerful believers would be if they embraced their true identity as the ekklesia - the ruling council of God.