Author and blogger Rachel Held Evans posted the following on her blog today. What do you
think?+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Eight million
twenty-somethings have left the church, and it seems like everyone is trying to
figure out why.
Last week, Christian Piatt offered seven
reasons
here, and four more reasons
here. David Kinnaman recently authored a book entitled,
You Lost Me, which details the findings of Barna
researchers who interviewed hundreds of 18-29 year-olds about why they left the
church.
I left the church when I was twenty-seven. I am
now thirty, and after trying unsuccessfully to start a house church, my husband
and I are struggling to find a faith community in which we feel we belong. I’ve
been reluctant to write about this search in the past, but it seems like such a
common experience, I think it’s time to open up, especially now that I’ve had
some time to process. But let’s begin with fifteen reasons why I left:
1. I left the church because I’m
better at planning Bible studies than baby showers...but they only wanted me to
plan baby showers.
2.
I left the church
because when we talked about sin, we mostly talked about sex.
3. I left the church because my
questions were seen as liabilities.
4.
I left the church because
sometimes it felt like a cult, or a country club, and I wasn’t sure which was
worse.
5. I left the church because I
believe the earth is 4.5 billion years old and that humans share a common
ancestor with apes, which I was told was incompatible with my faith.
6.
I left the church because sometimes I
doubt, and church can be the worst place to doubt.
7. I left the church
because I didn’t want to be anyone’s “project.”
8.
I left the church because it was
often assumed that everyone in the congregation voted for Republicans.
9. I left the church because I felt
like I was the only one troubled by stories of violence and misogyny and
genocide found in the Bible, and I was tired of people telling me not to worry
about it because “God’s ways are higher than our ways.”
10.
I left the church
because of my own selfishness and pride.
11. I left the church because I
knew I would never see a woman behind the pulpit, at least not in the
congregation in which I grew up.
12.
I left the church because I
wanted to help people in my community without feeling pressure to convert them
to Christianity.
13. I left the church because I had
learned more from Oprah about addressing poverty and injustice than I had
learned from 25 years of Sunday school.
14.
I left the church because there
are days when I’m not sure I believe in God, and no one told me that “dark
nights of the soul” can be part of the faith experience.
15. I left the church
because one day, they put signs out in the church lawn that said “Marriage = 1
Man + 1 Woman: Vote Yes on Prop 1,” and I knew the moment I saw them that I
never wanted to come back.
“I am convinced that what
drives most people away from Christianity is not the cost of
discipleship but rather the cost of false fundamentals.” – Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 207
“We aren’t looking
for a faith that provides all the answers; we’re looking for one in which we are
free to ask the questions.” –
Evolving in Monkey Town, p. 204
In the weeks to come,
I'll be sharing more about
why I stayed with the Church--with a
capital-C-- and about our search for a local faith
community.
Why did you leave the church?
Why
do you stay?
