By David Virtue, Virtueonline
September 19, 2023
Excerpt:
In an article entitled "What is the Future of Evangelicalism?: Evangelicalism Now", the late Dr J. I. Packer, a distinguished Canadian Anglican theologian and author, lamented that North American evangelicalism had entered a "winter" from which it is unlikely to emerge any time soon.
A recent book The Dechurching of America by three authors, Jim Davis, Ryan Burge, and Michael Graham argue that 40 million Americans have left the church with most not likely to return any time soon, if ever.
"We are currently experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in U.S. history," an excerpt from the book summary reads. "It is greater than the First and Second Great Awakening and every revival in our country combined but in the opposite direction."
Sex abuse and corruption scandals that have rocked the evangelical community -- also well-documented by the media -- have played a role in growing disillusionment with the church. It is not just about COVID. The Gospel Coalition research team found that the dechurching phenomenon is far more complex. They drew their conclusions from an in-depth analysis of data drawn from a trio of surveys of 1,000 individuals, with100 data points per person surveyed. These data points included "demographics, size, core concerns, church off-ramps, historical roots, and the gravity of what is at stake."
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