In a society as highly mobile as North America and with churchgoers dispersed among a multiplicity of denominations, new networks and stand-alone congregations it is perplexing trying to keep track of churchgoers. What percentage of switching churches as against those who are leaving? And are the leavers finding alternative forms of church or abandoning their Christian faith entirely? These are largely unanswered questions.
What we do know is that young adults are abandoning, not only institutional religion but the Christian faith traditions in which they were reared in unprecedented numbers.
Drew Dyck, a Fuller grad who is editorial manager of the ministry team at Christianity Today International where he oversees four online publications, has provided some hard-hitting data resulting from countless interviews, either through blogs, emails or face-to face interviews, that reveals how widespread and complex are the challenges in understanding and responding appropriate to these disaffected young adults. He identifies and describes six main strands.
First are the Postmodern Leavers, who have abandoned the “certainties” of their religion for a spiritual exploration of their own mapping.
Second are the Recoilers who harbor the hurts of negative childhood and teenage experiences and abuse from professed Christians.
Third are the Modern Leavers who have been persuaded by the recent wave pf aggressive atheism as represented by Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) among others.
Fourth are the Neo-Pagans, many of them enamored by Wicca. Drew’s research reveals that most Wiccans were raised in the church.
Fifth are the Rebels, who are hedonistic party-goers. Some are moral rebels while other are spiritual rebels, insisting on self-determination.
Sixth are the Drifters representing “the enemy within” who sit on the sidelines and eventually drop-out.
The strength of Drew Dyck’s book is that he does not simply analyze the challenges but provides practical guidelines as to how to engage each type in an appropriate manner. The many illustrations are powerful and at times intensely personal.