What Happens After People Leave the Church?

Have you left the church behind? Would you describe yourself as a “post-evangelical” or “exvangelical,” whatever those terms may mean?

According to a 2016 Pew Research poll of 35,000 American adults, statistics indicate that the population of self-identified “Christians” has dropped significantly from previous polls.

The last time Pew engaged in a similar survey in 2007, 78.4% of those surveyed identified themselves as Christian; by 2016, that percentage had dropped to 70.6%.

Based upon the statistics gathered, Pew came to the conclusion that not only is America’s Christian share of the population declining, at the same time there’s another opposite trend occurring: those who do not identify with any organized religion is also on the rise. What’s been highly publicized, too, is the major shift among millennials, who are walking away from churches, with more of a feeling that the church lost them, rather than the other way around. Moreover, many have reported that the white 81% evangelical Trump vote (and continued full-throated support throughout his presidency) was the final straw. Disgusted and disillusioned by the apparent moral bankruptcy of the evangelical church, they’ve walked away for good.

Additionally, the rise of the recent #EmptyThePews, #Exvangelical, and #HowToEvangelical campaigns are surging among millennials who walked away from the church. They are increasingly expressing their disdain for much of what passes for church these days, which they view as deeply hypocritical, spiritually abusive, ingrained in a patriarchal system, misogynistic and seriously flawed. Moreover, with the rise of #metoo calling attention to prominent public figures and sexual abuse, likewise in evangelicalism, #churchtoo has brought to light many people’s stories who were sexually abused within churches. This development has shone a light on a very serious and deeply disturbing problem that has long afflicted evangelical (and Catholic) churches.

Due to such issues, both the public image and moral credibility of many evangelical churches are taking a beating; as a result, many people are leaving, with no plans to return.

But surely there is more to the story; while it’s difficult to find actual statistics (in terms of real…