The Care and Feeding of Adventists

Top Five Reasons People Leave the Church (Returned Members):

• I thought highly of it, but I had lost touch.

• I thought highly of it, but I felt I could not live up to its standards.

• It had become irrelevant to my life.

• I was angry at the way it treated me.

• I felt that it was cold and inflexible.

Ten significant life events in the year prior to no longer attending church:

• Serious illness

• Married/divorced

• Relocated

• Death in the family

• Marital conflict

• Graduation

• Job change

• Poverty

• Illness in family

• Lost job

Top reasons given to stop attending church:

• No big issue; I just drifted away.

• Lack of compassion for those hurting

• Moral failure on my part

• I did not fit in.

• Too much focus on minor issues

• Conflict in the congregation

• Moral failures of members

• Moral failures of leaders

• Pressure from family or friends

• Race, ethnic, or tribal issues