Church Refugees Quotes

“While everyone’s story is unique, there are some common tensions that emerge among the dechurched. • They wanted community . . . and got judgment. • They wanted to affect the life of the church . . . and got bureaucracy. • They wanted conversation . . . and got doctrine. • They wanted meaningful engagement with the world . . . and got moral prescription.”
― Josh Packard, Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith

“Our respondents also told us they’d encountered church planters, missional pastors, and on-campus religious groups who had utilized a “relationship first” model in which they were exhorted to make friends with people, gain their trust, and then invite them to church. Our respondents found these “shadow missions” abhorrent. The idea of pursuing relationships or conversations with an ulterior motive was anathema to them. They rejected the goal of shadow missions: to get people to come to God and/or the church.”
― Josh Packard, Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith

“I realize the church isn’t perfect, and it’s made up of people who aren’t perfect, and I’m not perfect either, but the church needs to see that there are things that are broken about the structure, not the people.”
― Josh Packard, Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith

“I’m very hesitant to ever be a part of a church again, because I don’t want to get stuck inside walls and miss out on all of these relationships that form the basis of my understanding of God.”
― Josh Packard, Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith

“Community was fundamental to their understanding of God. They understood community as a manifestation and extension of their understanding of the divine.”
― Josh Packard, Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith

“As our respondents show when discussing these tensions, the failure of the church to adapt to new cultural realities is a fundamental issue driving the dechurched movement. In short, what worked for churches to attract and keep people in the 1980s or 1990s can be the same practices that drive people away in the 2000s.”
― Josh Packard, Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith

“The structures that dominate most churches work very well for the large segment of the congregation that’s not particularly involved, or interested in being involved. But these same structures are not only ineffective for the most active members, they are actually driving them away.”
― Josh Packard, Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith

“As our society approaches a post-institutional era, it’s entirely possible the near monopoly that the church has enjoyed over faithful expressions and religious connections may be coming to an end. The activities of the dechurched may be ushering in a new understanding of what religious activity means. If this trend continues, it will fundamentally reshape the way Americans experience organized religion.”
― Josh Packard, Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith

“Before pastors or churches can act as a guide or moral compass for people, they must prove they’re willing to be a fundamental part of their daily lives, struggling alongside them, building trust day after day. We”
― Josh Packard, Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith