Why do people leave the Church? Part 1

Why do people leave the Church? Part 1

About 10 months ago, I was sitting against the back wall of my church, during a Sunday morning service. We had been attending this church for 6 years at that point. I looked around at the empty seats and thought of the faces that used to occupy them. It's a fact; we (Christians) pretty much always keep the same seats, so it was easy for me to picture who was missing. Where did they all go? Why? Of course, I knew many people had dropped off the radar when our Senior Pastor resigned 4 months before. That always happens. But we don't, or shouldn't follow the 'man', and to be honest, many families had left before that time. So why? I wrote down names as I thought of them, and after coming up with a few questions, I initially made contact with 9 families. As I continued to gather information, I contacted people from other churches, roughly 16 families. I did this in order to get broader information and not make this just about my church. These are some of the questions I asked them:

1. Why did you leave?
2. Did you tell anyone you were leaving?
3. If you didn't tell the Pastor you were leaving, did he contact you when you did?.
4. How important is Worship? The style, length, the volume?
5. How important are programs: Nursery, kids, young adults, mens, womens, seniors? Programs in general
6. Are midweek bible or book studies important?
7. Outreach vs. Discipleship. Do you think there can be a balance?
8. If you could remain totally anonymous, and you will, what would you let the Pastors know?

Tommorow, I will post the answers to these questions. As I had stated, I started research on this particular blog subject almost 10 months ago. It took a long time to follow up with people. From time to time, I thought it might be time to post it, but then something else would happen, either at mine or another church, and I would not want to not hurt feelings. What if wrote something that hit home with someone. The people I surveyed, are from 2 churches that I have attended for the total of 19 years. In those 19 years, I have served under 5 Pastors. I have seen many people come and go. I am not pointing fingers, I listen to people, and this is what they say.