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Quote From Pastor Marben:
Today is the first of a six-part sermon series that I am calling Six Questions. – We are asking these questions
Who Is God? What does it mean to live a meaningful life? How do we build the beloved community? Why do bad things happen? Is there an afterlife?
Who am I?
We are asking these questions because of the findings of a resent book called The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?
In the book the authors Jim Davis, Michael Graham and Ryan Burge state that: “We are currently in the middle of the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country,” Their research shows about 15 percent of American adults living today (around 40 million people) have effectively stopped going to church, and most of this dechurching has happened in the past 25 years.”
The authors go on to say, “No theological tradition, age group, ethnicity, political affiliation, education level, geographic location or income bracket escaped the dechurching in America.”
In that dechurching people said they still believed in God, but were disappointed in the Church. They were disappointed in the scandals that dogged the church. They were disappointed in constant demands on time, talent and money that the church seems to endless ask, and they were disappointed that the church did not answer the fundamental questions of their faith.
Today we are asking Who is God the first of the six fundamental questions these pastor / researchers found folks wanted to know as they are dechurching.