The Fall of the Evangelical Nation

Once again, I want to momentarily step away from the frivolity of my seminary years and fast-forward a bit. During the 8 years that I served as a pastor in Marin and Sonoma counties, I worked alongside a total of 7 other church staff members. Of the 8 of us, only 1 is still working for a church, and at least 4 of the 8 are not even attending an evangelical congregation.

At times, I have wondered if my choices and those of my colleagues represent an aberration (this is California, after all). But after reading The Fall of the Evangelical Nation by Christine Wicker, I know better. This book is thick with statistics and sociological analysis, yet I found it to be an absolute page-turner—perhaps because the hard numbers are interspersed with compelling stories of individuals who are rethinking their faith in ways that sound awfully familiar.

In a nutshell, Wicker lays out a well-researched tale of “halves.” She notes that fully 80% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, but only half (40%) say they went to church in the last week, and only half of those (20%) were actually there. Moreover, less than half of the true church attenders (7%) hew closely to traditional evangelical beliefs like viewing Jesus as the only way to heaven and accepting the Bible as the inerrant word of God. On top of all that, approximately 1,000 evangelicals leave established churches each day, and many of them are deeply committed believers who have become disillusioned with the state of conservative Christianity. Some seek out new forms of faith like the “emerging church;” others don’t bother.

As I read this book and the personal narratives it relates, my mind flashed back to a summer mission trip I took in college. Students from various Campus Crusade for Christ ministries across the nation spent the summer sharing our faith at a beach town on the east coast, and one night we received a sober warning from one of the CCC staff members. He told us that, if past patterns held, 75% of us would not be “walking with the Lord” in 10 years time. This was a shocking number, and I got the message loud and clear: if we “fell away,” it would be because we neglected our faith—not because something was wrong with the beliefs we all held.

Wicker’s book provides ample statistics to back up the attrition rate I was quoted, but it does something more. It explains that many people do not leave evangelicalism because of moral failings or a lack of commitment, but because they have grown weary of believing that their particular version of Christianity has cornered the market on truth, and that its corresponding right-wing politics has cornered the market on values.

Perhaps my old Campus Crusade leaders would number me among the dreaded 75%, but The Fall of the Evangelical Nation tells me I’m in good company. For that and other reasons, I recommend it highly.