Massachusetts pastor’s push against tide of ‘dechurching’

Over forty million people have left the church in the past twenty-five years in the United States—not merely the people who have walked away from Christian faith, but many Christians who have “dechurched.”
Lierte Soares Jr. (left) and Rick Harrington in front of the Old South Presbyterian Church in Newburyport, Massachusetts, where George Whitefield, the noteworthy 18th century revivalist preacher, is buried.
(Photo courtesy of BCNE)

Massachusetts pastor’s push against tide of ‘dechurching’

More than 40 million people have left the church in the past 25 years in the United States — not merely the people who have walked away from Christian faith, but many Christians who have “dechurched.” They see their local church as an optional club and think gathering with other Christians is a sort of side issue in the real business of following Jesus.

“Churching: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church in the Christian Life”  is a short book that seeks to push against the cultural tide. It musters together an argument — biblically, historically, and practically — on behalf of the church.

The author, Rick Harrington, who is senior pastor of First Baptist Church Haverhill, Massachusetts, and provost of the Baptist Churches of New England’s Multiplication Center, challenges his readers to understand that “the church does not sit on the periphery of the Christian life; it belongs smack dab in the center. The church is our means of grace [and it leads] to corporate worship, Christian fellowship, and the Great Commission.”

Full story.

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Rick Harrington and originally published by the Baptist Churches of New England. 

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