Americans still believe in God, but they are leaving the church in record numbers. Why? Julia Duin, a veteran journalist, has collected data and insights from interviews with disillusioned followers, as well as from her own story. In this engrossing account of churches in decline, Duin visits numerous congregations and explores factors underlying the social shift away from church: irrelevant teaching, neglect of singles, marginalization of women, and a lack of authentic spiritual power. First published in 2008, it was prophetic in terms of major drops in church attendance during the second decade of the 21st century. This most recent edition, with updates in 2013 and 2020, is sure to help church leaders and churchgoers create inviting spiritual homes for people of all kinds.

“Engaging . . . as religion editor for the Washington Times, [Duin] is in her element marshaling statistics, interviewing authors and clergy, and commenting on the trend of faithful evangelicals who increasingly vote with their feet by leaving their churches.” —Publishers Weekly

“(Ms. Duin)’s concern is … understandable. It is truly disturbing -- to some of us, anyway -- to hear of a longtime church-goer deciding to stay home on Sunday mornings and read, yes, the New York Times; or to hear of a best-selling evangelical author quitting his church and arguing that leaving the institutional church is something that "mature Christians" should do. Whatever the incidence of church-quitting, it is not a happy development for those who regard public worship as essential to the Christian life.” – Terry Eastland for the Wall Street Journal