“So, the dones are leaving behind the church. But they do not necessarily leave their faith. In fact, it seems they have a strong desire to maintain their spiritual lives. The reason the Dones have dechurched themselves is not that they no longer believe in God. Rather, it is because they feel the church is no longer fostering an environment in which they can spiritually grow.”

I have a dim view of Mallory Challis’ glowing review of “Church Refugees” by Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope. (https://baptistnews.com/article/these-christians-are-leaving-behind-the-church-but-not-their-faith/) There is a celebratory glee in reporting upon strong, faithful, and committed  Christians leaving the oppression of the church. The author reports at least four reasons justifying these heroic former members walking away in a fit of pique. These include hateful teachings about homosexuality that offend their friends or family members. Some are done with church because of a lack of support for a member’s pet projects. While others have walked away because of the time and resources dedicated to Sunday morning corporate worship that could be spent elsewhere. And finally, some have walked away because the church has too great an emphasis on doctrine, rather than on personal relationships.

The book and the article term these people as the “Done.” Many were a part of the 20 percent who did 80 percent of the work, but have become dissatisfied. That name, “Done,” is instructive. “I’m done!” connotes anger to such a degree that one is committed to cutting off any further contact or communication. Hardly a mature and faithful response to issues within the church. And yet, amazingly, the author of the review claims,

“So, the dones are leaving behind the church. But they do not necessarily leave their faith. In fact, it seems they have a strong desire to maintain their spiritual lives. The reason the Dones have dechurched themselves is not that they no longer believe in God. Rather, it is because they feel the church is no longer fostering an environment in which they can spiritually grow.”

But the church is the place for spiritual growth, as the Westminster Divines said:

25.3. Unto this catholic visible church Christ hath given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and doth, by his own presence and Spirit, according to his promise, make them effectual thereunto.

The Divines based this high view of the church on Scripture and not on feelings:

• I Cor 12:27—Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.. (NASB-95).
• Eph 4: 11—And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming (NASB-93).

Is this to say that every one of the estimated 300,000 particularized congregation in America is a place of spiritual growth? Certainly not. The Scriptures speak of synagogues of Satan. The Scriptures speak of false teachers. The Scriptures speak of the Lord extinguishing the lampstand of faithless churches. But the Lord promises that He will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matt 16:18).

We may well ask the Dones what the Lord asked Elijah in I Kings 19:13b-14: “And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

But Elijah was not the only believer left. Just a guess, but I doubt all 300,000 churches are false churches. A true church is one that faithfully preaches and teaches the Word of God, that rightly administers the sacraments, and that practices church discipline. Every aspect of the church involves the Word of God. We see the Word preached. We see the Word on display in the sacraments. And we see the Word in action via church discipline. It seems more likely that the Dones are consumer-oriented connoisseurs of boutique Christianity than that all churches in America are false.

The mission of the church is to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matt 28: 19-20). And yet, if accurate, this quote, from Miss Challis, is quite disturbing:

“Outside the church, the dones often seek ways to foster spiritual growth. Small groups, Bible studies and other non-institutional activities that prioritize relationships and conversation over doctrine and business-like decisions provide spaces in which they can explore their personal relationships with God free of judgment and structure that is holding them back.”

The very offices (elders and deacons) that God has ordained to oversee, teach and care for His people are the very people accused of holding back the Dones from spiritual growth. No evidence is proffered. Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep. That is a high and noble calling.

One of scariest verse in the Bible is in Judges 21: 25, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” It seems history is repeating itself, even though we have a king. Our king, the Lord Jesus Christ, has ordained that His church be ruled administratively by elders. Our rule may be imperfectly executed, but it is the Scriptural pattern for the church.

As elders, we need to examine those imperfections. We need to redouble our efforts to ensure that the Word of God is preached well, that our doctrines are taught to the next generation, that the sacraments are rightly administered, and that discipline is practiced at from the local congregation to the General Assembly.

The sheep are scattering. As under shepherds, we must seek them out and call them back to the church.

Al Taglieri is a Ruling Elder in the Providence Presbyterian Church in York, Penn.