Believing Again: Stories of Leaving and Returning to Faith

The numbers are alarming--at least to people of faith. Many, especially the young, are leaving the church and abandoning faith in God. Social scientists have for decades been documenting with numbers what church leaders and families have experienced directly. What is much less noted and evaluated is the substantial number of those who leave faith and the church and eventually come back to both. Why people leave is an important question, but so is why people return--a question much less often addressed. Once people have made a clear and conscious break with their religious convictions and practice, what leads many to return? This book explores this important question primarily through listening to the stories these people tell. It relies on stories, not numbers, allowing people to tell their own stories in their own words--both why they left and why they returned. One discovers from listening to their stories that there are recurring patterns. People leave faith for common reasons and they also return for common reasons. In fact, many return for the flip side of why they left. The shared factor in all returns is God's relentless love for each of them.