As a church pastor for 38 years, I have had numerous conversations with people telling me their reasons for joining or leaving a church. Some of their reasons have been theological, some political, some circumstantial, some relational, but "far from generalizable," as Professor Rosenblum said. Thank you for writing thoughtfully about our desire to belong. As far as I can recall in those 38 years, the desire to belong was a constant impetus for the choices to join and a constant sorrow in the choices to leave.
As a church pastor for 38 years, I have had numerous conversations with people telling me their reasons for joining or leaving a church. Some of their reasons have been theological, some political, some circumstantial, some relational, but "far from generalizable," as Professor Rosenblum said. Thank you for writing thoughtfully about our desire to belong. As far as I can recall in those 38 years, the desire to belong was a constant impetus for the choices to join and a constant sorrow in the choices to leave.