If you caught Mark’s sermon last Sunday you will have had your curiosity poked by a reference he made to a pair of speakers we enjoyed at the Diocesan Convention. They were Jim Davis and Michael Graham, two church leaders from Orlando, who recently undertook a groundbreaking study into who is leaving the American Church and why.

Below are a few facts and figures from the presentation that we found challenging and informative.

Put all this together and we find a few exciting truths:

• 40 Million people have left church in 25 years.
• However, 75% didn’t leave because they were upset or disillusioned or lost their faith. They simply moved house or had another big change in their lives. That’s all.
• That means they are open to coming back to church.
• The biggest factor influencing whether they’ll return is whether a friend invites them.
• It’s community and relationships that count.
• So, we don’t need to be inspiring evangelists before we can bring people to church. You just need to be a friend. So, what’s stopping us?