As millions of church members fall into inactivity each year, they’ve probably also started skipping church on Sunday.

We need answers—not statistics. We need to understand and hear from people who are leaving church so we can find a way to turn around the trend.

This book uses in-depth sociological research to get to the heart of the issue. The data is collected from interviews with real people about why they left and who they really are. These aren’t the “nones” who have no religious affiliation. They’re the “dones” who’ve been faithfully serving in local churches for years. This is their story.

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Praise for Church Refugees:

“If you read one book about the church this year, you’ll want to read Church Refugees.”

-Wayne Jacobsen, The God Journey

“Research like Josh and Ashleigh have done is the next frontier of understanding the sociology of religion. It’s quite likely that such research, rather than simply giving interpretations to shifting demographic patterns, will allow us to grasp the resilience of God’s work in a changing society.“

-John Hawthorne, Professor of Sociology at Spring Arbor University

“Normally when reading books on the failures of Churchword, I am part of the critics circle, but not here. Packard puts his finger on spots my church and most of those I know deeply struggle.”

-Jeff Cook, pastor and author of All Things New

“Church Refugees is a smart companion (maybe even counter) to Rachel Held Evans’ “Searching For Sunday.”

-Richard Pitt, Associate Professor of Sociology at Vanderbilt University and Associate Professor of Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt Divinity School