The Great Dechurching
The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? by by Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan P. Burge. (2023).
This book presents findings of the largest and most comprehensive study conducted on the present phenomenon of dechurching in the United States. The authors estimate that approximately 40 million American adults have dechurched over the past 25 years representing the largest and fastest religious shift in U.S. history; numerically surpassing the combined impacts of the First and Second Great Awakenings and all major revivals but in the opposite direction.
The book addresses who is leaving, why they are departing, and what strategies might encourage their return. The work has been widely discussed in religious and mainstream media for its empirical rigor and pastoral insights.
Recent data as of late 2025 underscores the ongoing trend:
Nearly 30% of American adults identify as religiously unaffiliated, marking a 33% increase since 2013 (Public Religion Research Institute).
About 57% of Americans seldom or never attend religious services, up from 40% in 2000 (Gallup).
Among young adults aged 18–29, 38% are religiously unaffiliated.
Church attendance has declined to around 30% weekly or nearly weekly participation nationwide.
Reader’s note: In addition to the book shared above, the Journal of the European Economic Association published a study on 11/28/2025 titled “Deaths of Despair and The Decline of American Religion” by researchers Tyler Giles, Daniel Hungerman, and Tamar Oostrom.
The journal study demonstrates correspondence between the “the great dechurching,” which is to say the massive percentage of people who no longer attend church in the U.S. (and Western Europe); with the serious rise in suicide, drug overdose, alcoholic liver disease (which increased even in areas where alcohol use overall declined among the populace demonstrating a heavier use of alcohol among many who were still drinking), and clinical depression.
Key Findings:
A significant decline in organized religious participation (measured by church attendance and religious affiliation) occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s, primarily among the same demographic group.
States experiencing larger drops in religious participation during this period saw correspondingly greater increases in deaths of despair.
The authors estimate that the decline in religiosity during the 1990s could account for approximately 40% of the unexpected rise in mortality rates by 1996.
Abstract: “In recent decades, death rates from suicides, drug poisonings, and alcoholic liver disease have dramatically increased in the United States. We show that these ‘deaths of despair’ began to increase relative to trend in the early 1990s, that this increase was preceded by a decline in religious participation, and that both trends were driven by middle-aged white Americans. Using repeals of blue laws, we find that a shock to religious participation has significant effects on these mortality rates. Our findings show that social factors such as organized religion can play an important role in understanding deaths of despair.”
Journal Article: https://academic.oup.com/jeea/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jeea/jvaf048/8351096
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