Alan Jamieson: A Churchless Faith

Philip Garside Publishing

$29.95

Every couple of years, it seems, we read of the growth of the evangelical, Pentecostal and charismatic stream of the Christian Church.

In New Zealand, as in the rest of the world, this movement's growth has been phenomenal, in contrast to other church streams whose growth has been static or negative.

But, says Jamieson (a sociologist and pastor at Wellington Central Baptist), these churches also have a wide-open back door through which the disgruntled, disillusioned and disaffiliated leave.

Who is leaving, and why, are questions he sets out to answer in this slightly academic but very readable little book.

The leavers are not, as characterised by church leaders, simply backsliders, but people who become disillusioned with the environment provided by these churches and prefer to pursue "journeys of faith" independently.