Book Review: Quitting Church

Right from the get-go of Quitting Church, Julia Duin, the author, conveys her anger, bitterness, discouragement and disappointments against the local church. The book is convoluted with good and bad ecclesiology and theology. Because of this mixed bag, it is certainly understandable why Julia Duin is angry, bitter, discouraged and disappointed about the local church.

Some of the good points that Duin raises as issues which churches need to address include:

• A blind church member whom no one from his church family, leader and laity both, were willing to provide transportation consistently nor called when he finally decided to drop out after a year of attending. (p.9-10)
• People needed to hear sermons on their unanswered prayers, but their pastors were giving PowerPoint presentations on attaining breakthroughs. (p.22)
• Church members requesting visitation with a pastor must wait up to a month for an appointment. (p.23) If the pastor is away on vacation, that’s certainly understandable. And if the church does not have plurality of elders, they certainly should to address the needs of the flock more expeditiously.
• Bible studies lacking depth and theological know-how. (p.23)
• Pastors who fear preaching boldly the Gospel truth may be grounds for pastoral termination. (p.29)
• Church business meetings focusing on minute details. (p.31)
• One of the top reasons people are leaving the church is loneliness. Does anyone notice those who drop out? (p.50 & 52).
• Christians have a duty to marry. Deliberately delaying marriage is a sin. Churches do not want the Singles groups to become meat markets, but why not? Pastors must take it on themselves to find Christian mates for their Single church members. If Singles tell most pastors of their wish to marry, the pastors will likely sugest to trust in God’s sovereignty, while the typical rabbi will help them get paired up. (p.87-90, & 100) As a Single myself, I’m all for this!
• Church membership that is comprised of both believers and unbelievers confuses and frustrates many from joining the church because the sins of the unbelieving church members are just as or more heinous than the unbeliever who has never stepped into church. (p.123)
• Church governing system based on a plurality of elders. (p.133)
• Willow Creek’s resolution of their failure is to continue feeding baby food and expect the more veteran church members to feed themselves, and that resolution is problematic. It’s passing the buck. (p.173)

Some of the theological and ecclesiological problems with this book include:

• A broad ecumenical, ecclectic umbrella of Christianity, where the author includes Catholics, Emerging Church, Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Calvinists.
• Strong bias in favor of House Church Movement. The author distinguishes the “house church” vs. the “local church” by describing the “house church” as a place of authentic relationships, greater accountability and flexibility, while the “local church” is too entertaining, passe, a place that makes you feel lonelier when you leave than when you enter, too shallow in doctrinal teaching during bible studies, and impersonal. In sum, the author finds the church ”too banal, boring, or painful.” (p.20-21, 50, 61, 115 and 132)
• Vehemously against complementarianism; strongly egalitarian.
• Any references to Scripture is sparse. It is ironic that the author laments the lack of strong Bible studies in the local church, yet the book lacks biblical references except for a handful to support her arguments.

Conclusion: Quitting Church is in some ways not new information. The author’s laments are the same laments that of David Wells’s No Place For Truth, Chuck Colson’s The Body, and many others. Is it a must-read for church leaders? Absolutely. Unfortunately, the author’s view of the local church has an uncanny similar outtake as that of Harold Camping’s: “That God is no longer at work in the local churches. Therefore, staying at home or finding a home-church is the best answer.”

1. See also Albert Mohler’s review on this book.

2. Here’s White Horse Inn’s interview with Julia Duin: