“The Rise of the Dones”

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Recently, I read an article by Thom Schultz called “The Rise of the Dones”.  The article  does an amazing job of describing one of the groups of people that LK10 is called to serve.

Who are the Dones?

This term, coined by sociologist, Josh Parker, describes a growing group of people who have for years been “among the most dedicated and active people in their congregations”.    But, these folks have reached a tipping point of frustration and exhaustion where they are now saying.  “I’m done.  I’m done with church.”  

Why are they done?

Screen Shot 2014-12-16 at 9.48.19 AMPackard explains it this way, “After sitting through countless sermons and Bible studies, they feel they’ve heard it all.   “I’m tired of being lectured to. I’m just done with having some guy tell me what to do”…The Dones are fatigued with the Sunday routine of plop, pray and pay. They want to play. They want to participate. But they feel spurned at every turn.”

“They are leaving the church to preserve their faith.”

Reggie McNeal, in The Present Future, says something similar.  “A growing number of people are leaving the institutional church for a new reason.  They are not leaving because they have lost faith.  They are leaving the church to preserve their faith.  They contend that the church no longer contributes to their spiritual development.  In fact, they say, quite the opposite is true.  The number of “post-congregational” Christians is growing.  David Barrett, author of the World Christian Encyclopedia, estimates that there are 112 million “churchless Christians” world wide, about 5 percent of all adherents, but he projects that number will double in the next twenty years!”  p. 5.

 

What does the LK10 Community have to do with the Dones? 

 

These are some of the very people LK10 is called to serve.  We hear their stories over and over.  Here’s just one recent email from a lady in Canada:  

About 8 years ago, God just made it very clear to my husband and myself that we were to reach out to our community via home gatherings for there were so many people that would not consider going to a church building.  We went to our pastor and deacons to share with them the direction God seemed to be  leading us in and to see if we could work together in this venture.  They would have nothing of it so we quietly finished all our obligations at the church…..we were youth workers, Sunday School teachers and Superintendent, deacon……and slowly faded away for we did not want to cause any harm.  Funny thing….we thought this was a whole new idea God had given to us and we found out that instead of being the head, we were the tail for God was drawing people in this direction and had been for years!!!!

What can you do?

1.  Help us with our new website.  We are building a new website which will make it easier for the Dones to find us.  We need $5000 for that project.  Ask the Lord about making an end of the year contribution towards the website.  Here’s how to give…

 

  • Write a check.  Make it out to “LK10″ and send it to me at:  John White, 1723 S. Poplar Way, Denver, CO 80224.  (All contributions are tax deductible.)

 

 

2.  Send this post to someone you know who is a Done.  Let them know that there is a place where they can find support and equipping for a way of doing church that they have been longing for.

Screen Shot 2014-12-16 at 9.45.27 AM3. Send this post to a traditional church leader.  Josh Packard says that pastors and church leaders are “sitting on a ticking time bomb. The exodus of the Dones, the rise of the Nones, and the disappearance of the Millennials do not look good for a church afraid to listen.”     We are finding a growing number of these traditional church leaders who recognize the problem and are open to new ways of thinking.  LK10 is beginning to work with some of these leaders.

4.  Read the whole article.  To read “The Rise of the Dones” go here: http://holysoup.com/2014/11/12/the-rise-of-the-dones/   

5.  Tell us your thoughts about reaching out to the Dones.  Scroll down to “Leave a Reply”.

Warmly,

John

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