How do we respond to the increasing number of Christians deconstructing their faith? When Christians come to us with questions, we may not know what to say. Understanding how to walk with them through uncertainty requires listening, correction, and a steady trust in God’s truth.
How do we respond to the increasing number of Christians deconstructing their faith? When Christians come to us with questions, we may not know what to say. Understanding how to walk with them through uncertainty requires listening, correction, and a steady trust in God’s truth.
This course acts as a compassionate guide for pastors to help address the concerns of our congregants who are struggling with what they believe. Learn how to have productive conversations that balance the truth of Scripture with gentleness and respect.
Many thoughtful Christians have questions and doubt their faith. When they don’t get answers or don’t like the answers they get, they often leave the church or give up on their faith entirely.
This course explains the reasons many Christians deconstruct their faith and why the arguments that deconstructing Christians believe are compelling to them.
It’s not enough to have the right answer; the way we interact with those questioning their faith requires care and shepherding.
Reflect on how you care for your congregation and make corrections where necessary. Gain resources to help you minister to the specific needs of deconstructing Christians.
with Rebecca McLaughlin
to lead team conversations or reflect on your own.
to apply the principles in your church.
to help you keep learning between sessions.
How can we minister to deconstructing Christians? What would it look like to create a space where we welcome questions, and the Bible has the answers? In this session, Rebecca will show how caring for those who struggle with their faith requires time, care, good listening, and thoughtful concern for our congregation.
Although those questioning their faith may think the church doesn’t care about the injustices they see, justice is a biblical concept. In this session, Rebecca will explain the biblical origins of justice and the call of Christians to practice care and compassion for the marginalized.
In this session, Rebecca will explore many of the reasons why deconstructing Christians struggle with the church’s traditional stance on same-sex sexual relationships. She will show how these arguments fall apart and offer an effective antidote for deconstruction.
Rebecca will teach us how to respect a person’s feelings without agreeing with their beliefs, and she will point us to what the Bible says about God’s purpose for males and females.
In this session, Rebecca will use John 11 and stories from her own life to illustrate what it looks like to be present with those who are suffering. When we don’t have the answers, we can point deconstructing Christians to our hope in Jesus Christ.
In this final session, Rebecca will turn her focus first to pastors and church leaders—warning them not to neglect their own spiritual care. Then she’ll offer some practical steps for having fruitful conversations with deconstructing Christians.
Rebecca is a speaker, author, and apologist who doesn’t shy away from difficult questions. She has written multiple books, including Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion, The Secular Creed, and Jesus Through the Eyes of Women. She received a PhD in English literature from Cambridge and a theology degree from Oak Hill College in London.
This course is included in your RightNow Pastors+ subscription. Not a subscriber? Click here for more information.
You can use this course on your own or with other leaders at your church. The written curriculum is geared toward group discussion, but it can also be used individually.
In this six-session course, author, speaker, and apologist Rebecca McLaughlin provides pastors with wisdom and instruction to care for Christians who have questions and doubts about their faith.
Yes, this course is included in a RightNow Pastors+ subscription. Click here for more information.
Plan for an hour to an hour and a half to go through each session, especially if you’re going through the content in a group. The videos in this course range from 12 to 16 minutes, and the discussion questions and activities will likely take up the rest of your meeting time.
This course is six sessions long. Feel free to cover the sessions in increments that make the most sense for you and your leadership team. For some, it might work best to go through one session a week; for others, it might be better to cover one session a month. We do not recommend doubling up on sessions.
In its 40-year history, Barna Group has conducted more than two million interviews over the course of thousands of studies and has become a go-to source for insights about faith and culture, leadership and vocation, and generations. Barna Group has worked with thousands of businesses, nonprofit organizations and churches across the U.S. and around the world.
Barna is an independent, privately held, nonpartisan organization based in Dallas, Texas, with offices in Nashville, Tennessee; Ventura, California; and Atlanta, Georgia.
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