FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Vicky Thompson
publicity@journeywithspirit.com

ISSUE FACT SHEET

People Leaving Church to Create Personal Spiritual Paths

Church attendance figures increased 25 percent after Sept. 11, but fell to normal levels soon after. Church members of all religious faiths have not committed to attending church on weekly basis, and some don’t come at all. Even Catholics are leaving the church as sexual abuse cases continue to be filed in parishes nationwide. Is organized religion no longer relevant in today’s world?

What Research Says

• More than one in three people have left or switched the religious denomination of their upbringing. And nearly half of all people raised as Presbyterians, Methodists, and Episcopalians have left their denominations (American Demographics, April 1999).

• Barna Research Group has found that one out of three adults has turned away from church teachings because of a negative experience with religion.

• More than 65 million adults in American do not attend church regularly, putting them in the category of the unchurched, which Barna Research Group defines as an adult who has not attended a Christian church service within the past six months, not including a holiday service (such as Easter or Christmas) or a special event at a church (such as a wedding or funeral).

• The unchurched market represents 35 percent of the American population, which is greater than the number of persons identified as members of the Catholic church (61.5 million in the U.S.). Even among Catholics, 27 percent (16.6 million) are unchurched (Barna Research Group).

• About 40 percent of Americans regularly attend church (Barna Research Group).

• Church attendance increased by 25 percent immediately after Sept. 11, but dropped again to normal seasonal attendance figures by November 2001 (Barna Research Group).

Source: Barna Research Group, a Ventura, Calif.-based Christian marketing research company.

What Vicky Thompson Says

More Americans are creating their own spiritual paths, blurring the line between religion and spirituality. Many former church-going Christians are combining the Christian tradition of prayer with the Eastern tradition of meditation to promote spiritual healing and create a greater self-awareness of the connection between the body, mind, and spirit with God. The Jesus Path takes Jesus, the central figure of Christianity, and portrays him as a universal spiritual healer who uses prayer, meditation, and other spiritual tools to achieve spiritual growth. Many people who leave the church haven’t left Jesus or his spiritual teachings behind. These prescriptions for living become a part of a new path for the individual seeker of truth.

What The Jesus Path Says

The Jesus Path integrates ageless spiritual principles into a personal practice for everyday divine living that inspires inner and outer peace. As you begin your journey to freedom from the chains of limited interactions and perceptions, divine help with this energetic release process will come in many ways. Meditation, chakra clearing visualization and other tools that use the power of your intention offer the divine an opening to connect with you to provide guidance and assistance. When you do the work of clearing out old energy, you are never alone in the process. You are consciously realigning your will with the will of God and allowing the essence of your higher spirit-self to be expressed through your human body. This was the powerful key Jesus used to become the Messiah. (The Jesus Path: 7 Steps to a Cosmic Awakening, Vicky Thompson, Red Wheel/Weiser, March 2003, $16.95, page 62.)

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THE JESUS PATH

7 Steps to a Cosmic Awakening

Reconnecting with Your Inner Spirit During Changing Times

by Vicky Thompson

Published by Red Wheel/Weiser, Paperback $16.95, 282 pages

Publication Date: March 2003

ISBN: 1-59003-053-2

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