South Florida—Karen grew up in church. When she went off to college she became active in student ministry. After graduating, she found and joined a comfortable church.

Seven months later she dropped out. For Karen, church was no longer an important part of her life. Living in south Florida, she decided there were plenty of other things to do on a Sunday.

“I really don’t feel that guilty,” she said. “I still pray and read my Bible.”

Karen is just one of the 70 percent of young adults between the ages of 18-22 who stop going to church.

In the new book, “Essential Church?: Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts,” LifeWay President Thom Rainer and his son, Sam, take a close look at people like Karen and examine why they are leaving churches in droves. They also offer solutions for churches who want to reach out to this growing number of dropouts.

The Rainers found in their research that plenty of people are members of churches who either rarely attend or do not go at all. Specifically, there are 16 million who are members of churches affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, but on any given Sunday, only 6 to 7 million of them show up. There are 5 to 6 million members who never show up, or their attendance pattern is CEO (Christmas, Easter and Other special events), the Rainers contend in the new book.

“We saw this research and this book as a tool to remedy that problem,” Thom Rainer said in a recent interview.

The book points to many reasons for individuals dropping out of church. Some of them simply want a break. Others move off to college and stop attending. Many start working on Sundays and can no longer attend church.

The problem is that once they stop going, they rarely find a reason to return.

The Rainers said they believe all of these reasons come down to one thing—most of these people no longer see church as an essential part of their lives. It is that discovery that fueled the Rainers’ desire to write their book on reclaiming a generation of church dropouts.

“We believe that it is possible, but not necessarily easy, for every church to become essential to the lives of their members,” Thom Rainer noted.

Churches first have to be willing to try new approaches if they are going to appeal to those who have lost interest—especially younger generations. Pastors and church leaders need to give people a reason to keep coming back, the authors write.

Younger generations hunger for more in-depth Biblical training, not “anemic teaching and preaching,” Thom added.

“I would hear about passages from three or four books of the Bible in a single sermon, but I couldn’t figure out how they tied together,” said one church dropout, who is identified in the book as “Marcus.”

“And then I would go to a small group, and we would talk about some great issues, but no one explained how it tied in to the totality of Scripture. After four years at that church, I had not received any significant doctrinal teachings.”

Another solution involves giving younger members more responsibility and opportunities for leadership. This gives them more reason to commit and engage in the church, the Rainers write.

Regardless of what the problem is, the authors contend, the problem will not be fixed overnight. It will take commitment and a willingness to make changes.

“In most churches, meaningful change is accomplished by ‘eating the elephant’ one bite at a time,” Thom Rainer said.