Why People LOVE GOD but HATE CHURCH? by Marnell W. Love Ph.D. Ed.D MDiv.

An insightful look into people’s perception of the church and worship.

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The author of this book, Minister Marnell Wicks Love, has drawn upon his vast experience of more than forty years in church administration, accounting, financial management, and ministry, along with thorough research to write this insightful book.

After recovering from a serious illness in 2007 he decided to launch Love-to-Help Accounting and Financial Management, providing help to struggling churches in Chicago and surrounding areas, non-profits, and helping small businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic. However, at the present time Minister Love primarily dedicates his ministry to those who cannot attend church because of health reasons, such as those in hospices and safe shelters for women and children escaping abusive households, he is dedicating a portion of book sales to the latter.

His career of caring for the financial, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing of people has given him a unique awareness of not only the modern-day role of the ministers in looking after their congregation, but also that of the churches. However, to ensure a complete picture when compiling this study he also carried out personal interviews, sent out questionnaires, and obtained written statements from church members and leaders.

The title of this enlightening book ‘Why People Love God and Hate Church’ was his unexpected finding. He discovered that although people were falling out of love with going to church, they still loved God, studied his words, and prayed, they just did not attend church to worship him.

So what can the church do to change this? Well, the many reasons for the change in attitudes towards the church and its ministry are revealed and explained.  There are many reasons, just a few examples being the attitudes of the ministers and their congregation to their community and newcomers, racial demographics, and the increased political role the church has. Candidly, Minister Love looks at the problems and gives examples of his, or other’s experiences with that problem, then he offers unprejudiced ideas for change. The problems he unveils and his propositions for change are thought-provoking and, indeed I suspect many of the readers who are members and leaders of the church and its congregations will have pause for thought, and may well re-examine their lives, attitudes, and behavior.

In conclusion: Bravely written, honest and frank, this extremely interesting book should be read by anyone, whether they go to church or not. Its insightful pages, and the author’s sermons, which he has included, will encourage any Christian to reassess themselves and their lifestyle.

About the Book:

This book is a summary of my dissertation research on why church attendance has declined over the last 40 years. My research included personal interviews, questionnaires using SurveyMonkey, and written statements from church members and leaders, those who stopped going to church, as well as people who never went to church and will not join a church. Various reasons were indicated as to why people did not go to church, but an unexpected finding from my research was that people still loved God, studied the Word of God, prayed often, and developed alternative methods of worship and spending time with God outside of traditional church services. The purpose of the 3-staged study was to determine if there are causes and effects that compel people to stop attending church services. In this book you will discover ways to help reverse the trend of empty seats in Christian churches on Sunday, improve perceptions about Christians among the general population, and save souls for Christ.

Available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Why-People-Love-Hate-Church/dp/1631296582/re...