Jeff Strong worked nearly 30 years in the consumer products industry as a senior executive at Procter & Gamble and global president and chief customer officer at Johnson & Johnson. He then taught in the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University and worked as an advisor to the Church before serving as a mission leader in the Arkansas Bentonville Mission.

Jeff has since spent several years doing research on why people are leaving the Church. He recently published the book Torn: Why People We Love Are Leaving the Church and What We Can Learn from Them. Jeff lives in Midway, Utah, and stays busy with a little lavender farm, some business consulting, and enjoying family.

Links

Torn: Why People We Love Are Leaving the Church and What We Can Learn from Them
What to Say When Loved Ones Leave the Church | An Interview with Jeff Strong and Joseph Grenny
The Data Behind Church Culture | An Interview with Jeff Strong
TornByJeffStrong.com
Instagram: @tornbyjeffstrong
Facebook
Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community
Transcript available with the video in the Zion Lab community

Highlights

00:02:42 – Competing Narratives in Church Growth and Disaffiliation
00:04:22 – Personal Connection to Disaffiliation
00:06:36 – The Journey to Understanding Disaffiliation
00:09:05 – The Role of Data and Personal Experience
00:10:54 – The Complexity of Disaffiliation
00:12:11 – The Challenge of Measuring Disaffiliation
00:15:09 – Research Methodology and Findings
00:17:29 – Understanding the Audience for “Torn”
00:19:30 – The Importance of Accurate Understanding
00:20:36 – Celebrating Strengths While Facing Challenges
00:22:03 – The Impact of Local vs. Global Growth
00:25:41 – The Role of Missionary Work [CORRECTION: Jeff’s rough estimate of 275,000 baptisms per year is the GLOBAL number. The U.S. number is a portion of that.]
00:27:06 – The Need for a Balanced Perspective
00:29:26 – The Misconception of Resurgence Among Young People
00:31:03 – The Data on Disaffiliation
00:35:02 – The Four Waves of Disaffiliation
00:40:53 – Wave One: Lifestyle and Depletion
00:43:17 – Personal Anecdote on Depletion and Church Experience
00:44:19 – Wave Two: Doubt and Disbelief
00:46:05 – Wave Three: Cultural and Social Factors
00:48:12 – Wave Four: Institutional Issues
00:50:00 – The Importance of Understanding and Addressing Disaffiliation

Key Insights

Competing Narratives: The church is experiencing growth in certain areas, such as baptisms and missionary work, but disaffiliation remains a significant concern, with many individuals quietly stepping away from their faith.
Personal Connection: Jeff shares his personal journey of grappling with his son’s disaffiliation, highlighting the emotional impact and the need for a deeper understanding of why individuals leave the church.
Research Findings: Jeff’s research indicates that approximately 40% of active members have disaffiliated since 2000, with various reasons categorized into “waves,” including lifestyle challenges and deeper faith crises.
Cultural Dynamics: The discussion emphasizes the importance of recognizing the cultural pressures within the church that may lead to feelings of depletion rather than spiritual fulfillment for some members.
Engagement vs. Disaffiliation: While many active members report strong engagement and purpose, a significant portion of young adults are less affiliated with organized religion, indicating a complex relationship with faith.

Leadership Applications

Fostering Understanding: Leaders can benefit from understanding the reasons behind disaffiliation to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for those struggling with their faith.
Encouraging Open Dialogue: By promoting open conversations about faith challenges, leaders can help bridge the gap between those who feel fulfilled in their faith and those who are struggling.
Addressing Cultural Pressures: Leaders should be aware of the cultural dynamics that may lead to feelings of depletion among members and work to create a more nurturing and understanding community that supports individual spiritual journeys.

The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.

Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Kirby Heyborne,