Several months ago, The Atlantic reported that forty million Americans have stopped attending church in the past 25 years, representing the largest concentrated change in church attendance in American history. In today’s episode, I talk with pastor’s kid turned pastor, Natalie Runion, about the trend of diminishing church attendance.

Natalie Runion is the author of Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away, worship leader, and the former Pastor of Women and Creative Pastor of Family Ministry at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO. Natalie has also established the Raised to Stay community “for anyone weary of God’s people but longing to keep their faith in God.”

In my time with Natalie, we talk about how her experience in the church has led to her current work and ministry, the beauty that is possible in the church, as well as the lies about beauty she’s seen at work in women’s ministry. Perhaps most importantly, Natalie reminds us that despite the brokenness we sometimes encounter in the church, God’s steadfast beauty remains.


Buy Melissa L. Johnson's book, Soul-Deep Beauty: Fighting for Our True Worth in a World Demanding Flawless, here. Learn more about Impossible Beauty and join the community here.