Introduction to Chase Gardner Ministries
So that all may know...
In the United States a record number of Christians are leaving their faith and checking the box of “none” on religious surveys. We began to see this trend in the early 2000’s, especially among teenagers and college students, but the trend has only continued to grow. It’s what many experts are calling the biggest shift in Christianity in over 200 years.
But here is what the data has begun to show. A Pew Research Center Study found that roughly eight in ten religious “nones” say they were raised with a religious affiliation, which means that nearly 80% of non-religious people today were at one time in a faith community before deciding to leave. Another study found that for every one convert to Christianity in America, there are four de-converts from Christianity. It’s not a lack of faith but the loss of faith that is causing this huge shift.
After 15 years of ministry serving as a worship leader, church planter, and teaching pastor the Lord laid a burden on my heart for those that have not yet given their life to Christ. In 2024, my family and I decided to step out in crazy faith and follow wherever the Lord leads. I travel to different churches, colleges, para-church organizations, and anywhere else that extends an invitation to make Jesus famous and equip Christians just like you to reach those that are far from God but close to you. We’ve seen God do beyond what we could have ever asked for or imagined, and we know the best is yet to come.
In the United States a record number of Christians are leaving their faith and checking the box of “none” on religious surveys. We began to see this trend in the early 2000’s, especially among teenagers and college students, but the trend has only continued to grow. It’s what many experts are calling the biggest shift in Christianity in over 200 years.
But here is what the data has begun to show. A Pew Research Center Study found that roughly eight in ten religious “nones” say they were raised with a religious affiliation, which means that nearly 80% of non-religious people today were at one time in a faith community before deciding to leave. Another study found that for every one convert to Christianity in America, there are four de-converts from Christianity. It’s not a lack of faith but the loss of faith that is causing this huge shift.
All of this means that if we, as church and parachurch ministry leaders, could somehow prepare the Christ followers that we lead for the doubts and questions concerning Christianity our culture is throwing at them at every turn, we could dramatically stem the tide of those walking away from their faith.
In my past church, we saw the need to address this issue head on. Over the course of a few years we did multiple sermon series that sought to answer the most frequent questions of those that were deconstructing and deconverting. The study and preparation wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. We saw God do incredible things. We witnessed people believe in the gospel for the first time ever, as we showed them the answers they had been looking for for years. We saw people renew their faith in Jesus, and we saw people invite their friends and relatives to listen to the messages so they could return to the faith they were considering leaving. After those first few series, I felt like we had tapped into a need that most ministries weren’t equipped to meet.
In my experience, people aren’t walking away from the faith because they’ve been fully convinced that Christianity is wrong. Instead, they are walking away because they can’t find the answers they are looking for on the internet or social media; at least not biblical answers from a Christian perspective. And even when they do find a few of these answers they don’t have an environment to have a patient and thoughtful conversation about Jesus and the doubts they’re experiencing with other people. Once we, as the church, take the time to serve them in this way, I’ve found they are ready and willing to embrace the gospel, often more fully than ever before. And these people, in turn, become a powerful witness to the people God has placed in their lives as well.
All of this, I’ve come to learn, is easier said than done. I’ve been a pastor at local churches for almost 20 years. I know from experience how incredibly hard it is to juggle all the responsibilities you have just serving your flock, let alone to create a new program of faith-crisis intervention that is needed.
Because of this experience, I stepped away from my position as Lead Teaching Pastor in order to serve as many churches, college ministries, and parachurch organizations as I could.
I started Chase Gardner Ministries with the goal of “Unleashing the power of God’s word and God’s people to reach those that are far from Christ”.
I’ve taken the best content we’ve developed and created sermons, workshops, and small group studies with the goal of helping you answer the questions of faith the people in our culture are asking. I’ll travel to your church or college ministry and speak on a hard topic that you don’t have the time to prepare for. I’ll lead a Saturday morning or weeknight workshop that teaches your people to share their story and God’s story, or a workshop that is specifically designed for those experiencing doubts about Jesus and the Bible.
In the near future we’ll have books and digital resources that help people share their faith and walk beside people in the midst of a faith crisis.
My prayer is that our ministry will make it impossible for people to not find the answers about Jesus they’re searching for.
Everything we offer right now is completely free of charge. Our ministry is funded in a large part by individual donors all over the country. If a church or parachurch organization would like to donate to us, we will gratefully accept, but we don’t want that to ever be a hurdle to partnering with and serving ministries just like yours.
We know that the need right now is great. But we also know that the gospel of Jesus is even greater.
If we can serve you and your ministry in any way, click the link below and let’s set up a time to talk about how we can partner together to unleash the power of God’s word and God’s people to reach those that are far from Christ.