1,400 Adventists Who Left but Returned to Church Share Their Opinions

Survey across the South American Division shares insights on perceptions, experiences.

May 12, 2025 | Brazil | Felipe Lemos, South American Division, and Adventist Review

One thousand four hundred people who left the Seventh-day Adventist Church but eventually returned shared their thoughts and insights in a recent survey across the South American Division (SAD). In the recent SAD mid-year meetings of the Executive Committee in Brasilia, Brazil, secretary Edward Heidinger highlighted the novel approach of the initiative. “Until now, we had an idea of why people left,” he explained. “Now we are seeking to hear the reasons people returned.” Evaldino Ramos, SAD associate secretary, and Rodrigo Romaneli and Dieter Bruns, assistant secretaries, recently shared the survey findings to regional church leaders.

Survey Findings

In terms of the demographic profile of those who answered the survey, 100 percent were church members who left but returned, 16 percent had left the church more than once, and 67 percent had not been born into a Christian home, leaders reported.

Regarding the events that influenced a decision to leave the church, the survey categorized the responses into three factors. Answers showed that 24.46 percent of respondents claimed to have left the church as a result of personal and spiritual struggles (relationships, cherished sins, a spouse of another faith, etc.). Another 16.07 percent blamed conflicts and bad experiences in the church community. Just 8.34 percent said doctrinal challenges affected their decision to leave.

Heidinger explained that a very important point was to understand the reasons that motivated people to return to the church. He reported that 62.82 percent of those surveyed mentioned factors such as a desire to start over, a need to reconnect with God, a feeling of spiritual emptiness, and an answer to a personal prayer.

External factors, on the other hand, comprised 24.68 percent of the reasons to return, including memories about church music and hymns, specific sermons, and the insistence of people close to them.

Members who returned were also asked about what the local church did and what contributed the most to their decision. With more than one answer possible, survey results showed that 52.9 percent attributed their return to the warm reception church members gave them; 45.9 percent mentioned the welcome they received from church leaders; 38.7 percent spoke of moments of fellowship with other members, and 37.6 percent said it was the invitations to special programs.

What Can Leaders and Members Do

The survey provided a diagnosis and possible and necessary pathways for local congregations to follow. According to the opinion of the Adventists who left and returned to the church, the main aspects to be improved at local church level are a congregation’s efforts to find and connect with members who have been estranged; ongoing pastoral care to members; opportunities for involvement in the local church, and creation of spaces for socialization and integration.

SAD Pathfinder and Adventurer director Udolcy Zukowski that according to other Pathfinder leaders, mission involvement is often an “antidote” to leaving the church. Ozeias Costa, secretary of the West Central-Brazil Union Mission, commented that it is necessary to focus on young members. “We must work to create communities of support and spiritual revival,” he said.

General Conference associate secretary Gerson Santos congratulated the SAD’s initiative and the leaders’ efforts to help those who left return. “It is a task that needs to keep growing,” he said.

The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division Portuguese-language news site.