An interesting phrase - The Church. It conjures up both a physical location and a state of mind.

I believe people are leaving The Church or organized religion because it no longer provides a clear path to spirituality. God, after all, is not an easy concept to wrangle. Can't pick up the phone and make a direct plea. Always have to go through an intermediary to get answers to our questions. And frequently they are answers to someone else's questions - not ours. It requires constant faith and when we lapse, it's that lapse that's pointed to as the cause for our failure to connect with God, and off we go. Religion has become outward-facing - a place where agendas are carried out not where inner peace is attained. And so we move on hoping to find something more on point. Nothing new really.