The Exvangelicals

Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church

De: Sarah McCammon

Narrado por: Sarah McCammon

Long-listed, Audible.com Best of the Year, 2024

This program is read by the author.

"An intimate window into the world of American evangelicalism. Fellow exvangelicals will find McCammon’s story both startlingly familiar and immensely clarifying, while those looking in from the outside can find no better introduction to the subculture that has shaped the hopes and fears of millions of Americans."—Kristin Kobes Du Mez, New York Times bestselling author of Jesus and John Wayne

The first definitive book that names the massive social movement of people leaving the church: the exvangelicals.

Growing up in a deeply evangelical family in the Midwest in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Sarah McCammon was strictly taught to fear God, obey him, and not question the faith. Persistently worried that her gay grandfather would go to hell unless she could reach him, or that her Muslim friend would need to be converted, and that she, too, would go to hell if she did not believe fervently enough, McCammon was a rule-follower and—most of the time—a true believer. But through it all, she was increasingly plagued by fears and deep questions as the belief system she'd been carefully taught clashed with her expanding understanding of the outside world.

After spending her early adult life striving to make sense of an unraveling worldview, by her 30s, she found herself face-to-face with it once again as she covered the Trump campaign for NPR, where she witnessed first-hand the power and influence that evangelical Christian beliefs held on the political right.

Sarah also came to discover that she was not alone: She is among a rising generation of the children of evangelicalism who are growing up and fleeing the fold, who are thinking for themselves and deconstructing what feel like the “alternative facts” of their childhood.

Rigorously reported and deeply personal, The Exvangelicals is the story of the people who make up this generational tipping point, including Sarah herself. Part memoir, part investigative journalism, this is the first definitive book that names and describes the post-evangelical movement: identifying its origins, telling the stories of its members, and examining its vast cultural, social, and political impact.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2024 Sarah McCammon (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"With sensitivity and candor, Sarah McCammon offers readers an intimate window into the world of American evangelicalism. Fellow exvangelicals will find McCammon’s story both startlingly familiar and immensely clarifying, while those looking in from the outside can find no better introduction to the subculture that has shaped the hopes and fears of millions of Americans. Filled with humor, insight, and hard-earned wisdom, The Exvangelicals is a gift to all who find themselves on a spiritual journey."—Kristin Kobes Du Mez, New York Times bestselling author of Jesus and John Wayne

"No one else could have written The Exvangelicals but Sarah McCammon. The way she seamlessly weaves together her own journalistic expertise and deeply personal experience of leaving evangelicalism to explore this moment in American history is stunning. Immediately after reading this book, I found myself already excited for her next one."—Nadia Bolz-Weber, New York Times bestselling author of Accidental Saints

"The Exvangelicals is a sensitive, informed exploration of what is often most personal and perplexing to us—our faith. McCammon takes the scramble of thoughts, feelings, and fears that characterize this era of religious re-examination and makes them legible. This isn't just a book about what evangelicalism has become, it is also about the ways people are trying to find what comes next."—Jemar Tisby, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of The Color of Compromise and How to Fight Racism

Interesting and helpful

I enjoyed hearing more about this “movement” and how different people came to feel about their experiences. It helped me to understand and appreciate the way I realized I was feeling too but had not been able to express.

Excellent

I relate to all of this, well done book. I learned good things from authors well researched information as well as her own and others personal stories.

The story of an amazing journey!

This is a beautiful book interwoven with stats and data, people and institutions, and personal representations that are incredibly vulnerable. We are so fortunate that Sarah shares so deeply and also helps us to understand the evangelical and ex community.

must read

Thoroughly researched, thought provoking, and well performed.
The author speaks from personal experience as the child of an evangelical family, and addresses the serious social consequences of a country whose religion has gotten mixed up with its politics.
A measured, articulate and gripping account.

Honest, Helpful, Hopeful

As a female Boomer who first encountered fundamental pentecostalism in my teens (KC & christian school), I never stopped openly (respectfully) debating my faith. The Vietnam War, Civil Rights, and women's roles. This book validates with much-needed introspection and open perspective. This is not a new (lonely) experience for many of us, just more exposed than in the past. The term "faith shifting" was new to me and appropriate to describe decades of reflections and growth.

This is the best book from a first-hand narrative (my opinion) with history and valuable insights. I just wish I could have met her fascinating grandfather and discussed philosophy.

I know many, many who have struggled from religious toxic patterns and would benefit by reading to the end. Almost cried tbrough Chapter 13. Take breaks, if you must, to process. The last chapter was as valuable as the first.

Freedom of choice! Praise God!

As a ‘lapsed Catholic’ I found valuable information and insights into the confusion of my religious education, and fellowship with much of what the author offers. In an ever evolving world, I believe in a higher power by whatever name one chooses to use. The liberation to learn, think and exercise an educated choice in what one believes and how one worships is a true gift to the self.

I can’t recommend this book enough!

“The Exvangelics: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church” by Sarah McCammon paints an intimate portrait of American evangelicalism and the growing movement of people leaving the church. While I wasn’t raised evangelical, I grew up as a pastor’s son in a small town where I was expected to think a certain way, act a certain way, and—above all else—I was expected to be godfearing without question. When I finally came out as a gay man in my early 20s, I believed wholeheartedly that I was going to hell and that God hated me because of my queer identity. I’ve since reconciled with these thoughts, and with religion more generally, and I consider myself lucky for having a family that loves me for who I am—even if it has been a bit of a journey for us to get here. So many of the experiences Sarah describes in her book, both in her personal capacity growing up evangelical and in her reporting, felt achingly familiar and deeply relatable. I can’t recommend this book enough. I’m so glad it exists in the world, and I truly don’t think anyone else could have written it besides Sarah.

Multiple Reasons

I liked that she covered multiple reasons people leave the church. It brought to light some things i have grown up with while being a black kid at a predominantly white church. Those were not easy waters to navigate.

Coming together through shared experience

Sarah McCammon draws on her personal experiences that she has come to realize are very common with many who grew up in church focused environments.

Accepting that’s there is good and bad in all of us and that there is good and bad in most circumstances has lead to a story where many of us can find ourselves.

Black and white are relative and shades of grey are where we live our lives. We need to experience the world for ourselves and develop a broader viewpoint and this book fully embraces that ideology.

spot on accurate and (eventually) optimistic

Having come up in Evangelical/ Fundamentalist circles, I found the narrator felt like a familiar friend who had weathered the same strange journey of leaving that church community and yet keeping the faith - or maybe finding a deeper experience of our faith. (Thanks be to God for the Episcopal Church and its doors being flung open wide enough for all of us...) It's ultimately inspiring to hear so many leaders who are bravely using their voice to speak truth to power and keep an intimate faith.