The Exvangelicals

Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church

By: Sarah McCammon

Narrated by: Sarah McCammon

Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Critic reviews

"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

relatable

Growing up in the evangelical culture this book really spoke to me. Thank you for writing about this.

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.

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.

must read

This is probably the best book I have listened to recently regarding this subject. At times she hit so close to home for me it made me sick to my stomach. She brought up a lot of things I had forgotten I had also been through. If you're questioning everything and everyone around you, you're not alone. This book will help you see that Christian nationalism isn't actual Christianity. Some of these teachings are hurtful in multiple ways. She did an excellent job describing how strange some of the things we had to go through, read, and were taught as kids during private or home schooled christian school. Highly recommend.

Relatable

I felt like she was writing my story. And I’m so sorry that that’s probably true for thousands of people. I wish we weren’t so hurt by evangelicalism.

Reassuring and revelatory

Beautifully written and narrated. This is a must read for anyone seeking answers about their Christian faith (former or current).

I Never Give 5 Stars

I never give 5 stars, but after blazing through Exvangelicals in 1-1/2 days, clearing my schedule so I could finish it, I have to. McCammon writes with a clear, entertaining voice and makes readers who have long been shunned by the community of their childhood feel seen and understood. I was often pumping my fist in the air — there wasn’t anything that didn’t resonate.

From growing up with the comforts of Focus on the Family’s Adventures in Odyssey to attending a Christian university and majoring in journalism, I felt like McCammon’s youth closely resembled my own. She writes with sharp honesty about her struggles with her body, sexuality, and relationships under the constant reproach of purity culture. She interviewed many of my social media heroes. Her gift for making people feel comfortable and willing to be vulnerable in her presence is obvious.

Nonfiction writers often shouldn’t read their own work, and I sometimes refuse to finish an audiobook even when I like the subject because I can’t stand the voice. Not the case with McCammon. Listening to her was such a joy.

Evangelicalism exposed

I’m glad someone is speaking out and exposing American Evangelicalism for the toxic cult that it is.

I feel so SEEN.

Sarah McCammon validated my feelings toward a childhood in an Evangelical home. Although I left Evangelicalism as a teen, I felt like an outsider amongst family and her the stories were poignant and relatable. The feelings I’ve held toward relatives that supported Trump while turning away support for BLM, women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights were reflected here as well. I feel seen.

The Exvangelicals told many of our stories.

In telling her own story of deconstruction and reevaluation of her childhood upbringing in 1980’s and 1990’s American Evangelicalism author and reporter Sarah McCammon tells the story of many people of her generation. Her slow realization about the harmful teachings of American Evangelical culture on young people is so well evaluated and articulated here that it may become one of the defining works on the subject. As an Exvangelical myself, I feel as if many people of similar background will pick up this book and feel that they have been seen and heard. It has my highest recommendation.