The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church by Sarah McCammon is a fascinating look at the evangelical Christian community. Part memoir and part investigative reporting, the author takes us on a personal journey to better understand this far-right community and its influence on current politics.

Until reading this book, I never had the opportunity to take a deep dive into understanding the evangelical church. The author explores many topics such as relationships, education, discipline, modesty and purity, and the evangelical perspective on each of these topics. I particularly connected with the chapter on their LGBTQ+ beliefs and the author’s relationship with her gay grandfather.

While I did appreciate the investigative nature of the book and the interviews with other “exvangelicals,” I looked forward to reading about the author’s personal story and her ever-evolving relationship with her parents and the church.

Ultimately, The Exvangelicals is a well-researched and well-written book, particularly for those of us who wish to learn more about the cultural and political impact of the evangelical Christian community.

I feel like I've gotten to know Sarah McCammon through various NPR podcast appearances, and I knew our backgrounds were similar. When the opportunity came to read her new book, The Exvangelicals, I couldn't get it fast enough. McCammon writes a journalistic memoir about the impact of white American evangelicalism on various social issues. I read 'Jesus and John Wayne' (du Mez) about a month prior to reading this, and the two interact nicely with each other. J&JW provides historical context for how we got here, and The Exangelicals responds with a personal account of how various theologies played out. Addressing topics such as education, parenting, purity culture, abortion, and the LGBT community, McCammon provides an honest, unflinching account of the impact of harmful theologies in these areas. The Exvangelicals is incredibly relatable and a must-read if you grew up in a conservative, evangelical home in the 90s. Note: the audio is excellent as well-McCammon reads the book herself.

Being an Ex-Catholic this book was very interesting to me to see if Evangelicals had some of the same issues I had when I left my church. This is a book everyone can read. Whenever people follow something blindly it's when things can go wrong. This book is important in that it gives example of what happens when people become so entrenched in a view that it can sometimes hurt others. I don't think whatever your religious leader you believe in ever wanted anybody to feel bad or be punished. That is man made from people's interpertation of it to suit their needs and yes sometimes their bigotry and hatred of others. This book uses examples from people who left the church and how it hurt them. The author tries not take sides and I can't imagine a reader after finishing this book to say I got nothing from this book. It's about understanding how you can unintentionally hurt others. We all have feelings and hopefully our goal is not hurt anybody but sometimes there are people out there than can make money off hatred. That should not be the goal of any church, Religion is supposed to be about love an understanding. To understad and be a better human being please read this book. Thank you to #netgalley and St. Martin's press for the arc.

A fascinating eyes opening look at the world of evangelicals. I have no knowledge of what being an evangelical entails Sarah McCammon shares with us her personal experiences and why she is now an ex member.At the same times she shares with us an overview of the world of evangelicals.so well written so interesting so informative.#netgalley #st.martins

I’ve read three journalist-who-grew-up-Evangelical nonfiction titles in the past six months, but this is the first by a woman (yay, finally!). I enjoyed it and think the subtitle “Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church” fits well, because this book considers all of those things in relatively few pages and therefore doesn’t have space to dig super deeply into any (and this may just stand out to me more because I do consume a lot of content about White Evangelical culture, political influence, people questioning or leaving the culture, etc.). I appreciate how McCammon shared intimate details about her own experiences and loved the in-their-own-words insights she included from interviews with others who‘ve left/are leaving their Evangelical cultures. A lot to relate to here for those of us who've lived a version of this.

This book examines what it is like to grow up steeped in the white Evangelical church, the process of beginning to doubt that worldview, and the experience of leaving it. An Exvangelical is a person who was raised Evangelical Christian who has chosen to leave (either that brand of Christianity or sometimes Christianity in general). McCammon alternates between chapters dealing her personal experience and chapters detailing the experiences of prominent, vocal exvangelicals. She describes the insulating world view of her childhood and young adulthood, enforced daily through church, Christian textbooks, radio, every detail of her family's life, and also the places where the tiny cracks begin to appear. I'm not sure who the intended audience is for this book--sometimes it feels like it's seeking out other exvangelical potentials to provide community (it's hard breaking away from your whole life!) and sometimes it feels like it's written to those on the outside who have never encountered an Abeka science text before.

Thanks to the publisher, the author, and Netgalley for my free earc. My opinions are all my own.

This is a must read for anyone who has left or is thinking about leaving the evangelical church. This is a very well researched book by a journalist for NPR who had left the evangelical church after being raised in it. The book had so many interviews with people who have left the church...religious trauma, purity culture, the 2016 election/Trump, treatment of LGBTQ+ people, etc. It definitely made me feel like I am not alone.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced digital copy of the book.

If there is one book this year that anyone who has not grown up in an Evangelical household should read before November's election, it is this one. I say this as the wife of an Exvangelical who has spent the last twenty plus years married into an Evangelical family and I. Had. No. Idea. I thought I understood the culture. I thought I understood my husband's upbringing and have been a strong support system for his deconversion. But I had no idea. I had no idea the relentlessness of pushing a religious-political idealogy that was meant to be spread on a national, if not global scale. I had no idea how pervasive and abusive the purity culture was towards both boys and girls, nor how widespread the lack of knowledge towards sex was, although in hindsight, explains a lot. I only recently learned that my children's sweet, sweet grreat-grandparents were segregationists and reading how entwined the teachings of racism and white supremacy were within these churches up until very recently now makes a lot more sense, although I still vehemently disagree with the prevailing attitudes.

I loved how McCammon breaks down the chapters into easy to digest information that fully and accurately describes the reality of growing up in the Evangelical movement. Her personal anecdotes are well balanced with clearly well documented research and interviews. She has given ample opportunities as well for the other side to refute claims as well. There is so much to unpack that I will be talking about what I read with my husband and both sides of our family (Christian and secular) for years to come. My only complaint is that because there is a lot of current event references, that the book will become dated too soon before it can reach the audience breadth that it deserves.

Here is the thing. No one knows. No one outside of those who grew up with the teachings of Dobson, Falwell, and the Pearls understand. That is why reading this book is necessary. For Exvangelicals themselves, the stories, the abuse, the alienation and inability to ever just be yourself will be nothing new. But for those of us that grew up in secular households, or even in other religious sects need to understand what the bigger picture is with the movement and how this has been planned for literally generations.

This book is not for the Exvangelicals. It is for the rest of us. Those of us who love, and hold, and cry and scream with the Exvangelicals after a family event, those of us who do not understand how churches can endorse someone like Trump and still cast out someone from the community for identifying as LGBTQ+, or those of us are confused as to how we got to where we are so quickly. This book is for us and we need to take it seriously before it is too late.

Thank you to Netgalley, Sarah McCammon, and St. Martin's Press for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book because a Bible College professor of mine had recommended Rachel Held Evan’s book Searching for Sunday Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church and this book seemed similar. I could relate to many of the stories McCammon told about growing up in an evangelical church in the 80s & 90s. The discussion of purity culture was very interesting for me & reminded me of how hard it is for people growing up in that to figure out sex in marriage given we are told it’s not ok and then the act of marriage makes it ok. It made me sad to read stories of intolerance towards others and it made me so grateful to have grown up in a Christian home with parents who modelled loving others despite differences. I am glad that exvangelicals still love Jesus even though they may not attend church any more and have found ways to love life outside the bubble.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this book.

I was very interested to read this book about those people who have left evangelical Christianity. I did not grown up in an evangelical Christian family, I did go to a Southern Baptist Church and there are many parallels to what is covered in this book. McCammon, a journalist, describes her own evangelical upbringing and it is very much a fear-based version of Christianity that I recognized. I appreciate the compilation of stories shared here, and examples of specific childhood religious experiences. Some of her memories brought forth a sense of déjà vu, yet I did not really connect with the rest of the book. I thought it leaned a little unnecessarily political at parts. I would say that if leaving the evangelical Christian community is something you connect with or are interested in knowing more about, then definitely pick this one up. If those subjects aren't in your wheelhouse, you may find this one a little dense. I'd also like to note that I think I would have actually preferred this book as an audio book versus a digital galley and would recommend trying that format if you like audio books.

I finished this book yesterday [3.17.2024] and 24hrs later, my head is still spinning, my heart is hurting and I am in full-trauma recovery-mode. I am afraid that I will be unable to write a full review for this book simply because every time I try, I burst into tears and the whole trauma-cycle starts again.

I knew going in that this book would bring up some unpleasant memories for me in regards to my time in the evangelical church [from age 10, when we moved in with my grandparents until I finally left for good in 2014], but had no idea just how deep this book would touch me or how intense my memories were of that time; I am pretty sure that anyone who has had an experience similar to mine will totally and completely understand and would react in a similar way.

I DO think that everyone should be reading this book, especially if you did not grow up in evangelicalism and have friends that did, as it will help you understand them a little more, and if you currently have friends who are the whole evangelical-political spectrum, because it will help with all of that as well. It is a well-written, eye-opening [even for this exvangelical], and at times, very painful to read [I imagine it will be so for non-evangelicals as well], and deeply profound and personal and I am so grateful to the author for being both brave enough and transparent in writing this book. Talking about life within the evangelical church and the damage it did, is extremely difficult for most of us [and I cannot imagine trying to sort my emotional thoughts and distress into a book], and I admire her ability to do just that.

I do wish I could garner my emotions to write more here - I often find when people can do that, it helps others as they are navigating an unfamiliar landscape, but at this moment, I just cannot. Maybe a day will come where things will be less traumatic for me and I will be able to add to this review; we shall see. Until then, know that I too am among the survivors of trauma at the hands of the evangelical church and that I see you, the other survivors, and join you in the struggle for healing and moving forward. May we all find peace and healing.

The audiobook for this was excellent. The author narrates and it was particularly helpful to have her own voice telling her own story and I highly recommend listening to this book [with the book open and a highlighter and notebook at the ready] to get the full experience.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah McCammon, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for providing both the eBook and audiobook ARC's in exchange for an honest review.

I've been a fan of Sarah McCammon's work for a while, since my days doing religion and politics polling, so I knew I'd want to read The Exvangelicals. She weaves together her own story, the stories of other exvangelicals (a diverse group of exvangelicals), data, and political and social analysis, and covers a lot of ground in terms of issue areas that evangelicalism has touched in the last few decades. I know I'm pretty close to the target audience for this, but I think it's an important read for people who are interested in politics, or who lived through the 2016 election and can't quite understand how the evangelical right claims to have moral high ground and still embraced (and embraces) Trump.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC of The Exvangelicals in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this title.

This was a weird case where it feels like I've read a lot of the primary sources/recommended further reading from the back material of the book. I think this does a great job of giving an overview of what this movement is, the reasons it's seen a rise in the last few years, where it's at now, and a little bit of a view to where it's going/what needs to happen next. As someone familiar, I'd like a little more of the latter, but this is very much a primer if you're curious and a good starting point before diving into further info elsewhere.

This was incredible to read. As a person with similar experiences, I felt so seen and heard. And I found it incredibly helpful to see the biggest reasons for deconstruction broken down topic by topic. This is a great read if you either want to commiserate with others that have deconstructed, or if you need a little help putting your journey into words for the people around you that want to convince you that you’re crazy.

Wow this book covered so much and all of it important topics within religion and the misinformation and control around the teachings. I loved the balance of having multiple interviews alongside the author’s personal experience. The research was well done and you could tell the author put time into getting this correct.

I didn’t grow up in a religious household but I was raised by religious parents and can see a lot of this in my household and more within the last few years. This book is going to do well to connect those who have left religion or aren’t religious enough for their family.

Very informative read for anyone!

Such a strong young woman. Breaking away from a church that you have been raised in, that your family and friends , many who are still part of, takes alot of strength. I was raised Catholic, and in many ways I can relate to some of what she is detailing in this book. But this is a whole other kettle of fish. Your whole life is based on church teachings, I say brainwashing, where you are given little choice but to fall in line.

Its very frightening to me, the power of these churches. This book is so informative and goes a long way in explaining the evangelicals worship of Trump and his agenda and theirs. If you are curious this is a good book to read because the author was part of this movement and had the courage to leave.

The narration was clear and concise. Well done.

While I thought this was interesting, well researched, and well written, I have no personal experiences in or leaving evangelicalism. Readers who are looking for information and empathy on that topic will likely find a lot in this book to take in. Readers, like me, who are curious about the topic from a more "cultural viewpoint" area will also find lots here.

Anyone who is exvangelical themselves or is close to someone who is probably won't be learning much from this book, to be honest. Still, there are some wonderfully poignant personal stories that make it well worth reading. I appreciate how detailed the research is in this book, and I like the included reading/listening list for further information. This book is best for people who know very little about American evangelicalism, and want a broad overview of the cultural and political aspects and don't want to get into the weeds with theology.

I found this to be a thought provoking book. As a member of a traditional evangelical church, ( not of the born again or Pentecostal variety) I was certainly interested in this topic.
There were many things of which I relate described by the author and some of the exvangelicals she interviewed. The major thing that struck me was the movement of the evangelical church towards a marked political focus. This was not a thing that I experienced in my younger years in the church. Our church held fast to a separation of church and state, which I feel is a very good thing both for government and the church. I have experienced a significant change within the church in the more recent era beginning with The Tea Party movement years and further exacerbated by the Trump era. This has been hard for me, and I appreciated much of what Sarah and some of the others who were quoted shared about their struggles. I have as well much concern about this move to insert religion into politics.
As a Christian, I did have some issues with some of the more extreme reactions to evangelicalism. I can certainly see how people have been terribly hurt by the church and family, but I think sometimes people chose a radical reversal as a response. This saddens me see as it may be embracing a response as a reaction rather than a belief. The world is sometimes a hurtful place and that includes religion and churches. I can't lump God into this category even as I question religion's theology. Some of that may come from age or acceptance of the flaws of all religions, and some from the benefits and blessings I have received through faith and a community that supports me in general. I found that there were others who as well chose to retain faith even in the removal of their presence from evangelicalism. I think this is very individual and a part of finding our way within our accepted boundaries. For me, I need God even if I sometimes question the church. I felt Sarah did a good job of sharing from all walks without forcing the reader to accept any one truth for themself.
This was clearly a personal story but as well a piece of journalism relating to the topic through the inclusion of many voices. As such, it was a good book to read about the topic and will certainly provide a look into the increasing challenges facing the evangelical church. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

What I liked:

- this was super interesting. I haven’t read anything by an ex-evangelical before, and I really enjoyed getting a peek into this author’s life.
- I liked how the author tied in the implications of evangelicalism and Uber conservative politics. Her stories from her time writing on the campaign trail were impactful.
- as someone who grew up in what I’d call “purity culture lite”, I liked to hear how purity culture has had lasting implications on people’s lives, well into adulthood.

What didn’t work for me:
- my mind wandered a bit during parts of this that I found a little dry, but overall I really enjoyed this memoir.