Countdown to launch

Almost publication day for 'The Exvangelicals'

I’m incredibly excited and also, yes, nervous as this week begins because tomorrow (March 19) is publication day for The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living and Leaving the White Evangelical Church!

I’ve waited months to start sharing this book - which weaves together my personal and professional stories with those of many others who’ve walked similar paths out of evangelical churches and into a new and sometimes unfamiliar world.

It’s both thrilling, and a bit overwhelming, to watch a conversation unfolding around these experiences.

Here’s a look at some of what’s being written so far:

• Journalist Martin Pengelly and I had a lengthy, fascinating conversation last week which turned, in part, to my feelings today about religion and spirituality. Yesterday he published this lovely piece for The Guardian.

• I am so appreciative of this review by religion scholar William Schultz for the University of Chicago’s publication Sightings. Schultz called the book “timely and superb” and compared it to the watershed book Jesus and John Wayne by historian Kristin Kobes DuMez, whose work I admire and have been inspired by.

• The New Republic had this somewhat critical, but thoughtful review by writer Sarah Jones, who has her own painful history with evangelicalism. I appreciated her vulnerability and introspective analysis. I don’t fundamentally dispute her argument that we don’t yet know the political implications of exvangelicalism. As she notes, I describe it as a “loosely organized” and mostly online movement. It is, indeed, still in its infancy. My book describes the movement as it is thus far - a burgeoning community that is forming and developing a language around its shared experiences.

• More podcasts! I’m sure I’ve missed at least one or two, but I’ve had so much fun recording conversations with podcasters from across the country (and beyond) the past few weeks for audiences with a range of political and religious interests and perspectives. Among them in recent days was this chat with Kitchen Table Cult about evangelical epistemology and the relationship fallout that can result from religious change.

• My NPR colleague Ayesha Rascoe and I discussed the book on Weekend Edition Sunday. I loved Ayesha’s first question for me: what were my favorite Bible stories growing up?! I could talk about that all day! Took me back to those flannelgraph days (if you know you know; if you don’t, it’s all explained in the book!).

• I’ve also made a few TV rounds in recent days, including a couple of cable hits to discuss the week’s political news.

One of the really fun things about TV hits? They usually do your hair and makeup! (This is after a recent one; I don’t tend to wear ratty old bathrobes on television…)

There will be many more interviews in the coming days - among them, a longer conversation with Tonya Mosley on Fresh Air from WHYY - airing today (Monday)!

My book tour starts Tuesday evening at Politics & Prose in D.C. - if you’re in the area, I’d love to see you there!

This also means that today is the last day for pre-orders (in hardcover, e-book or audiobook, narrated by me!). With pre-orders, you get a signed bookplate, and you get it ASAP!

On a related note, I wanted to flag this analysis published Friday by the Pew Research Center of some recent data on evangelicals and dormer President Trump. Among the conclusions from Pew’s Gregory Smith:

• White evangelicals have the “most positive” view of Trump of any religious group Pew surveyed

• Regular churchgoers are not less enthusiastic about Trump than their less-observant brethren (as some observers have speculated in the past)

• White evangelicals don’t think Trump is particularly religious

As I’ve noted in my recent reporting, white evangelicals continue to stand by Trump in large numbers and have been instrumental in his success in the 2024 primaries. And it’s not because they see him as one of them - it’s because he has delivered on their goals.