The Exvangelicals is out in the world, and the very best part of this week has been hearing from readers who tell me that in one way or another, this is their story, too.
Or that they’ve wrestled with understanding the underlying ideology behind evangelicalism – and this book is helping them.
Through my social media DMs, and in person at my first two book tour events in Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Virginia, I’m meeting so many people who tell me that they, too, are working through religious change and everything that goes with that.
“It’s good to know I’m not alone,” I’ve heard.
That’s a big reason why I wrote this book. In the tumultuous years since 2016, when the evangelical movement that millions of Americans called home found itself at a pivotal moment, I’ve seen a groundswell of people publicly or privately examining what it means to be evangelical – and whether that label still works for them.
As I note in The Exvangelicals, some harbored questions and struggled with feelings of cognitive dissonance long before 2016; for others, the rise of the Trump movement, along with the BLM protests of 2020 and the COVID pandemic, exposed rifts in their churches and sometimes, their families. Meanwhile, the internet has provided new ways for people to find one another and connect around that sometimes-lonely experience many of us now call “deconstruction.”
The Exvangelicals is a collection of those stories, including parts of my own. And I wrote it because we are not alone.
I appreciated this post on X from Tim Alberta, a fellow journalist with an evangelical background and author of The Kingdom, The Power, and the Glory, which explores how the white evangelical movement became so deeply aligned with Trumpism:
The Exvangelicals is equally meant for those on the outside of the movement - who’ve struggled to understand evangelicalism, its politics, and the trend toward Christian nationalist ideology.
The book paints a detailed picture of what life was like inside the movement for millions of us who spent decades experiencing it – truly a “parallel universe” where many of the themes that have come to fruition over the last decade or so – themes of a “Christian nation” in decline and in need of restoration – had been gaining traction for decades, often in the form of Sunday morning sermons and textbooks read by kids in Christian school and homeschool.
If you’re reading the book, please let me know what you think! And if you still need a copy, please pick one up from your local bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop (which works with indie retailers), or anywhere else you can find books!
As I write this, I’m on a plane heading to my next book event this evening in St. Louis. I’m so grateful to each of the member stations, universities, and other organizations who’ve invited to me to come discuss The Exvangelicals with their communities.
My book tour continues with an event hosted by St. Louis Public Radio and Left Bank Books, followed by a swing through the Chicago area this weekend hosted by the University of Chicago’s Martin Mary Center, Booked indie bookstore in Evanston, and a dear colleague from my long-ago Chicago newspaper reporter days.
Next week, after a brief trip home to celebrate my baby officially becoming a teen (!), I’ll be back in the Midwest, for events hosted by Southern Illinois University and our NPR member station in Champaign-Urbana. There will be more stops next month – book signings in Iowa and Nebraska, a conference at Yale, a book talk at Georgetown in D.C., and a West Coast swing in late April (more details on that to come, but we’ve got San Diego, Los Angeles, Portland and more in the works).
I’ve loved meeting readers this week and hearing their thoughtful and fascinating questions. White evangelicalism – the movement I grew up in and that I found myself unexpectedly covering as a journalist in 2016 – has had such outsized influence on American politics and culture, yet it isn’t well understood by many outside the evangelical subculture. The curiosity, and concern, surrounding these issues comes through loud and clear in reader’s questions and comments, and I look forward to continuing the conversation in the coming weeks.
If you’d like to help spread the word, I’d be grateful if you’d:
Tell your friends about The Exvangelicals or buy a copy as a gift (these early days of sales are critical for a book’s success).
Ask your local NPR station, university, or community organization to set up a book talk. You can email me at sarahmccammonwriter@gmail.com for more info, or fill out this form to get started.
Request that your library carry The Exvangelicals if it’s not already.
Leave a brief rating/review on Amazon or Goodreads (if you like it – if not, feel free to skip this step!) 😉
Thanks for reading, and I hope to see many of you along the way!
Hi Sarah- I started reading your book this morning. I have been “deconstructing” for several years now and don’t attend church or consider myself Christian any longer after being raised in fundamentalism.
As I’m reading- I have a question. At what point does fundamental Evangelical Christianity meet criteria to be termed a cult? It has all the signs and symptoms. Curious to know your thoughts.
Sarah, I really appreciate your book. I'm enjoying the audio as well. I'd love to invite on to my podcast for an interview and discussion. I've been supporting "exvangelicals" or what I've called the "Church Alumni" for over a decade. I'd welcome a discussion if you have time and are willing. Peace to you. You can check out my content and work on my substack profile.