The story: The Exvangelicals is a nonfiction book written by Sarah McCammon, who grew up in the white evangelical Christian movement in the 80s and 90s. As an adult, she deconstructed (began examining and questioning her religious beliefs), and discovered that many others who had grown up in the same circumstances as her were doing the same. The book includes recollections from her childhood and her deconstruction process, interviews with others who have left the white evangelical church, and information on the history and current status of the white evangelical church post-Trump.
Why I read it: A few years ago I read Jesus and John Wayne, which is an excellent primer on the history of white evangelicalism and how it came to be identified so closely with far right conservatism in the U.S. I’ve always been interested in the white evangelical church because it was so prominent in the town where I grew up and amongst the people I went to school with. My family wasn’t evangelical, but I have many memories, some good, some very bad, of experiences I had with my friends that were colored by their religion–often in ways I didn’t fully understand at the time. I was interested to read an account written by one of my contemporaries that I thought might help me better understand the behavior of the kids I grew up with and their families, and some of the messages I absorbed simply by being adjacent to this church.
What I thought of it: While this is light reading compared to Jesus and John Wayne, I still learned a lot. McCammon is open about her experiences and feelings, and the best parts of the book were her own recollections and the interviews with others who have left the church. It did provide insight into what life may have been like for my friends. It also helped me make sense of some of my own experiences as an outsider who sometimes attended youth group or retreats, because I wanted to be with my friends. While Jesus and John Wayne was heavier on the history and politics, The Exvangelicals focuses much more on the personal. Jesus and John Wayne gave me insight into American politics and history, and The Exvangelicals gave me insight into my own life. I enjoyed both, and I would recommend both.