There’s something rotten in Denmark and exvangelicals are just over it,
with good reason.
Perhaps you’ve seen the reports from conservative research group Barna that 1 in 3 practicing Christians stopped attending church during the pandemic. A March 2021 article from Religion in Public stated 4-5.5% of the US population can be categorized as Exvangelical.
It’s clear Exvangelicals are leaving the church and they’re being really
transparent about who is to blame.
Their complaints are tightly-focused on the unhealthiest aspects of Evangelicalism: racism, homophobia, misogyny, and xenophobia, just to name a few. The elevation of former president Trump to conservative Christianity’s favorite mouthpiece was the last straw from many who were holding out hope that the church could pivot towards Christ instead of the legalism, dogma, and rhetoric that plagued Trump’s campaign and presidential term.
Some exvangelicals have attempted to deconstruct from toxic religion only to decide traditional Christian faith wasn’t worth fighting for because it wasn’t something they wanted to be part of anymore. Others skipped deconstruction and went straight to no longer wanting anything to do with the church.
More than ever, people are leaving the church, but should Christians even care?
The answer: of course. Every Christian should be paying attention to the exvangelical movement because their departure is in response to centuries of church abuses and un-Christ-like doctrines.
The majority of Christians acknowledging those who are leaving the church as part of have focused on one of two options:
- Denying the exodus is problematic by discrediting those who are leaving by calling them heretics or cowards bent on ignoring God’s will. This is the response favored by most fundamentalists and conservatives. The same people who deny climate change and chant “all lives matter” in the face of racial brutality prefer to blame the exvangelical for leaving.
- Christians who lean more liberal in their political views respond by saying if the church would just shift towards more progressive doctrines people wouldn’t leave. They propose that stepping away from harmful doctrines would stop the church from falling apart and reduce or eliminate the harm done by millions.
If anything, the two sides arguing about how the church should respond to exvangelicals and deconstructors is pushing more people away.
A quick google search on the topic will show that these responses aren’t new and they don’t seem to be helping. Denying the church has problems or trying to shift the political leaning of the doctrines won’t reduce the number of people in the exit lane.
Doubling down on legalist, fundamentalist doctrines or shifting the expression of Evangelical doctrines to the political left might “save the church” as we know it, but it won’t eliminate the power structure that favors the powerful. Like our political system swinging back and forth between two major parties, shifting to a progressive Christianity will just shift the power to a different set of highly-privileged people and continue to marginalize those who do not fit the new ideal.
Any attempt to preserve the church while shifting a few key doctrines won’t fix a religious system built on the back of centuries of genocide, enslavement of people of color, and marching in step with powerful political leaders
at the cost of people with less power.
Spoiler alert: Saving the church should never be our goal. This is precisely why people are leaving the U.S. church in droves and every Christian should be paying attention to the Exvangelical movement.
Like an abusive partner who greatly benefits from an imbalance of power, the Evangelical church has to stop denying the harm it’s doing before it can move into reconciliation and reformation.
So yes, every Christian should pay attention to the exvangelical movement with humility and openness. Every Christian needs to start by committing to curiosity and vulnerability. If you’re only in the conversation to defend the church or her actions, it’s not a conversation. It’s your attempt to convince someone to see things your way even if it means denying their own spiritual needs and pushing aside their own discernment.
Listen to the complaints and get really curious why there are so many similar stories of abuse and neglect at the hands of Christian individuals and organizations.
Then get really curious about what type of vine you are cultivating within your personal belief system and the structure of the church that keeps producing scandals, abuse, gluttony, and the systemic abuse of BIPOC. Sit with the evidence in front of you within the context of Matthew 7:15-20: “You will know them by their fruits.”
Every Christian should pay attention to the exvangelical movement because the trauma they’re leaving the church with is the fruit of the tree you’re defending.
Hey there friend! I’m Angela J Herrington, MA, LSCC and I’m a Faith Deconstruction coach who provides soul care for people who are untangling from toxic religion.
As a certified life coach and seminary-trained online pastor, I have a lot of experience helping people connect with God. But this is also a very personal journey for me.
For the last decade, I’ve been on my own journey to break free from learned smallness and step into wild sacred holy womanhood. Long story short, after finding faith in my early 30’s I began to realize that what I was hearing from the church about women didn’t always line up with what God was telling me. I loved God but realized the church was teaching some really toxic stuff.
So this Enneagram 8, first born, Gen Xer started deconstructing. I questioned and challenged everything I thought I knew about faith, gender, and myself.
It was messy and took a lot of work to sort it out. Therapy. Coaching. Bodywork. Spiritual healing. Conferences and retreats. And even a couple of college degrees.
You name it…I tried it.
But the thing that made the biggest difference was the presence and support of wise people who helped me up when I didn’t know where else to turn.
That’s why in September 2021, I created and hosted The Deconstructing Faith Summit. I gathered 20 phenomenal deconstruction experts to share their expertise and hosted over 1100 attendees in the week-long virtual event. Those who attended realized they weren’t alone, had a safe space to ask questions, learned dozens of strategies to help them deconstruct, and released tons of pent-up emotions they didn’t even know they were carrying around.
We laughed, we cried, and we danced, but the best part was…We did it together.
It was AMAZING and it was just the beginning.
So now, I’m doubling down on my commitment to create an inclusive support system for people, like you, who are longing to get away from toxic religion and cultivate a nourishing spiritual life.
I WOULD BE HONORED TO BE YOUR GUIDE, BE BY YOUR SIDE THROUGH THIS ENTIRE PROGRAM, UNCOVER WHAT’S HOLDING YOU BACK, AND CO-CREATE A PLAN TO BREAK FREE.
