Member-only story
Left Behind: Rebuilding Community After Leaving Evangelicalism
Embracing Authenticity After Religious Trauma
Twenty years ago, I embraced a faith that promised me community and purpose. I didn’t expect it to cost me my identity
In college, I had friends from all walks of life. After I became a “born again” Christian, my circle of friends slowly changed and narrowed to include only other Christians. There was Us, “the saved,” and them, “the unsaved.” If there were unbelievers (or ‘not yet Christians’) that were welcomed into our Christian community it was exclusively for the purpose of seeing them ‘get saved.’
My husband joined the staff of the church and all seasonal events, conferences, local gatherings, and birthdays we attended were with other Christians. My kids were part of a homeschool group with other Christian families and all their friends were Christian.
Our weeks were packed with Sunday service, weekly bible studies, dinners with other church families, coffee dates with friends, playdates with the kids’ friends from church. Every social interaction we had was with someone from our Christian community. Then from one month to the next it all changed. Once we said we no longer wholesale believed the dogma of Evangelicalism, this entire community vanished. It was as if all of our friends…
