Reviews

The voices on this podcast are much needed, especially during these times. I’ve been a listener since near the beginning of the podcast in 2016, just as I was leaving evangelicalism. It’s been a constant source of hope for me, knowing I’m not alone. I also love the diversity of the guests. Many podcasts fail at this and fail miserably, but this one is pretty good.

Extremely thoughtful and, as someone who has a personal connection to the topic, helpful and validating to hear of others who have similar experiences to my own. Excited and interested to hear even more.

This podcast has been one of the most helpful things for me as I have decided to leave Christianity. It has been incredibly insightful to listen to all the different stories of what it is like for others to deconstruct their faith.

This is a fascinating podcast that not only has great content, but is done incredibly well. For those who are questioning their faith and equally for those who want to know why people are leaving their Chuch.. this podcast sheds light on many aspects of the Evangelical sect in the United States and the impact it has had on a diverse range of people as they share their stories . For those of you wondering, it isn’t a loud podcast- it’s not anti-Christian and some of the guests have left fundamentalist churches, but some also have stayed in more liberal traditions . The interviews are well done and very interesting, covering a wide variety of experiences and topics. Great production value as well!

If you’ve left the Evangelical world, this podcast offers a lot of healing and perspective. I appreciate it so much. Thank you for this content, Blake! We’re all so grateful for you. Most recent episode sounds great, too!

For years I've felt very alone with my deconstruction. Not anymore. Exvangelical has given me so much support, advice, hope and comfort in my life since leaving evangelicalism. I am very grateful.

I really enjoy this podcast as it has helped put words to a lot of the things that I think about a lot and have experience. However, it is not well produced and has a lot of random silence and music that is unnecessary. Keep up the good work, maybe get some help with editing....

This podcast has been revolutionary for me. It's given me a clear picture of "Evangelicalism" and has confirmed so much of what I have observed while a member of evangelical churches for over 30 years. At 69 years old, I'm deeply grateful for Blake Chastain and for all those who have been interviewed here. Their openness and honesty is both heart-wrenching and liberating. This is a revalatory podcast and an expose of the brain-washing that is a fundamental element of evangelical thinking. Thank you to all who are working so hard to help people be healed from this distorted interpretation of the Bible.

I found your podcast only recently and am enjoying it very much. The last 3 years have been difficult extricating myself from the unholy marriage of evangelicalism and the Republican party. Hearing others’ experiences has been rather healing. Thank you.

If you can get past the poor audio quality and host’s constant “um..” “yeah..” and lack of conversation skills, the topics and guests are spot on. This type of podcast is so relevant and needed for those of us who grew up in the church and feel scarred because of it. Maybe the host should focus on producing the show and find someone with better developed skills to lead the interviews.

I’ve mowed through about 30 episodes of this in a week. I had NO IDEA resources like this existed for those of us sorting through the complexities and psychological trauma as a result of being raised in the toxic, judgmental, homophobic, sexist, shaming “cult”ure that is fundamentalist evangelical Christianity. Thank you for your courage to speak out and for the support as I navigate my beliefs (or lack thereof) and wrestle with where I go from here.

I left the church more than 10 years ago with a heavy heart and have shuffled through the last decade feeling like no one understands my experience in the church and out of it. I was floored by the honesty, intelligence, and grace that this podcast offers and felt seen and understood and no longer so alone. Angry and loving by turns, authentic the whole time.

The variety of guests and stories—all of them connected by a significant influence of evangelicalism—has been so helpful in my own deconstruction. I encourage those who feel set in their faith to listen to gain an understanding of those hurt by fundamentalism and evangelicalism. Having started from the beginning and reached episode 87, I find Chastain a very clumsy conversationalist (a constant stream of “umm,” “yeah.....yeah,” and “definitely”), but that may improve with later episodes (which will lead to a five star rating). I disagree with his decision to publish recordings of distractingly poor audio quality. It’s still very worth subscribing.

I spent so long looking for a community that understands and experienced many of the same things I have, this podcast is very thorough and helpful in exploring a lot of deep subjects which helps me to figure out my own feelings and past experiences.

Great conversations!

I usually don’t care for the interview format in podcasts. But I really enjoy this one. The host, Blake Chastain, is good at asking the types of questions that give a full picture of the guests’ story and message, and while he has a personality that comes out in the podcast, he doesn’t “take over” - rather, he lets the episodes be about the guests and their stories. As someone who was deep in evangelicalism before moving away from it in the last few years, I appreciate what Exvangelical brings to the table. The content is wonderful - definitely worth listening to!

As a Christian who's become disgusted with the politicization and actions of the evangelical community, I appreciate this podcast. Immensely. The host, Blake Chastain, doesn't demonize anyone or anything, but approaches every topic from a place of seeking understanding and walking in faith. The focus on humility is much-needed, and gives me hope.

Glad this community of critical thought exists. They are honest, fair, and brave enough to say hard truths mainstream culture and religion want to ignore.

I heard about this podcast from the Parenting Forward podcast (also great). Thoughtful interviews with a wide variety of people coming out of damaging evangelical experiences. Great resource for people exporing the options during and after the devestation of faith deconstruction. I haven't listened to all the episodes yet, but several of the ones I have listened to have significant sound quality issues. Still, I would rather have Blake putting the material out there in the state that it is in rather than not have the podcast at all. Great work!

I had a 12 hour drive ahead of me today and listened to 6 episodes in a row. The time flew. This podcast reminds me I’m not alone in what I’ve experienced within evangelicalism. I keep finding myself saying: “me too.” Thank you for creating this space and for choosing a variety of voices and experiences. The platform this podcast has created is a life-saver.

This podcast has been so important for me and others like me who have come to be dissatisfied with the cheap answers and obsession with power shown by the Christian Right. I have a lot of faith in what Blake is doing, as well as others like him. This podcast itself helps me feel more optimistic with the knowledge that we aren't alone.

I’m an ex-fundamentalist evangelical atheist who doesn’t hate God or Christians. I remain inspired by the teachings and stories of Christ. I’m envious of atheist/agnostic Jews who get to remain a part of their faith community and have often wondered if there was any hope of bridging the gap between my evangelical family and myself. This podcast gives me hope that there may be a place of respect, communication and shared values between Christians and atheists/agnostics.

I’m a recovering fundamentalist. I left fundamentalism at 18 and went through stages of anger, resentment, and forgiveness. I majored in theology for a while in college purely as an act of rebellion as a woman who was raised in a church where that wasn’t allowed. There were long nights of existential crises. There were many tears as I slowly unpacked years of misogyny, racism and homophobia. And so much fear and hatred of our fellow humans, which was never palatable to me. For years I’ve thought that there should be a support group for recovering fundamentalists (of all sorts, not only Christian) because we are raised in captivity and programmed to self destruct in the wild. (I’ve literally heard fundamentalist teachers say that if our faith structure isn’t real we should all kill ourselves). This podcast is like a support group with one person speaking per week. It has opened my eyes to the vast and growing numbers of folks like me, and there is so much healing in that. There is life outside the brutal rigidity of our upbringing. There is hope beyond the anger. There are brave folks who wandered away from the structure into the void and found meaning. Blake, I cannot thank you enough, from the bottom of my heart. Your podcast has brought actual benefits to my life and my ongoing recovery. From one 90s Exvangelical to another, thanks for keeping it real.

When I began deconstructing and examining my evangelical Christian faith over a year ago, somewhere on that journey I stumbled onto the exvangelical movement via twitter. There I found voices of love, kindness, acceptance, and encouragement. I found my church through the internet. Blake’s podcast is so warm and affirming and I have learned so much from his humble and depth filled epidsodes. And he’s part of the development of the #exvangelical hashtag (was that redundant?). Anyway, it’s worth a listen.