Narrow Way Cafe

Orphangelical

“You meet saints everywhere. They can be anywhere. They are people behaving decently in an indecent society.”

Kurt Vonnegut

“Every saint has a past, every sinner a future.”

Oscar Wilde

The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They fail to alter their views to fit the facts. Instead, they alter facts to fit their views.

Dr Who.

Exvangelical. What's that?

Dgg

Deconstructing toxic church indoctrination. Finding fellowship outside Church.

A Primer.

Congregants are fleeing Evangelicalism.1 They are finding each other online.

Reddit.com has become a popular online gathering place for people struggling with toxic church. The site hosts a plethora of related topics. Such as r/ExChristian, r/Atheism, r/Theology, r/Christianity … and so on. r/OpenChristianity has more than 35,000 members.

“A Place for Ex-evangelicals.”

The subReddit r/Exvangelical is approaching 10,000 members. The group is very active, up to dozens of posts per day. Each, in some way, discussing escape from toxic evangelicalism. These are people who wind up questioning faith or are turning away from traditional religious fellowship.

The /sub was created Created Jan 18, 2018.

A main focus of dialogue within the community is unwinding cultish indoctrination. The trauma is real. The abuse, personal.

Unwinding cultish indoctrination. “Deconstruction.”

Within the Exvangelical community the term “deconstruction” means different things to different people. Understanding the nature of self-reprogramming is essential to understanding what’s driving people away from Church. Invariably, people question unquestionable dogma. Evangelicals see cult-like deference in former peers ranging from anti-intellectualism to militant confrontationalism.

Problems include evangelical doctrine facing LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, “Purity Culture”, alcoholism and addiction, and so on. Politics from the pulpit a frequent subject.

Exvangelical.substack.com (this pub) beckons to castaway and abandoned believers as well as those questioning faith. By design, the publication hopes to serve as a digest and list of resources. We watch for links to news and articles on the issues facing the disenfranchised. We are following how orphans of the church self-organize for support and internet fellowship.

A sincere ask: You’re moved to to help?

Participate with us. Others engaged in these issue can contribute to the writing here… Comments and guest writers welcome. We will protect your anonymity, if your want… absolutely!

Enjoy the typos. Let us know, if you’re inclined. We’ll fix ‘em.

1

See Forbes , Christianity Today.