Nashville’s exvangelical movement

This Is Nashville

While mainline denominations are seeing a overall decline in attendance, exvangelicals, a term that denotes former evangelical status, are part of a growing online community who are outspoken about why they’ve left the church.

In Nashville, evangelical culture is everywhere — think Bible verses on your favorite donut store’s boxes, prayer at social gatherings or the common practice of incorporating a gospel song into a set. With guest host Marianna Bacallao, we explore the experiences of exvangelicals in Nashville. Are the city’s exvangelicals finding support from one another, and if so how?

This episode was produced by Magnolia McKay.

Guests:

• Marianna Bacallao (host), Reporter, WPLN

• Holly Meyer, religion news editor, Associated Press

• Rev. Diane Dowgiert, Reverend, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville

• Mike Maeshiro, ex-pastor, consultant for queer and deconstructing Christians

• Heather Mae, artist, activist, and songwriter

• Eve, ex-evangelical content creator, and host of Chewed Gum Live

• Dr. Laura Anderson, therapist, religious trauma resolution coach & consultant, author of *When Religion Hurts You: Healing From Religious Trauma and the Impact of High Control Religion.*

Further Reading and Listening

• Reorganized Religion by Bob Smietana and The Great Dechurching, by Jim Davis and Michael Graham.

• For more about dechurching trends in the United States, Pew Research released two studies fairly recently: In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace and How the Pandemic Has Affected Attendance at U.S. Religious Services.

• Last fall, the AP released a report called, The Nones, about people who self-identify as “nonbelievers or unaffiliated with any organized religion.”

• You can find additional background coverage by listening to the past This is Nashville episodes:

  • The growth of LGBT-affirming churches

1. *[The role of Black churches in Middle Tennessee](https://wpln.org/post/episodes/the-role-of-black-churches-in-middle-tennessee/)* 2. *[The Southern Baptist Convention report: What it means for abuse survivors and the faithful](https://wpln.org/post/episodes/southern-baptist-convention-sexual-abuse/)*