The Recovering Evangelical Podcast: Recent Episodes
Rachel Spears
The Recovering Evangelical Podcast navigates life and faith after the evangelical church. A safe place for believers, believers no more, and believers holding on by a thread, The Recovering Evangelical gets honest about the American evangelical church.
The ladies went back and listened to the first episode of the HERetics. Listen as they talk about how they've changed since then and what they would tell that version of themselves. Also, viewer/listener questions answered on the air!
Our story about Crossroads Church in Cincinnati, Ohio comes to an end this episode as we talk about that day last summer when they gave their national microphone to a man named David Mahan and then pretended to not know what he was going to say.
This series isn't because I hate Crossroads. I don't. I made it because I love people. And if Crossroads truly does too, the very least they can offer them is clarity.
Special and eternal thanks to Brian Webb for his vulnerability and help.
Interested in helping The Recovering Evangelical continue? Join our Patreon for $10 a month HERE.
This isn't a story about gender and sexuality. It's a story about clarity and the lack of it at Crossroads Church in Cincinnati, Ohio on those issues and others.
The story continues on this episode with Crossroads' stance on race relations, their efforts for racial reconciliation and equity while maintaining a mostly white environment, and how all of that seems to relate to their sudden firing of an employee.
Crossroads Church in Cincinnati, Ohio tops the lists of growing churches in America nearly every year.
But at what cost?
Staying in "the middle" on various issues allows Crossroads to grow without taking a position that might halt that growth. Join me as we dig into Crossroads, and other churches like it, and ask them the questions:
What would be the cost of clarity?
And for the sake of those left in the wake of your journey for greatness, why aren't you willing to pay it?
MY VOICE IS BACK!!! Here's a quick update about the rest of the season. See you next week!
Leaving evangelicalism isn’t the cure.
Sometimes, we’re quick to leave evangelical theology and pronounce ourselves FREE while still engaging in evangelical ideological frameworks that are harmful.
Join the ladies as they discuss their own experiences with exvangelical assholery - when they were the assholes and when they weren’t - and how we can unpack ALL of evangelicalism, not just the theology.
This past month, 50,000 people journeyed to Willmore, Kentucky to attend a spontaneous revival at Asbury University that lasted 16 days. The news of this led to criticism from every side and a lot of complicated feelings for those of us sorting through faith. Joining Rachel for the conversation is one of her fellow HERetics, Abbey Smith.
Follow Abbey here: CLICK HERE
Watch the HERetics here: CLICK HERE
Become a patron of TRE: https://www.patreon.com/Therecoveringevangelical
For all the things I can speak to on the podcast, being a parent during/after deconstructing isn't one. Sharing some wisdom from her book, Bringing Up Kids When Church Lets You Down, Bekah McNeel sat down with me to talk about navigating parenthood after the evangelical church.
Bekah: www.bekahmcneel.com
Bekah's book: https://tinyurl.com/3rcmhfrk
Become a Patron of TRE: https://www.patreon.com/Therecoveringevangelical
Professor and author Cynthia Vacca Davis shares about her journey from convenient allyship to active advocacy.
Cynthia's website: https://cynthiavaccadavis.com/
Buy Intersexion: https://tinyurl.com/yth4ph8v
TRE Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Therecoveringevangelical
Father Shannon TL Kearns is a transgender priest who believes in the power of storytelling. Listen in to hear him detail the story of finding his true self and how beautiful his faith became after doing so.
Links:
Shannon's website: https://www.shannontlkearns.com/
Shannon's book: https://tinyurl.com/yc5uhzea
Become a TRE Patron: https://www.patreon.com/Therecoveringevangelical
Welcome back for Season 5! Join Rachel as she chats with Licensed Therapist, Molly LaCroix. Molly's clinical speciality is treating the impact of trauma & adversity. Listen along as she and Rachel discuss overcoming the overwhelm that come with deconstructing your faith.
Link to Rachels' Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Therecoveringevangelical?fan_landing=true
Link to Molly's Website: www.mollylacroix.com
Link to Molly's Book: https://tinyurl.com/yh7mrjf8
Tradwives, biblical womanhood, submission - oh my! The ladies are talking about what we learned about biblical womanhood when in evangelicalism and what they think about the current surge in tradwife social media.
Join the ladies for a holiday episode as we talk about expensive Christmas productions in churches and how the church treats money and staff around Christmas. Of course a holiday episode also featured a lot of talk about innapropriate things and a drinking game - this IS the HERetics after all! Merry Christmas! See you in January!
This year for Halloween, the ladies talk horror stories in the Bible, Halloween candy conspiracy theories, and which HERetic had to be escorted out of a haunted house halfway through. Take a guess who? :)
Oh hey! We forgot to upload this! So you're getting September and October on the same day. YOU'RE WELCOME! :)
Join the ladies as they celebrate a year of this hot mess express. Reliving some of their favorite segments & memories - including a drinking game. Duh! Come celebrate!
The ladies are back this month to talk about youth group. The cringe, the shame, the skits...
See you next month for our 1 year anniversary episode!
Join the ladies as they talk about their experiences at pride, what the evangelical versions of themselves would think, and some of their favorite LGBTQ+ artists, authors, creators, and more.
Season 4 is a wrap. Let's reflect on what it spurs us to. And Season 5? We've never seen anything quite like Season 5.
Let justice flow like water. Let it rain.
The ladies are back to talk about summers growing up as an evangelical kid. VBS, church camp, getting saved 8 times - oh my!
I had the absolute honor to chat with New York Times best selling author, Matthew Paul Turner about faith, sexuality, love, and God.
I've been following Matthew's writing for years and am indebted to him and those like him who paved the way for so many of us. Take an moment or two to listen into this conversation and if you're anything like me, grab a tissue.
I had the absolute honor of sitting down with anti-racism educator, Portia Burch, to talk about the work of anti-racism and the invitation to be okay with being uncomfortable as you learn.
Find Portia and her links on Tiktok at @Portia.Noir.
Taking a 1 week break from season 4 interviews to reshare our Easter After the Evangelical Church episode from season 1. Things like Easter can be hard after leaving the church or even still in the church but struggling with what that looks like for you.
I hope that this episode brings you peace as you navigate this holiday weekend.
2 of the 3 hosts from Ravel Podcast join me to talk about faith, our opinions on the word deconstruction, how we're each recovering from the church, and of course - how dropping f bombs helps that process.
Award-winning rapper, producer, and graphic artist J. Crum sits down with me to talk about growing up in the church, whitewashed Jesus, his road to agnosticism, and how all of that inspires his music.
Join April, Rachel, and a very special guest as they talk about all things Cringy Christianity- even reading some of their OWN old tweets. #woof
In the early 2000s, men like John Piper and Mark Driscoll brought reformed theology to the center stage and American Christianity has been hurting under the weight of it ever since.
While I personally reject the theology, I think the impact of that movement, no matter what you believe, hurts us all. Tickling the ears of men desperate for power, the young, restless, and reformed movement grew up and has left us with christian leaders who look nothing like Christ.
I'd driven past the church in Cincinnati with the Trans Day of Remembrance signs in the yard hundreds of times. I always wondered who led a church like that.
This past December, I sat in a pew and found out. Listen and meet Rev. Derek Terry - an educator, a creator, a pastor, and an incredible man - hellbent on creating a safe space for all.
16 year old me was obsessed with Jennifer Knapp. Turns out, 36 year old me is as well. Jennifer was at the top of her CCM career in 2002 when she walked away. Come listen to her talk about that experience, and about her life and faith journey since.
Let’s talk about sex, baby.
The ladies talk about sex, sexuality, gender identity, virginity, and wrap up with a wonderful game of Never Have I Ever.
It’s serious, it’s light-hearted, it’s slightly irreverent - it’s the HERetics.
The ladies are back in 2022 and ready to talk all the things. First things first - cringy Christian dating, our new Bachelorette series, and who delivers the best (worst?) Christian pickup line.
Growing up, going to church camp was the highlight of my summers. Away from Mom and Dad and with all my friends, what could go wrong? Welp. A lot.
On the heels of Passion 2022, my friend Eve and I discuss the moneymaker that is worship culture in America and how it permeates down from big names like Passion, Bethel, and Hillsong to create manufactured moments and manipulated emotional response in churches everywhere.
Last week, we tackled the heaviness of the holidays. On today's episode, we look at allowing ourselves to enjoy the happiness of the holidays in any way that we can, even if that includes elements of the very church that hurt us.
Episodes will resume in the New Year!
This week's mini episode tackles the heaviness of the holiday season and next week's is the happiness of the holiday season (so don't let this week get you too down).
This time of year is joyous. And damn hard. Let's talk about it.
Sitting down to chat with my friend, Paul, who felt like a safe space when I first started talking publicly about deconstruction. We talk about moving from the church into this phase of life, owning our own mistakes, and finding a God of love, rather than one of wrath.
Our sweet southern belle is back! Talking all things holidays - the good and bad, and of course, a reference or two to unicorns.
So many of my listeners still long for a church community after/during deconstruction. Join me as I chat with my new friend Joseph, who pastors an inclusive, affirming church in Texas. There may just be some good churches left out there after all.
Find Joseph online at @joseph.yoo on Tiktok, IG, and Twitter and on his blog at www.josephyoo.com
Due to some technical difficulties this week, we're resharing Rachel's favorite episode from Season 1. Revoking access is a term we use frequently around here and a practice that is healthy & holy.
We'll be back next week with a new episode with an INCREDIBLE guest. Enjoy this throwback and we'll see you next week!
When your October episode falls on Halloween, you dress up & talk about all the weird ways the evangelical church approached the spookiest night of the year.
Listen here for the ease but you'll want to go check this episode out on Youtube if you can! So many visuals!
Content warning: suicidal ideation right at the hour mark.
I share a little bit more about my life and how different experiences throughout have shaped who I am today. My hope is that understanding me a little better will give clarity to some of my positions and approaches to different topics. It's a cliff's notes version but here is my story.
Welcome back for season 3! Join me and a friend as we discuss how therapy saved us and why the church might discourage you from seeking care for your mental health.
September's episode is full of unicorns, April's Wheel of Impressions, and more! Don't understand? Us either but it was fun!
Just a quick wrap up of the purity culture series, a thank you for the hard work you did this season, and a little info on the future of The Recovering Evangelical.
Note: Some sound issues - echoes, etc. Sorry in advance!
The church creates a vicious cycle of victim turned victimizer. We've unpacked a lot of our trauma at the hands of purity culture. But how do we unpack the hurt we inflicted on others because of purity culture?
My guest, Abbey Smith, talks about going from abstinence educator to sex positive pastor. It's a journey of undoing we're all on, but isn't it worth it?
@Puritytopolyamory joins me on today's episode to discuss ethical non-monogamy and how she went from purity culture and getting married at 19 to finding her peace in polyamory.
Unpacking and healing from purity culture is hard for all of us. No matter where we fall, there's an unlearning of shame for wanting what we were told was wrong. Listen along with an open mind as she shares her story.
It's our very first episode of The HERetics! Come find out who we are, what we're all about, and why we're doing this.
Content warning: we will potentially be discussing Pray Away - the Netflix documentary. We understand that conversion therapy may be a difficult topic for some to hear. We will do our best to give a heads up on this episode before we discuss it.
This episode features 2 interviews with a man and a woman, both raised in purity culture and now both married, who have found themselves on the asexual spectrum (or figuring out if that's what best describes them). They talk about the shame around that, how it has affected their marriages and identity, and how they are recovering from purity culture and figuring out how to celebrate their sexuality.
Note: Candid talk about sex.
Purity culture in the evangelical church ignores everything but heterosexuality but when it comes to damaging, is an equal opportunity abuser. My friend Whitley joins me this week to discuss healing from purity culture and how that affected her journey of coming out and her faith now.
On today's episode, we hear a male perspective on purity culture and how, while women and girls have been disproportionately harmed by purity culture, the church still left men with baggage to unpack, behavior to unlearn, and things to apologize for.
My friend Blair (@talkpuritytome) joins me to talk about dealing with purity culture after leaving the faith altogether, how the church might just be a sex cult, and how women never truly have bodily autonomy.
I also share some feedback on the latest episode of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill and the absence of consent in evangelical purity culture.
Purity culture teaches a woman to suddenly turn her sex drive on when she gets married after years of forbidding even the thought. April Reuning (@aprilajoy on Tiktok) joins me to discuss the general impact purity culture had on her but more specifically, the impact it had on her marriage.
TW: sexual assault.
On this episode, my friend Kenza (@iamkenzaashley) joins me to continue the conversation about purity culture. She shares her experience with it as a black woman growing up in the church and we examine why the church easily sees redemption after a fall for men but not so much for women.
The first part of the 2nd season will be dedicated to how the Evangelical church used purity culture to control us. We'll hear from married women, women of color, and men about their experiences and the harm caused. Part 1 - what is purity culture and what's it mean for the unmarried.
Quotes and purity culture info from Pure by Linda Kay Klein.
My friend, Lindsay, is a blue dot in a red state. She got fed up with the politics and power in the evangelical church and now is navigating all the things she's ever been taught. She doesn't claim to have the answers but she willingly asks the questions.
The church argues semantics. The church gaslights and refuses to apologize or take accountability. The church says you align completely or you're out. The church doesn't forgive. This 'deconstruction community' has to unlearn all of those church behaviors in addition to unlearning harmful doctrine or we're no better than the church. And if we're not better than the church, what the hell are we doing?
Jesus told us his greatest commandments. Talk about those and the church will call you "woke", "watered down", "soft". But his example and teachings are clear and the church ignores them every chance they get. As we deconstruct and get back to a Jesus-centered faith, this episode looks at his life and how we can look to it as a model for our own lives.
If you can get past us talking about cicadas, the Real Housewives, Cincinnati Chili, and more, about halfway through the episode, the wonderful Pastor Abbey Smith and I talk about being women in ministry - how Jesus affirmed them, how Tiktok hates them, and how we might misunderstand the Apostle Paul on this subject.
In this episode, I tackle what deconstructing your faith really is & how I got there myself - how leading worship went from my favorite thing to a painful thing & how it jumpstarted my deconstruction journey.
Join me as I chat with my friend Wayne about life after ministry and the intersection of race & the church.
When it comes to race in America, the evangelical church often chooses neutrality. We discuss why, where Christians miss when it comes to generational racism, and how to keep check yourself when it comes to white saviorism.
Your mental health matters. Your emotional and spiritual health matters. Not everyone you love needs to come along on your journey of recovering from the church. On this episode, we look to Christ's example of healthy boundaries & how to protect your deconstruction experience.
It's Holy Week. Everyone goes to church on Easter Sunday - but what if you don't want to? What if it's painful? This week, we're discussing what Resurrection Sunday really looked like. Spoiler alert: it was nothing like Easter Sunday at church.
Christian Nationalism driving you away from the church? We feel you. Guest April Reuning joins me as we discuss the evangelical church's obsession with Trump and how that ultimately led to her departure.
Welcome to the brand new podcast, The Recovering Evangelical. This is a quick intro explaining my heart behind the podcast - healing & faith beyond the church.