Exvangelical is a social movement of people who have left evangelicalism, especially white evangelical churches in the United States, for atheism, agnosticism, progressive Christianity, or any other religious belief, or lack thereof.[1][2][3] People in the movement are called "exvangelicals" or "exvies". The term prodigals is sometimes used for exvangelicals by people who remain evangelical.[4]
Many exvangelicals attribute their departure to experiences of homophobia, misogyny, and racism in evangelicalism, to skepticism toward the Church's moral and social teachings, to a personal crisis of faith, or to sexual abuse in a religious setting, particularly if the abuse was covered up.
The movement is disseminated largely via podcasts and social media hashtags. The name was coined in 2016, though the movement built upon criticisms of the church that were already widespread among people raised Evangelical.
- ^ Onishi 2019.
- ^ Frantz, Kenneth E.; Perry, Samuel L. (August 28, 2019). "The Unignorable Plight of the Exvangelicals | RealClearReligion". www.realclearreligion.org. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
- ^ "What It's Like to Leave the Evangelical Community". www.vice.com. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
- ^ Bullivant 2022, p. 133.