The decision to leave a faith community is momentous. Regardless of why we choose to leave, be it trauma, harm, misalignment of beliefs and values, or one of several other reasons, this decision can be incredibly challenging while also incredibly freeing. No matter where you are on your faith deconstruction journey, these books are here to guide you and walk alongside you.
Embracing the Old Witch in the Woods
Christian patriarchy teaches that women are dangerous, manipulative, and untrustworthy. Whether painting women as the archetypal old witch in the woods or the biblical temptress, toxic religion vilifies their wisdom and uses fear to maintain male power. And these harmful stereotypes aren't just historical; they persist in modern religious, societal, and political rhetoric, where confident women are called "nasty" or "radical." Embracing the Old Witch in the Woods is a road map for readers to challenge limiting beliefs, confront systemic injustices, untangle from patriarchal Christian attitudes toward women, and tap into the deep well of feminine wisdom.
What do we learn about white evangelicalism from those raised by its heroes? As sidekicks to their parents' and churches' ambitions, missionary kids (MKs) face questions many white Christians eventually ask: about God's calling, sacrifice, faith, privilege, racism, abuse, and what belonging means. From historian Holly Berkley Fletcher, herself an MK, comes The Missionary Kids, a first-of-its-kind examination of how the experiences of missionary kids illuminate broader currents in American Christianity.
The Christian industrial complex teaches us that whatever is centered, celebrated, and large is a movement of God, and that Jesus is at work in existing structures. So why are we surprised that many churches are obsessed with power, size, and reputation—and that people are leaving them in droves? Lost, Hidden, Small, a stirring book of spiritual formation, asks us to consider: What if the abundant life lies in finding what's been lost, uncovering what is hidden, and learning to hope in what is small?
Roasted marshmallows, campfire stories, shaving cream battles—for some of us, Christian summer camp is where we felt most at home. But for campers at white Evangelical church camps in particular, camp was also often the place to inherit a toxic image of God and of each other. In Church Camp, longtime camp speaker Cara Meredith exposes the ways in which white Evangelical camps sold individualized versions of Jesus to impressionable youth. Church Camp peels back the layers, holds the powerful accountable, and helps you envision a more vibrant, loving, and inclusive faith.
Nothing in Shannon Harris's secular upbringing prepared her to enter the world of conservative Christianity. Soon her husband's bestselling book I Kissed Dating Goodbye helped inspire a national purity movement, and Shannon's identity became "pastor's wife." The Woman They Wanted recounts the remarkable story of her courtship with Joshua Harris, her grappling with conservative Christianity's patriarchy and narrow definition of womanhood, and her journey to break free and reclaim a more authentic version of herself.
Everything Good about God Is True
You know what you don't believe: about the Bible, the church, and God. But what if someone asked: "What do you believe?" In Everything Good about God Is True, Bruce Reyes-Chow helps us consider what it means to choose faith and how to create one's own "faith montage." What if we could articulate the gospel of love, humility, and justice? What if everything good about God is true?
Disillusioned by narrow theology and constricted dogma, people are leaving Christianity in droves. But Jesus describes the reign of God as a house with many rooms. What if there are nooks and crannies of faith we have yet to explore? In A Faith of Many Rooms, Debie Thomas claims that the space where God dwells is expansive and full of belonging.
The cartoons of David Hayward, the artist behind @NakedPastor, are graffiti on the walls of the contemporary church. He sketches the ridiculous, the appalling, and the damaging aspects of the church as we know it—as well as Jesus erasing lines, embracing the excluded, and standing outside the church's walls. In this collection, which includes Hayward's most beloved comics as well as never-before-seen cartoons, we find more of the whimsy, impertinence, and tenderness that we didn't even know we needed. Upending notions of who's in and who's out, Hayward's comic vision overturns false pieties and harmful dogmas in one fell swoop.
In the past decade, church attendance among US adults has decreased by more than 25 percent. Americans report leaving religious communities because of the institutions' hypocrisy and resistance to change or because of trauma they have experienced in those spaces. In Holy Runaways, Matthias Roberts reaches out to those who, like him, want to understand the religion they've run from and erect a new faith on firmer foundations. He suggests ways we can all contribute to a new system built on love—and a new home we can inhabit together.
So many of us are leaving conservative faith traditions behind, rightly saying goodbye to toxic theology, bigotry, and harm. With wit and practical guidance, What Makes You Bloom helps us create a new spiritual practice after our faith has fallen apart. Spiritual coach Kevin Miguel Garcia shows us how we can connect with the Divine already inside us and cultivate meaningful spiritual practices that help us heal from the past, tap into the present, and imagine a delicious future.
To view all of our books and resources, visit broadleafbooks.com.
