Our new series tells the stories of those who have left their churches and faith communities for a variety of reasons. Asking for Me was born out of a need for a space to talk about what it means to live “Outside the gates” of the church and feeling like we were in a kind of wilderness. Because of our experiences in the church, often due to abuse of spiritual authority, many of us have begun to find each other and tell our stories. This new series hopes to help many find their voice, recognizing the common issues we have faced, and to encourage and support each other in the midst of spiritual confusion and the journey to healing.
A question that often comes up for us in these conversations is whether we can define what it even means to “leave.” There’s so many versions or levels of leaving, if you will: leave a church, leave The church, leave a denomination, leave The Church/The Faith. Is it a temporary leave, like a leave of absence? Can we even know for sure? Everyone leaving has a different story, different reasons, different outcomes, different values and different risks.
After years of conversations with others, I’ve realized something about most of these stories. The reality is we didn’t leave the church. The church left us. The church abandoned us. The church confused us and sent us spiraling out. They didn’t come chase us down. They ghosted us. They stopped coming for us. They stopped talking to us. They left first. It’s an all too common experience in so many of these stories.
If this is you, if this is something you have experienced too, then we hope you will hear something that helps you, that gets at something you need to hear, and might help in your healing wherever you are in your own journey. Thank you for taking the time to journey with us. Keep asking questions. We know we will.
Check out the new series on Spotify or wherever you podcast. New episodes coming soon.
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Asking For Me 
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