© 2024 Iowa Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Former evangelicals reflect on their time in the church and why they left

Talk of Iowa, hosted by Charity Nebbe

Two former evangelicals join Talk of Iowa host Charity Nebbe to share their personal reckonings and thoughts on the movement's evolution.

About a third of Americans identify as evangelical Christians. For decades, Daniel Henderson was one of them, but in the early 2000s he decided to leave the church. He’s the author of Confessions of a Recovering Evangelical: Overcoming Fear and Certainty to Find Faith Through Doubt and Questioning.

In this episode he shares how his evangelical identity developed and what led him to step away from it. He has turned his focus to connection with other people, including social justice work in Washington, Iowa. Henderson also discusses how the relationship between religion and politics has shifted in this lifetime.

Bob Cargill, another former evangelical, joins the conversation to speak about his experience with religion in his personal and academic life.

Guests:

  • Daniel Henderson, historian and author
  • Robert Cargill, director of undergraduate studies and associate professor of biblical studies, University of Iowa
Charity Nebbe is the host of IPR's Talk of Iowa
Samantha McIntosh is a talk show producer at Iowa Public Radio. Prior to IPR, Samantha worked as a reporter for radio stations in southeast and west central Iowa under M&H Broadcasting, and before that she was a weekend music host for GO 96.3 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Natalie Dunlap is a rising junior at the University of Iowa majoring in journalism and minoring in gender, women's & sexuality studies. She is from Iowa City and in her free time enjoys getting coffee and reading downtown with friends.