Honoring the Journey

This conversation with Vernique Esther went so many places, and I loved every minute of it! Vernique grew up in a beautiful and sometimes chaotic mix of denominations, cultures, and ideas about God, shaped by her Haitian and West African roots. Her journey eventually led her into a legalistic campus ministry that she now describes as “culty,” an early marriage that ended in devastating infidelity and divorce, and the political upheaval of 2016 that caused the cracks in her faith to break wide open. We talked about purity culture, patriarchal church systems, and the impossible burden so many women were taught to carry—the idea that we were somehow the “moral vessels” responsible for holding everything together. We were expected to suffer well, forgive endlessly, stay faithful, remain quiet, and somehow keep everyone else from falling apart, even when we were the ones being deeply harmed. Today, Vernique describes her faith as a Jesus-centered, non-religious spirituality. We had such an honest conversation about separating the character of Jesus from some of the violent and troubling portrayals of God we encounter elsewhere in Scripture, and what it looks like to keep following Jesus after so much of the religious framework around him has fallen away. Vernique also shared her powerful concept of “trauma languages”—the patterns our pain can create in relationships, including control and rejection sensitivity—and opened up about who holds space for her while she continues doing her own healing. Find out more about Vernique here: www.verniqueesther.com Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, Leslie has a conversation with Rob Zahn, a Lutheran pastor and author of LSD to Galilee . The episode weaves together Rob's unconventional path into ministry, the story of discovering his estranged father on his deathbed and uncovering his father's ties to a 1960s drug-smuggling countercultural movement (the Brotherhood of Eternal Love), and a deeply theological conversation about certainty, deconstruction, and where the divine can be found — including surprising historical and academic parallels between psychedelics and early Christian/religious practice. Together they explore themes of doubt, humility, religious trauma, freedom in faith, and staying curious rather than certain. Get Rob's book LSD to Galilee here! Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Honoring the Journey, we hear from the lovely Promise Backlund (Eve Was Framed), a former worship leader in Charismatic Churches, to discuss her deconstruction from an evangelical upbringing to eventual atheism. We explore themes like the fear of hell and losing salvation, the loss and rebuilding of authentic friendships, navigating family relationships after leaving the faith, and the difference between dogmatic belief and lived kindness — all tied to her new book, The Gospel of Lies: Surviving and Resisting Evangelical Extremism . Follow Promise: Instagram TikTok Facebook YouTube Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Honoring the Journey, Leslie sits down with writer, artist, playwright, and speaker Rob Bell—someone whose work had a tremendous impact on her own deconstruction journey. If you’ve spent any time questioning or reexamining the faith you inherited, chances are you’ve come across Rob’s work. His groundbreaking book Love Wins famously landed him in hot water within evangelical circles for challenging long-held beliefs about hell, salvation, and the character of God. In this rich and vulnerable conversation, Rob reflects on what it was like to experience rejection from the evangelical world he had once been such a prominent part of, and shares some beautiful wisdom for anyone currently navigating a season of questioning, uncertainty, or deconstruction. He also catches us up on life now—what he’s creating, what he’s discovering, and what midlife is teaching him about growth, identity, and becoming. This conversation is thoughtful, funny, tender, and full of the kind of wisdom that makes you want to grab a notebook. You won’t want to miss this one! Want to listen to the series Jesus H. Christ that Leslie & Rob spoke about? HERE is a link to the first episode! Find out more about Rob's work and where you can find him online on his website: https://robbell.com/ Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on Honoring the Journey, Leslie welcomes back Britt Hartley from No-nonsense Spirituality for a wide-ranging conversation about navigating relationships with family members who are still religious after leaving the faith. The two cover the emotional dynamics of deconstruction, including the desperate need for validation, the defensive reactions of loved ones, and why leading with vulnerability rather than debate tends to be far more effective for maintaining connection. They explore how differing core values (truth-seeking vs. loyalty) can explain why people have such vastly different experiences within the same religion, discuss the ethics of sharing one's evolving worldview publicly without destabilizing others, and reflect on what it means to follow Jesus outside of institutional religion. The conversation also touches on existential crisis, the psychological benefits of releasing the need for ultimate truth, and the meaningful distinction between religious deconstruction coaching and spiritual direction — all woven together with warmth, humor, and a shared sense that human-to-human connection ultimately transcends theological differences. Find Britt online! Her Website Instagram TikTok Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Helpful links we discuss on the pod: Page on homosexuality and Christianity - www.kexc.us "You Should Know" song (topic of homosexuality and Christianity) - https://youtu.be/UNqMMsoVDZU?si=s3tkxcnypuSU8yAy INEVITABLE (dance, trance, electropop music) - www.inevitablemusic.org Kurplunk (various styles, all funny songs) - www.kurplunk.lol Kurt's career search handbook , Here Today Hired Tomorrow - www.kurtkirton.com and https://www.amazon.com/Here-Today-Hired-Tomorrow-Practical/dp/1941558062/ref=tmm_pap_title_0 Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What happens when someone wakes up and starts to question their entire life? He was MAGA, happily patriarchal and deep in evangelicalism, but one day he began to question it all. In this episode of Honoring the Journey, Leslie chats with Steven Francisi, founder of Healing Roots On Up and author of From A-Hole to All Right. Steven shares a raw and wide-ranging story that begins with a difficult childhood in New York marked by inconsistent parenting, feeling like an outsider in his own Italian family due to his red hair and fair skin, and early trauma that led to a suicide attempt at 16. He joined the Navy at 17 partly to earn his father's approval, later got drawn into evangelical Christianity through an Amway meeting, and spent years in high-control religious environments that deepened his shame while masking his unresolved trauma. After a serious motorcycle accident in 2015 that left him with a traumatic brain injury, a subsequent marriage breakdown, and a second suicidal crisis, Steven finally entered trauma-informed therapy through the VA, where he experienced a breakthrough moment of grief that unlocked decades of suppressed emotion. Through therapy, a close friendship with a younger, non-Christian man, and reading works like The Power of Myth, Steven began deconstructing not just his faith but also his patriarchal worldview and far-right political identity, including walking away from the MAGA movement. The conversation is an honest, compassionate exploration of shame, healing, masculinity, religious trauma, and what it means to become a whole person. Get his book, From A-Hole to Alright HERE. Follow Steven on all social media outlets at Healing Roots On Up! Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on Honoring the Journey , Leslie interviews Marla Taviano — a former evangelical Christian author who wrote books for conservative Christian wives and later went through a very public deconstruction. Marla shares her journey from being deeply embedded in evangelical Christianity (as a missionary, author, Christian school teacher, and camp counselor) to leaving the faith altogether, driven by growing questions about salvation-focused theology, racism, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and the pro-life movement. The conversation covers the role books like Love Wins by Rob Bell and Rachel Held Evans's work played in her shift, how humor and poetry became her tools for processing and communicating her deconstruction, the personal cost of losing her sister and other relationships, and her belief that true love — not religious obligation — is the guiding principle worth living by. Marla's Website : www.MarlaTaviano.com Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In today’s episode, Leslie talks with theologian and activist Lisa Sharon Harper about her faith deconstruction. Lisa traces her family's centuries-deep American roots, from enslaved ancestors to Indigenous heritage and describes how a 2003 pilgrimage retracing the Trail of Tears forced her to reimagine the evangelical gospel through her great-great-great-grandmother's eyes, sparking a year of depression and ultimately a full "decolonization" of her faith. The conversation weaves through the suppressed history of the Alamo, the "tyranny of certainty" in evangelical culture, marriage equality, and the isolating dynamics of tightly-bound church communities, arriving at the hopeful conviction that humility, pilgrimage, and genuine listening are the path back to shalom, which is the radical relational wholeness at the heart of Jesus's message. Lisa's Website Lisa's Substack and podcast Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, titled “Let’s Talk About Deconstruction”, Leslie interviews Phil Drysdale, a Scotland-based psychotherapist, researcher, and founder of Deconstruction Network, for a wide-ranging conversation about the psychology of deconstruction. Phil shares his own journey from a fundamentalist upbringing through deconstruction while traveling the world as a speaker, and how that led him to spend nearly two decades coaching and now doing therapy with people leaving high-control religious systems. The conversation explores the psychology behind deconstruction… why it happens, why it's terrifying, how values-based thinking can replace black-and-white morality, and why community is the single most important resource for people going through the process. They also touch on the neuroscience of change, the concept of "conditions of worth," the challenge of setting boundaries with people from your past, and Phil's observations on where the deconstruction movement may be headed, including a thought-provoking comparison to post-WWII Europe's mass departure from organized religion. Find Phil on Instagram Phil's Website Deconstruction Network Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, Leslie sits down with David Gushee, a Pastor and Professor of Christian Ethics who is also a writer of one of the most influential books of Leslie’s deconstruction process—Changing our Mind. Leslie invites David to share his journey with us all trough being a Southern Baptist convert to a progressive Christian Scholar. David openly shares about his gradual theological broadening from accepting women in ministry to ultimately affirming LGBTQ inclusion in 2014, which cost him his standing in the evangelical world. They talk about the problematic clobber passages that are used to alienate and judge the LGBTQ community and the brittle nature of fundamentalist biblical interpretation. You’ll want to take notes on this one, folks! Also - if you are interested in being in the book study with Leslie for “Job in Exile: A Guide for Spiritual Refugees” by David Gushee in September, please send Leslie an email and let her know! leslienease@gmail.com . To check out David's books and pre-order his new book about Job, click here. Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, Leslie invites Melissa Green, a former member of the beloved Christian music group Avalon, for a wide-ranging and deeply personal conversation about faith deconstruction, spiritual evolution, and the courage to question inherited beliefs. Melissa traces her journey from growing up in the Southern Baptist church and becoming a member of Avalon, through the pivotal moment when founding member Michael Passons was quietly removed from the group after being outed as gay, to her gradual theological shifts sparked by travel, loss, relationships with LGBTQ friends, and her years at a progressive post-evangelical church. The episode also celebrates the recent re-release of "Testify to Love" — a collaboration between Melissa, Michael, and Ty Herndon — which has unexpectedly become a queer anthem and a message of radical, boundless love. Woven throughout is a tender, raw moment as Melissa shares the grief of walking alongside a beloved family member through the final stages of a terminal illness, reflecting on how joy and sorrow coexist, and how the divine shows up not in miraculous intervention but in the simple, profound act of people showing up for one another. Follow Melissa on Social Media: Instagram TikTok Substack Watch the Testify to Love re-release on YouTube! Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on Honoring the Journey , Leslie chats with Luke Justin Roberts (LJR) — a recording artist she found on TikTok. Luke was a former worship leader who grew up deeply embedded in evangelical and homeschool culture. They talk about his winding spiritual path from devoted churchgoer to questioning, deconstructing and finding his true path to freedom and now making music that speaks to others who are questioning their inherited beliefs. Luke shares candid stories about his childhood faith, the pressures and identity that came with growing up in ministry, and how he found his way to making music that meets people in their doubt and deconstruction. The conversation is warm, honest, and wide-ranging, touching on TikTok fame, building unexpected friendships across belief systems, and the exciting road ahead for LJR as an independent artist. Learn more about Luke (LJR) and his music on his website, www.lukejustinroberts.com. Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, we chat with pastor and author Brian Zahnd for a wide-ranging conversation about faith deconstruction, theological reimagining, and the journey of losing — and rediscovering — Jesus. Brian shares how, after 30 years of ministry, he found himself rethinking core evangelical doctrines including hell, the Bible's role as foundation, and the nature of God, ultimately arriving at the conviction that "God is like Jesus." He candidly recounts the painful fallout of losing 1,000 church members through that process, the healing that followed, and why he believes the discomfort of deconstruction is not a crisis of faith but a necessary path to spiritual growth. The episode also touches on his new book Unseen Existences , which is out now! Such a powerful episode. Find Brian’s church HERE . Pick up one of Brian’s books HERE . Read Brian’s Substack HERE . Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Honoring the Journey, Leslie has a conversation with Savannah Locke — artist, songwriter, and podcaster — for a rich, wide-ranging conversation about faith deconstruction, religious trauma, and spiritual reimagining. Savannah shares her personal journey from confident evangelical Christianity through a crisis of belief, her discovery of the Anabaptist tradition and the transformative phrase "God looks like Jesus," and how that journey inspired her album Songs of Peace in Times of War. The two explore themes of trust, humility, love, and prophetic witness, discussing how lived experience, creative expression, and community shape the way we understand God — and why asking hard questions, far from being a failure of faith, may be the very heart of it. Listen to Savannah's Album HERE! Follow Savannah on Instagram. Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, Leslie speaks with Chris Kratzer, a former Lutheran and Southern Baptist evangelical pastor who spent over 20 years in ministry before undergoing a profound faith deconstruction. Chris shares how ambition and ego initially drove him into the contemporary megachurch world, how a series of personal crises — including a near-suicide — forced him into radical honesty about his faith, and how he eventually became an affirming, progressive voice for those questioning religion. He and Leslie discuss the cult-like control mechanisms of evangelicalism, the cost of leaving (financially, relationally, and emotionally), and how stepping away ultimately felt like resurrection rather than loss. Chris also talks about his two books and his mission as a writer: to expose the harms of conservative evangelicalism and to give voice to those who feel alone in their deconstruction journey. Pick up Chris' books on Amazon . What the Hell Did You Expect Me to Do? by Chris Kratzer Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This special episode of Honoring the Journey is an insightful group conversation between Leslie and five guests — physicist Jenny Nielsen, mathematician-turned-writer Nish Dubashia, theologian John Van de Lair (South Africa), philosopher Eric English, and author/publisher Keith Giles — all contributors to the anthology book Quantum Theology, Volume 1. The discussion begins with playful introductions and embarrassing playlist confessions before diving into the core thesis: that quantum physics — particularly concepts like entanglement, non-locality, and the wave function — may scientifically validate what mystics and early Christians have long taught about the interconnectedness of all things and humanity's inseparability from God. The guests explore how quantum thinking reframes traditional Christian doctrines around sin, salvation, the nature of God, the devil, and prayer, arguing that the illusion of separation from God is the root of spiritual dysfunction, and that concepts like coherence and entanglement map surprisingly well onto the teachings of Jesus and Paul. The conversation closes with each guest sharing their diverse religious backgrounds — Catholic, Hindu, Methodist, Baptist, and non-religious — all of which converged on this same quantum-informed spirituality, and Keith encourages anyone curious to pick up the book on Amazon, with Volume 2 already in progress. Get your copy of Quantum Theology HERE ! Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, Leslie sits down with Pastor Joe Smith, who leads Maison Church in Gainesville, Florida — a progressive, welcoming congregation formed from a merger of two churches. Joe shares his faith deconstruction journey, beginning in the Free Will Baptist tradition, where childhood teachings instilled deep fear of hell and the rapture. He traces his gradual shift away from fundamentalism, sparked by the birth of his daughter in 2002 and questions about gender hierarchy, accelerated by the political climate, and deepened during the COVID-19 shutdown when he had time to deeply study queer inclusion theology through books like Unclobbered and Changing Our Minds. The conversation explores themes of religious trauma, Christian nationalism, HSPs (highly sensitive people) and deconstruction, evolving views on sin and repentance, universalism, and the difference between certainty and faith — with both Leslie and Joe reflecting candidly on their own journeys out of fear-based religion and into a more inclusive, love-centered spirituality. You can find Joe on Instagram! Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In today’s episode, Leslie reunites with returning guest Michael Camp to discuss his new book Faith Funk , which explores how people become trapped in high-control religious systems and the psychological toll — including anxiety, depression, and PTSD — that results from toxic faith experiences. Michael and Leslie dive deep into topics like cognitive dissonance within evangelicalism, the doctrine of original depravity, and how religious communities sometimes exploit vulnerability and suppress independent thinking. Together they examine the often painful but ultimately liberating process of deconstruction, reframing it not as a loss of faith but as a refinement — a shedding of toxic theology to discover a more authentic, love-centered spirituality. Michael shares practical tools from his coaching practice for navigating the stages of deconstruction, and both hosts reflect candidly on their own journeys out of fundamentalism, with Leslie sharing personal experiences from her time on Survivor and her ongoing work to undo deeply ingrained religious conditioning. Pick up Michael's new book, Faith Funk, HERE ! Michael's Website: https://www.faithtransitions.com/ Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of Honoring The Journey , Leslie talks with Megan Verno — a therapist, writer, and founder of Novo Nexus — about their parallel journeys out of high-control religions (Megan from Mormonism/LDS, Leslie from Evangelical Christianity). They explore the striking similarities between their experiences, including the loss of identity, community, and self-trust that comes with religious deconstruction, as well as specific LDS practices like the temple ceremony and excommunication culture. The conversation touches on patriarchy, LGBTQ+ issues as a catalyst for doubt, the concept of religious trauma, learning to trust one's own authority, and finding spiritual freedom beyond organized religion. Megan shares details about Novo Nexus, her support group and coaching program for those rebuilding their identities post-religion, and both women offer encouragement to listeners who may be in the midst of their own deconstruction journey. **I had some audio issues I tried working around in production with Megan's sound. My apologies for the quality! You can still hear her, it's just slightly muffled at times. Thanks! Find out more about NovoNexus here! Honoring the Journey is hosted, produced and edited by Leslie Nease. To help her keep these stories coming and fund the podcast expenses, you can donate here. Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here. Interested in working with Leslie as your Spiritual Director or Life/Faith Transitions Coach? Check out her website and learn more about what she offers! https://www.leslieneasecoaching.com If you'd like to be a part of the Honoring the Journey Team on Substack, click here ! You can find her work and also support her financially if you desire. Would you like to leave a voicemail for Leslie? Click here! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.