Q. What do you mean by “deconstructing”?

A. For the purposes of this site, “deconstructing” is any time you are questioning, taking apart, or letting go of religious beliefs you previously held. To quote a recent cover story from Premier Christianity, “Some talk about a ‘mid-faith crisis,’ where deeply held doctrines are re-examined and sometimes jettisoned in favor of more progressive ideas. Many continue to self-identify as Christian throughout this time, others take on another label which they say carries less baggage, such as ‘follower of Jesus’.”

Q. Who are you?

A. Sarey Martin Concepcion and Dan Koch created this site. Dan hosts the You Have Permission podcast and is currently a doctoral student in psychology at Northwest University in Washington State. Sarey is a writer and producer from L.A. (now residing in PDX), who holds a Masters in Theology from Fuller Seminary. She is also Communications director for Blueprint 1543, which facilitates interdisciplinary grant projects.

Q. How many people are deconstructing their faith?

A. It’s difficult to say for sure, but there is considerable evidence that a significant shift is taking place in American Christianity. The last ten years have seen a 12% decrease in Americans identifying as Christian (from 77% down to 65%), and the fastest-growing religious group is “Nones” as in “nothing in particular,” also known as the “Spiritual but not religious,” depending on the survey language used. If age is taken into account, the discrepancies are clearer: Americans 65 and older identify as white Evangelical Protestants at a rate of 26%; among those aged 18 to 29 that number is only 8%. Not everyone captured in these statistics has gone through faith deconstruction; surely, many have simply walked away from a religious tradition that they never took seriously in the first place. But “not everyone who doubts their faith ends up rejecting it,” and in our experience, this is especially true for those of us who took our faith seriously as young people. In other words, if this sounds like you, you are not alone.

Q. My child/nephew/niece is going through faith deconstruction, and I don’t know how to talk with them about it. What should I do?

A. Great question! An answer is coming soon...