‘And lead us into laughter … ‘
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on February 26, 2026. “I’ll get real big hair, marry a man, let him lead, write a book called, ’Submissive Wife, Submissive Life,’ adopt a Southern accent out of nowhere,” comedian Taylor Tomlinson joked while imagining what it might look like for her to repent and return to […]
When ‘thy kingdom come’ is a threat more than a blessing
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on November 4, 2024. Every election season since I left the final church I was a part of in 2019 is a reminder of why I don’t think I could ever go back. And I know many ex-evangelicals agree with me. I’m writing this just days before the […]
How evangelical and Mormon deconstruction is playing out on TikTok and YouTube
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on March 20, 2024. Mainline and evangelical churches aren’t the only religious communities losing members these days. According to a new study published in the Journal of Religion and Demography, Mormonism is no longer followed by the majority of residents in Utah. Ryan Cragun, a professor of sociology at the University […]
You don’t have to demonize us just because we’ve left the faith as you believe it
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on November 1, 2023. One of the most dismissive and hurtful statements ex-evangelicals hear from our conservative evangelical family and friends after we deconstruct their walls is: “You must have never been saved to begin with.” Another way they say it is, “You must have had a head […]
Why I have empathy for Karen Swallow Prior
This article originally appeared at Baptist News Global on July 5, 2023. “I’ve been struggling with regret lately, specifically in feeling like I wasted my whole academic career (given how things have turned out),” tweeted Karen Swallow Prior three months after resigning from the faculty of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. When she announced her retirement in March, Prior […]
‘So you’ve been deconstructing, huh? What do you believe now?’
This article originally appeared on August 23, 2022 at Baptist News Global. There is perhaps no greater trend in American Christianity than deconstructing the theology and ethics of white evangelicalism. Books, articles, podcasts and even music are being created daily to explore the reasons why so many people are leaving the faith they’ve known. And there […]
BNG column sparks Thanksgiving Twitter war of words between complementarians and two female scholars
This article originally appeared on November 29, 2021 at Baptist News Global. When David Gushee wrote his article “The Deconstruction of American Evangelicalism” for Baptist News Global, he kicked off what would become the focus of the next stage in the debate between conservative evangelical complementarians and their egalitarian counterparts. That debate took the form of […]
Interview: “Josh Harris, Evangelicalism, and Deconstruction, with Rick Pidcock”
Check out my interview on the Full Mutuality podcast! EPISODE DESCRIPTION: “Author and musician Rick Pidcock joins the show to share his thoughts on Christianity Today‘s podcast, ‘The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill,’ evangelicalism’s take on deconstruction and the ex-evangelical phenomenon, and the platforming of former evangelical pastor Josh Harris. You can read Rick’s […]
Book Review: “Why Is There Suffering?” by Bethany Sollereder
During my time at Northern Seminary, two of the most impactful theological insights for me had to do with learning to recognize my theological assumptions and examining the consequences of my beliefs. In her new book, Why Is There Suffering: Pick Your Own Theological Expedition, Bethany Sollereder provides a brilliant path for exploring how our theological […]
Knocking down the straw man of theological liberalism
This article originally appeared on August 30, 2021 at Baptist News Global. One of the growing frustrations many deconstructing Christians, ex-evangelicals, liberationist and liberal theologians share is how conservative organizations like The Gospel Coalition constantly misrepresent us through “straw man” fallacies. In the field of logic, a “straw man” is when somebody twists or exaggerates another […]
I lived in the culture of ‘The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill,’ and there’s one part of the story that’s wrong
This article originally appeared on August 24, 2021 at Baptist News Global. The more people talked about Christianity Today’s new podcast, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, the more I knew I eventually would need to listen to it. In 2004, my wife and I left our families and friends behind to move across the country and […]
Seminary provides safe space to engage difficult questions
This article was based on an interview I gave to Northern Seminary and originally appeared on July 26, 2021 at Northern Seminary. When Rick Pidcock decided to go to seminary, he was actually on a journey away from pursuing church leadership. He was also going through a challenging season of deconstructing his faith. Before applying […]
Lessons learned during the pandemic as a parent who found joy in the desert
This article originally appeared on July 7, 2021 at Baptist News Global. Months ago, we sat around the wooden table in our booth, enjoying our food and reminding our kids to be mindful of the other customers around us. With five kids under the age of 10, it isn’t an everyday experience to be able to […]
The role of seminaries in guiding ex-evangelicals like me through deconstruction
This article originally appeared on June 24, 2021 at Baptist News Global. Over the past decade, evangelicals have had to come to terms with the fact that people are leaving the church in droves. According to a recent Gallup poll, just 47% of Americans are members of a church, falling from 70% in 1999. This decline in […]
Interview: “Deconstruction: ‘Spiritual Growth or Apostasy?’ with Keith Giles”
“A flurry of new books have hit the market to define the phenomenon of Nones & Dones known to some as Deconstruction. The Gospel Coalition, a Reformed Ministry source, has released, Before You Lose Your Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church, in an attempt to shape thought and focus on the individual and excuse the […]
Interview: “An Economic and Theological Conversation of ‘The Value of Nothing’ by Raj Patel: Part Two”
In this conversation, I talk with Dr. Jacob Robinson, who is one of my professors about the book “The Value of Nothing: How to reshape market society and redefine democracy” by Raj Patel. In our conversation, we each gave the other five quotes from Part One of the book that resonated with us. And then […]
Interview: “The Bible Says What!? Episode 91: :The Invisible Forward Moving Power with Rick Pidcock”
“The Bible Says What!? is an atheist vs. Christian style podcast that captures my one on one conversations with religious leaders from across the globe.”