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.

Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here.

Interested in working with Leslie as your 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!

If you are looking for community as you deconstruct or just a place to go and enjoy the company of people who are seekers, learners and who are looking to connect with the Divine without religious baggage, please join the Private Facebook Community!  Leslie is very passionate about connection and community, so if that sounds like you, please come join us!

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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.

Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here.

Interested in working with Leslie as your 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!

If you are looking for community as you deconstruct or just a place to go and enjoy the company of people who are seekers, learners and who are looking to connect with the Divine without religious baggage, please join the Private Facebook Community!  Leslie is very passionate about connection and community, so if that sounds like you, please come join us!

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 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.

Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here.

Interested in working with Leslie as your 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!

If you are looking for community as you deconstruct or just a place to go and enjoy the company of people who are seekers, learners and who are looking to connect with the Divine without religious baggage, please join the Private Facebook Community!  Leslie is very passionate about connection and community, so if that sounds like you, please come join us!

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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.

Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here.

Interested in working with Leslie as your 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!

If you are looking for community as you deconstruct or just a place to go and enjoy the company of people who are seekers, learners and who are looking to connect with the Divine without religious baggage, please join the Private Facebook Community!  Leslie is very passionate about connection and community, so if that sounds like you, please come join us!

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 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! [email protected].

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.

Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here.

Interested in working with Leslie as your 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!

If you are looking for community as you deconstruct or just a place to go and enjoy the company of people who are seekers, learners and who are looking to connect with the Divine without religious baggage, please join the Private Facebook Community!  Leslie is very passionate about connection and community, so if that sounds like you, please come join us!

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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.

Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here.

Interested in working with Leslie as your 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!

If you are looking for community as you deconstruct or just a place to go and enjoy the company of people who are seekers, learners and who are looking to connect with the Divine without religious baggage, please join the Private Facebook Community!  Leslie is very passionate about connection and community, so if that sounds like you, please come join us!

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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.

Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here.

Interested in working with Leslie as your 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!

If you are looking for community as you deconstruct or just a place to go and enjoy the company of people who are seekers, learners and who are looking to connect with the Divine without religious baggage, please join the Private Facebook Community!  Leslie is very passionate about connection and community, so if that sounds like you, please come join us!

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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.

Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here.

Interested in working with Leslie as your 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!

If you are looking for community as you deconstruct or just a place to go and enjoy the company of people who are seekers, learners and who are looking to connect with the Divine without religious baggage, please join the Private Facebook Community!  Leslie is very passionate about connection and community, so if that sounds like you, please come join us!

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.

Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here.

Interested in working with Leslie as your 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!

If you are looking for community as you deconstruct or just a place to go and enjoy the company of people who are seekers, learners and who are looking to connect with the Divine without religious baggage, please join the Private Facebook Community!  Leslie is very passionate about connection and community, so if that sounds like you, please come join us!

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.

Pick up Leslie's book, Honoring the Journey: The Deconstruction of Sister Christian here.

Interested in working with Leslie as your 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!

If you are looking for community as you deconstruct or just a place to go and enjoy the company of people who are seekers, learners and who are looking to connect with the Divine without religious baggage, please join the Private Facebook Community!  Leslie is very passionate about connection and community, so if that sounds like you, please come join us!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.