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Dear Evangelicals: The Real Reasons People Are Exiting Church
People are not leaving for the reasons we wish or claim. It’s not because of politics or improper preaching. It’s not because of sins they want to commit or even a breakdown of traditional values. No, they’re leaving for all the reasons they tried to express when no one in the church was listening. This is your chance to listen again.
We must listen. Because as dire as the condition of the church seems, it's exponentially there are exactly zero people outside the church who secretly want to get in, but scores of churchgoers sit with secret, growing concerns...for now, until they join the thousands each week who slink out the back door, never to return, and never to explain why.
Jamin Coller is a seminary graduate and pastor’s kid who spent 30 years as a minister, worship pastor, Christian educator, and national speaker. Now, after several years deeply embedded in the ex-vangelical community, he consults with church leaders to bridge the gap between Christian institutionalists and those he calls “pre-former members.”
What the readers
“I wish this was mandatory reading for every pastor!”
“Hauntingly accurate and devastatingly relatable...”
“I’ve never heard anyone else more opposed to the Christian institution - and still rooting so hard for it.”
We must listen. Because as dire as the condition of the church seems, it's exponentially there are exactly zero people outside the church who secretly want to get in, but scores of churchgoers sit with secret, growing concerns...for now, until they join the thousands each week who slink out the back door, never to return, and never to explain why.
Jamin Coller is a seminary graduate and pastor’s kid who spent 30 years as a minister, worship pastor, Christian educator, and national speaker. Now, after several years deeply embedded in the ex-vangelical community, he consults with church leaders to bridge the gap between Christian institutionalists and those he calls “pre-former members.”
What the readers
“I wish this was mandatory reading for every pastor!”
“Hauntingly accurate and devastatingly relatable...”
“I’ve never heard anyone else more opposed to the Christian institution - and still rooting so hard for it.”
200 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 4, 2024
8 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Jamin Coller
3 books2 followersJamin Coller is a dedicated educator, accomplished musician, and proud father of six, whose career spans over 30 years across various fields. While his muses include music, writing and theology, his passion is inspiring curiosity and provoking the phrase "oh! I get it now!" in an activity that many call "teaching".
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 12, 2025
"Telling the difficult, essential truths."
My first exposure to Jamin Coller came from his great YouTube interview with Tim Mills (on ‘Harmonic Atheist’), and what impressed me most deeply there was Mr. Coller’s insistence on following the truth wherever it led him — however difficult, however nuanced. Coller is the opposite of the cartoon Angry Atheist, a former pastor who’s painstakingly deconstructed much of his own traditional literalism but still (indeed, perhaps all the more) values the Christian Gospel in its essence and community; and in this second book he’s essaying a painstaking exploration both of his own understanding of Christ and of where he sees the institutional church (particularly in its Conservative and Fundamentalist manifestations) as making ruinous departures from Jesus’ true message, bearing witness to the suicide of a Christianity whose institutional rigidity and failure of vision are driving away the very people who need it most. I’ve long described myself as living in the Demilitarized Zone between the overly literal Believers and the overly literal Unbelievers, and I’ve rarely found any author who explores and maps that difficult territory more passionately or more intelligently.
My first exposure to Jamin Coller came from his great YouTube interview with Tim Mills (on ‘Harmonic Atheist’), and what impressed me most deeply there was Mr. Coller’s insistence on following the truth wherever it led him — however difficult, however nuanced. Coller is the opposite of the cartoon Angry Atheist, a former pastor who’s painstakingly deconstructed much of his own traditional literalism but still (indeed, perhaps all the more) values the Christian Gospel in its essence and community; and in this second book he’s essaying a painstaking exploration both of his own understanding of Christ and of where he sees the institutional church (particularly in its Conservative and Fundamentalist manifestations) as making ruinous departures from Jesus’ true message, bearing witness to the suicide of a Christianity whose institutional rigidity and failure of vision are driving away the very people who need it most. I’ve long described myself as living in the Demilitarized Zone between the overly literal Believers and the overly literal Unbelievers, and I’ve rarely found any author who explores and maps that difficult territory more passionately or more intelligently.
January 9, 2025
The Realness of True Christian Love
This writer has given a true picture of the arrogance of false Christianity that has become so prevalent in our country. I have also found that loving people and the insights into who God is has come from rejecting much “Christian” teaching that have diluted the love of Jesus we are to have. Although I have continued to be in fellowship in churches, yet as the writer has, I have been able to find the truth and love of Christ. I also have found how loving my neighbor without agenda, has often resulted in light about the true meaning of scriptures. Thus I have also found the truth about things I had believed were wrong, but are not. I have been a rebel all my life and now have found those whom have helped me love Jesus and neighbor more freely. I am learning more everyday, and like the writer know the liberty of just loving people, not trying to change anyone or my country, but live like Jesus gave, grace in love. So anyone who desires to know the truth about us rebels against the institutionalized church, will receive comfort and may even be able to find the life of love and grace in Jesus Christ.
This writer has given a true picture of the arrogance of false Christianity that has become so prevalent in our country. I have also found that loving people and the insights into who God is has come from rejecting much “Christian” teaching that have diluted the love of Jesus we are to have. Although I have continued to be in fellowship in churches, yet as the writer has, I have been able to find the truth and love of Christ. I also have found how loving my neighbor without agenda, has often resulted in light about the true meaning of scriptures. Thus I have also found the truth about things I had believed were wrong, but are not. I have been a rebel all my life and now have found those whom have helped me love Jesus and neighbor more freely. I am learning more everyday, and like the writer know the liberty of just loving people, not trying to change anyone or my country, but live like Jesus gave, grace in love. So anyone who desires to know the truth about us rebels against the institutionalized church, will receive comfort and may even be able to find the life of love and grace in Jesus Christ.
August 11, 2025
Honest
That's the one word that comes to mind. As a former PK who lived that, it's brutally honest. Thank you for writing this Jamin.
That's the one word that comes to mind. As a former PK who lived that, it's brutally honest. Thank you for writing this Jamin.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews