<p>Episode 145 Downsizing: Letting Go of Evangelicalism’s Nonessentials.</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode of Still Unbelievable Matthew is in conversation with Michelle Van Loon, a writer with a Jewish upbringing who converted to evangelical Christianity as a teen. She gives her perspective on both traditions. Hear what drew her towards Christianity, what she carried from Judaism, and what she thinks people often misunderstand about Jewish identity and practice.</p><p><br></p><p>They discuss:</p><p>- her experiences inside evangelicalism, including patterns of spiritual abuse. Are these isolated situations or symptoms of deeper issues around evangelism and revival culture, that protect harmful behaviour. </p><p>- religious trauma, what led Michelle to seek counselling, and how others might identify and recover from similar experiences.</p><p>- What churches might need to let go of, how “downsizing” can compliment deconstruction and how a downsized community might look.</p><p>- And of course her favourite bible character</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>1) Downsizing: Letting Go of Evangelicalism’s Nonessentials</p><p>https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802884626/downsizing/</p><p>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/224465982-downsizing</p><p>https://bobonbooks.com/2025/09/15/review-downsizing/</p><p>https://amzn.eu/d/6VE2CxW</p><p><br></p><p>2) Follow Michelle</p><p>https://michellevanloon.substack.com/</p><p>https://thesageforum.com/about-us</p><p><br></p><p>3) Michelle&#39;s other books</p><p>https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/383322.Michelle_Van_Loon</p><p><br></p><p>4) Deconversion Anonymous</p><p>https://www.facebook.com/groups/deconversion</p><p><br></p><p>5) Religious Trauma</p><p>https://www.empathyparadigm.com/religioustrauma</p><p>https://therapist.com/trauma/religious-trauma/</p><p>https://resilientmindcounseling.com/10-signs-you-may-be-experiencing-religious-trauma/</p><p><br></p><p>6) Jewish Chosenness</p><p>https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-quot-chosen-people-quot</p><p><br></p><p>Still Unbelievable! book: https://amzn.eu/d/fmsN1Cw</p><p>Apostate book: https://amzn.eu/d/9RIUZYx</p><p><br></p><p>To contact us, email: [email protected]</p><p>our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reasonpress2901</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Our Theme Music was written for us by Holly, to support her and to purchase her music use the links below:</p><p>https://hollykirstensongs.com/</p><p>https://hollykirsten.bandcamp.com/</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>