Episode 145 - Michelle Van Loon - Downsizing: Letting Go of Evangelicalism’s Nonessentials.

Episode 145 - Michelle Van Loon - Downsizing: Letting Go of Evangelicalism’s Nonessentials.

From Still Unbelievable! by Still Unbelievable

February 8, 2026 · 1h 27m · Season 1 · Episode 145

About this episode

Michelle Van Loon discusses her journey from Judaism to evangelical Christianity and explores the complexities of religious identity and trauma.

Episode 145 Downsizing: Letting Go of Evangelicalism’s Nonessentials. 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. They discuss: - 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. - religious trauma, what led Michelle to seek counselling, and how others might identify and recover from similar experiences. - What churches might need to let go of, how “downsizing” can compliment deconstruction and how a downsized community might look. - And of course her favourite bible character 1) Downsizing: Letting Go of Evangelicalism’s Nonessentials https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802884626/downsizing/ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/224465982-downsizing https://bobonbooks.com/2025/09/15/review-downsizing/…

People in this episode

Host: Matthew

Guest: Michelle Van Loon

Topics covered

  • evangelicalism
  • Jewish identity
  • spiritual abuse
  • religious trauma
  • deconstruction
  • community downsizing

Keywords

  • evangelicalism
  • Judaism
  • spiritual abuse
  • religious trauma
  • deconstruction
  • community
  • counseling

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Deconversion Anonymous, Religious Trauma

Books & works: Downsizing: Letting Go of Evangelicalism’s Nonessentials

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