Orphaned Believers
- Christian Living
- History & Biography
- Ethics, Culture & Social Issues
- Publisher: Baker Books (Baker Publishing Group)
- Published: 2023
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Publisher's Description
"Billups is a sharp critic of the evangelical church, and readers will be heartened by her thoughtful advice on how to chart a brighter future for the faith."--Publisher's WeeklyIn the wake of the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s, many young evangelical Christians found themselves untethered, disillusioned, and--ultimately--orphaned as they grappled with the legalistic, politically co-opted churches of their youth. Perhaps you are one of them. Perhaps, like Sara Billups, you have felt alone, misunderstood, and maligned in the American church, longing for a more loving, more biblical expression of the faith and discipleship taught by Jesus. Part spiritual memoir of an apocalyptic childhood and part commentary on growing up as an evangelical kid during the culture wars, Orphaned Believers follows the journey of a generation of Christian exiles reckoning with the tradition that raised them and searching for a new way to participate in the story of God. Because for all the baggage, we still belong, and a bigger, more beautiful story awaits."As American Christianity changes, and as we change along with it, we need guides to remind us who we are and who we're not. Sara has been one such guide for me. She's brutally honest and hilarious, and her heart is wide open to the radical possibility that belonging to Jesus is identity enough for Christians. I couldn't be more grateful for her."--Jon Guerra, singer-songwriter and producer"Billups reminds us that no matter who we are or where we come from, God can move us from a place on the margins to a community of faith."--Foxy Davison, educator and activist"Sara helped me feel more 'found' than I did before--orphaned but also anchored in a much better story than the one the world's been selling me over the past decades. I needed this book more than I knew."--Chuck DeGroat, author, therapist, and professor of pastoral care and Christian spirituality at Western Theological Seminary
Endorsements (4)
“There’s wilderness in all of us,’ Sara writes. ‘We’re lost and found a little every day.’ And in her honest-but-hopeful reflections, Sara helped me feel just a bit more ‘found’ than I did before—orphaned but also anchored in a much better story than the one the world’s been selling me over the past decades. I needed this book more than I knew.”
“As American Christianity changes, and as we change along with it, we need guides to remind us who we are and who we’re not. Sara has been one such guide for me. She’s brutally honest and hilarious, and her heart is wide open to the radical possibility that belonging to Jesus is identity enough for Christians. I couldn’t be more grateful for her.”
“Lore Ferguson Wilbert, author of A Curious Faith and Handle with Care “Billups reminds us that no matter who we are or where we come from, God can move us from a place on the margins to a community of faith. She calls us forward, with deep care for the people of God.”
“Erin Hicks Moon, writer and podcaster “I wept as I read Sara Billups’s Orphaned Believers because so much of her story is similar to my own. And though the similarities are daunting, the grace and wisdom she dispenses is exhilarating and so totally relieving. She proposes that there is a legitimate way forward for followers of Jesus. If you have been made weary by too many conspiracy theories and the outrage thereof, I invite you to feast on the grace and wisdom in Orphaned Believers. There is a balm for those of us connected, whether intimately or at a distance, with the American church. Sara Billups’s voice is one that, if we are willing, will prophetically point us beyond the various problematic ideologies that have held us hostage to a life led by the Holy Spirit and toward the tender, merciful ways of Christ.”
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