'I'm an exvangelical,' says DC Talk's Kevin Max

Kevin Max, formerly part of the DC Talk Christian group, says he's no longer an evangelical. 

Max formed one part of the popular Nineties trio alongside Michael Tait, who now fronts Newsboys, and TobyMac, a solo Christian rapper. 

Tweeting over the weekend, Max said, "Hello, my name is Kevin Max & I'm an #exvangelical."

The #exvangelical hashtag is used by people on Twitter to speak about leaving the evangelical faith after negative experiences, and to air their frustrations with evangelicalism. 

Asked by one Twitter user what had led him to become "exvangelical", Max replied, "Years and years of experience, digging, living..."

When one person asked if he no longer believes in Jesus, he responded, "Nope, didn't say that, read text carefully."

He clarified in another post that he is "still a universal Christ follower... & the universe is bigger than you and me."

"I have no idea how many peoples blogs or podcasts are using that announcement for further division, but I'm here for The Grace," he said. 

"For all those people using my post as plug & play for your own hot take or personal discourse, I offer the lyrics to an upcoming song off of my new band @AstronautsSad album 'Adult Fears' titled: 'It's okay'.... I'm sorry for being obtuse or difficult but it's a process... love."

The song he referenced speaks about how it's "ok to be estranged from everything that you were taught" and to "lose the shame from all the churches abuse". 

On the Decent Christian Talk podcast last year, Max said he had been in a process of "deconstructing" for a long time. 

"I like to call it deconstruction, reconstruction. Any person that's really changing every day, which we do, you're going to deconstruct or you're going to reconstruct. So it's a combination of both of those things," he said.

"I've been deconstructing for decades. I've always been progressing, as you can say, and then sometimes I regress. But I think where I'm at right now is I've really gone on a journey to find out what I truly believe in by reading a lot, thinking a lot, keeping my eyes and ears open."

News
Nicky Gumbel elected to Church of England parliament with a call to put evangelism first 
Nicky Gumbel elected to Church of England parliament with a call to put evangelism first 

The founder of the globally influential Alpha Course, the Rev Nicky Gumbel, has been elected to the Church of England’s General Synod. 

‘Strength does not always look impressive’: living with OCD as a Christian
‘Strength does not always look impressive’: living with OCD as a Christian

Thea Joshi, of the Centre for Mental Health, reflects on living with OCD as a Christian and what churches and fellow Christians can do to help those living with the condition.

Church of England receives £13m under new scheme to preserve historic churches
Church of England receives £13m under new scheme to preserve historic churches

A Church representative said he was conscious many churches had not received the funding they seek.

Petition against ban on church's street preaching delivered to Colchester City Council
Petition against ban on church's street preaching delivered to Colchester City Council

Officials first said the preaching was too loud before moving on to objections about the content.