The UnApologetics Tour
Donation protected
We are unbelievers in the land of the faithful. We are four storytellers traveling the country in a 98 Subaru Outback with over 300,000 miles on it, collecting stories and experiences for a zine and podcast series about the American Evangelical Church and the culture that surrounds it. What is it? How did it come to prominence? Why have so many left it?
We do this because we ourselves are refugees from the world of Christian Fundamentalism. We do this because we are not alone. There are countless others who have left the church because of their questions or were pushed out because of their identities. People who have experienced the trauma of the loss of faith and identity or the very real terror of Hell and the rapture. People who have felt the sting of being excommunicated or the loneliness from losing community. We want to hear these stories. To record them. Honor them. Report on what patterns we find.
Along the way we will do our own deep dive back into American Evangelical culture. We will be going to churches, potlucks, and small groups. We will visit a variety of religious faiths and traditions. We will also visit some of the most iconic and controversial places in American religious life. We will document and record all of this. Not to mock or attack, but to explore and understand. We want to explore our own bias and reasons for leaving. We want to hear the stories of those who have stayed as well as all those who have left. We will report it back to you as honest and as raw as we can make it.
We are not being paid or sponsored for this project. So far we are paying for everything from our own pocket.This is something we have chosen to do on, for a lack of a better word, faith. We believe this project is that important.
Partner with us. Find us on the road. Tell us your story. Let us sleep on your floor.
And if you can, please donate a few dollars. Living on the road is expensive and some of these Christian tourist sites really add up. The more money we raise the more we will be able to experience and create for you to enjoy.
We look forward to seeing you on the road.
Some of the places we'd like to see:
Samson , Branson, Missouri: $50 per person
Holy Land Experience , Orlando, Florida: $50 per person
Christ in the Smokies , Gatlinburg: $12 per person
Creation Museum/Ark Experience : $60 per person (but there will only be three of us then)
Total cost of admission for just these four things: $628
All other proceeds will go towards food, gas, and lodging.
Places We are Looking to Stay:
9.4 - Nashville, TN
9.5-6 - New Orleans, LA
9.7-8 - Clearwater, FL
9.9-10 - Orlando, FL
9.10-28 - traveling up the East Coast to NY (specific dates will be added soon)
9.29-10.1 - Brooklyn, NY
10.1-6 - Boston & Salem, MA and driving to Indianapolis, IN
10.7-8 - Indianapolis, IN
10.8-9 - Louisville, KY
10.11-12 - Chicago, IL
10.13-14 - Minneapolis, MN
About Us:
Alessandra Ragusin comes from a long line of Southern Assemblies of God pastors, but was raised as one of God’s “Frozen Chosen”. From 1st grade through her first semester in college she attended evangelical schools. She was a regular at youth group retreats, the 30-hour Famine, international mission trips, small groups, and taught at kids’ Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and church sports and arts camps. The proud wearer of a purity ring throughout her teen years, Alessandra has since left the faith and is an out-and-proud queer poet and essayist traveling and writing on feminism, philosophy, nature, and her favorite side-project: the Devil. Read more at: greenworldwriting.com
Amanda E.K. grew up in the Evangelical Free church in small-town Iowa, where she attended and taught AWANA programming for 15 years, trained with CYIA (Christian Youth in Action) as a VBS instructor, and spent three semesters at Northwestern Christian College where she led discipleship groups and “single girls sleepovers”. She was a youth group junkie and subsequent youth group leader, and a purity-ring sporting virgin until she was married at 22. She’s currently an atheistic Denver-based writer and the editor-in-chief of Suspect Press, and is working on a memoir on purity culture based off her fastidious teenage diaries. Read more at suspectpress.com/tag/amanda-e- k
Ryan Connell is the homeschooled son of a Pentecostal pastor. He was a kid’s church puppeteer, a Junior Bible Quiz champion, a door-to-door evangelizer, a mission trip globetrotter, a tongues talking, spirit catching, fire and brimstone preacher of the word. He was an award-winning demon in the fear based evangelical outreach that was chronicled in the 2001 George Ratliff documentary Hell House (and had the funniest scene if he does say so himself). He is now a full-time vagabond writer, proud heretic, and burgeoning mystic. His life’s ambition is to be the bearded sage on top of a mountain that people seek out to find the meaning of life. Read more at: theholyapostate.com
Josiah Hesse is an exvangelical Midwest transplant living in Denver, CO. He is an author and journalist with works featured in Vice, the Guardian, Esquire, Westword, and Politico. He has just released his second novel, Carnality: Sebastian Phoenix and the Dark Star. A follow up to his debut novel, Carnality: Dancing on Red Lake. His novels are psychological horror stories exposing the greed, corruption, and sexual repression found in Evangelical Christian culture. His work in journalism focuses heavily on Evangelical Culture in the United States. Read more at josiahhesse.com
We do this because we ourselves are refugees from the world of Christian Fundamentalism. We do this because we are not alone. There are countless others who have left the church because of their questions or were pushed out because of their identities. People who have experienced the trauma of the loss of faith and identity or the very real terror of Hell and the rapture. People who have felt the sting of being excommunicated or the loneliness from losing community. We want to hear these stories. To record them. Honor them. Report on what patterns we find.
Along the way we will do our own deep dive back into American Evangelical culture. We will be going to churches, potlucks, and small groups. We will visit a variety of religious faiths and traditions. We will also visit some of the most iconic and controversial places in American religious life. We will document and record all of this. Not to mock or attack, but to explore and understand. We want to explore our own bias and reasons for leaving. We want to hear the stories of those who have stayed as well as all those who have left. We will report it back to you as honest and as raw as we can make it.
We are not being paid or sponsored for this project. So far we are paying for everything from our own pocket.This is something we have chosen to do on, for a lack of a better word, faith. We believe this project is that important.
Partner with us. Find us on the road. Tell us your story. Let us sleep on your floor.
And if you can, please donate a few dollars. Living on the road is expensive and some of these Christian tourist sites really add up. The more money we raise the more we will be able to experience and create for you to enjoy.
We look forward to seeing you on the road.
Some of the places we'd like to see:
Samson , Branson, Missouri: $50 per person
Holy Land Experience , Orlando, Florida: $50 per person
Christ in the Smokies , Gatlinburg: $12 per person
Creation Museum/Ark Experience : $60 per person (but there will only be three of us then)
Total cost of admission for just these four things: $628
All other proceeds will go towards food, gas, and lodging.
Places We are Looking to Stay:
9.4 - Nashville, TN
9.5-6 - New Orleans, LA
9.7-8 - Clearwater, FL
9.9-10 - Orlando, FL
9.10-28 - traveling up the East Coast to NY (specific dates will be added soon)
9.29-10.1 - Brooklyn, NY
10.1-6 - Boston & Salem, MA and driving to Indianapolis, IN
10.7-8 - Indianapolis, IN
10.8-9 - Louisville, KY
10.11-12 - Chicago, IL
10.13-14 - Minneapolis, MN
About Us:
Alessandra Ragusin comes from a long line of Southern Assemblies of God pastors, but was raised as one of God’s “Frozen Chosen”. From 1st grade through her first semester in college she attended evangelical schools. She was a regular at youth group retreats, the 30-hour Famine, international mission trips, small groups, and taught at kids’ Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and church sports and arts camps. The proud wearer of a purity ring throughout her teen years, Alessandra has since left the faith and is an out-and-proud queer poet and essayist traveling and writing on feminism, philosophy, nature, and her favorite side-project: the Devil. Read more at: greenworldwriting.com
Amanda E.K. grew up in the Evangelical Free church in small-town Iowa, where she attended and taught AWANA programming for 15 years, trained with CYIA (Christian Youth in Action) as a VBS instructor, and spent three semesters at Northwestern Christian College where she led discipleship groups and “single girls sleepovers”. She was a youth group junkie and subsequent youth group leader, and a purity-ring sporting virgin until she was married at 22. She’s currently an atheistic Denver-based writer and the editor-in-chief of Suspect Press, and is working on a memoir on purity culture based off her fastidious teenage diaries. Read more at suspectpress.com/tag/amanda-e- k
Ryan Connell is the homeschooled son of a Pentecostal pastor. He was a kid’s church puppeteer, a Junior Bible Quiz champion, a door-to-door evangelizer, a mission trip globetrotter, a tongues talking, spirit catching, fire and brimstone preacher of the word. He was an award-winning demon in the fear based evangelical outreach that was chronicled in the 2001 George Ratliff documentary Hell House (and had the funniest scene if he does say so himself). He is now a full-time vagabond writer, proud heretic, and burgeoning mystic. His life’s ambition is to be the bearded sage on top of a mountain that people seek out to find the meaning of life. Read more at: theholyapostate.com
Josiah Hesse is an exvangelical Midwest transplant living in Denver, CO. He is an author and journalist with works featured in Vice, the Guardian, Esquire, Westword, and Politico. He has just released his second novel, Carnality: Sebastian Phoenix and the Dark Star. A follow up to his debut novel, Carnality: Dancing on Red Lake. His novels are psychological horror stories exposing the greed, corruption, and sexual repression found in Evangelical Christian culture. His work in journalism focuses heavily on Evangelical Culture in the United States. Read more at josiahhesse.com
Fundraising team: Suspect Press (3)
Ryan Connell
Organizer
Denver, CO
Alessandra Ragusin
Team member
Amanda EK
Team member