Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Evangelical Christians are an immensely

powerful political force in America. But over the last few years, the number of people

identifying as Christians, including evangelicals, has dropped pretty sharply. The data from the Pew

Research Center backs that up. Now, some former evangelicals call themselves

the ex-vangelicals, which is the title of the new book from NPR's own Sarah McCammon,

who is uniquely qualified to write about this group, seeing as she, too, was raised in the

evangelical church, but no longer considers herself one. And in this conversation with NPR's

H. Orozco, she touches on her own personal faith story,

but also breaks down something that, on first glance, seems like a mathematical impossibility.

How does the evangelical church keep losing members and yet maintain its stance as a political

power player?

That's ahead.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

NPR's Sarah McCammon loves Bible stories, especially those with strong women.

The book of Esther, that's a favorite.

Vashed, he was the queen's first wife, and he wanted her to parade around for him and his friends,

and she said, no, thank you. And then, you know, Esther was chosen as the replacement,

and she helped save her people from, really, from death.

McCamond is well-versed in scripture. She was raised as an evangelical Christian and left the faith tradition as an adult.

...