Jon Ward grew up in a more isolating corner of Christianity. He was raised in an evangelical church in Virginia that defined his life, his friends, his family – his whole identity. He was taught never to question the teachings of the Bible, or the judgment of the men who led his church. And he was discouraged from ever engaging in the world outside his religious community.

Jon had other plans though. After college, he decided to pursue a career in journalism. It was a choice that would fracture his family. Through his work as a political journalist, Jon learned how to interrogate assumptions, how to question authority, and eventually that meant questioning the church he grew up in — and leaving it altogether.

Jon Ward wrote a memoir about this experience. It’s called Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a Generation.