Gina Welch

Gina Welch is a blue-state atheist. She's liberal--politically, socially, and far from the stereotypical world of early 21st-century, Southern-style, American Evangelical Christianity.

In hopes of inducing a compelling narrative from which to write a book, she goes undercover into the subculture of the singles' ministry of Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Her intent is not to write an exposé, but to expose herself to people not like her, but yet inequitably, show more not to allow her self to be exposed to them.

She feigns getting "saved." She gets baptized. She takes communion. She sings the songs, listens to the sermons. She's trained in "100% Effective Evangelism." She goes on a mission to Alaska--all faking it.

She's immersed into distinctively Southern Baptist beliefs about salvation, the end times, and evangelization.

She's intimately exposed to Thomas Roaders' views on abortion, Catholics, war, liberals, Fox News, sex, Mormons, guns, and the emergent church.

Perhaps more importantly, she's making friends--getting to know the person behind the eyes, of people not like herself. But... they're not really getting to know the real her.

She's afraid of getting found out.

She ponders the ethics of lying about what's the core of that which is cherished by people who have become her friends.

She helps "lead a child to Christ." In part, through participating in hellish evangelistic technique.

She ponders the ethics of that too.

She even somewhat ponders the significance of some of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth--and what that might look like without contemporary caricature and sociopolitical saddling.

In the Land of Believers is an incredibly well-written first book.

To understand a subject, one must view it from multiple perspectives. To understand a perspective, one must view multiple subjects from it.

Evangelicals interested in a secular young person's perspective on their beliefs and subculture might benefit from this book, especially those in Evangelical ministry hoping to explain their soteriology and eschatology to "the lost," or those bewildered by the experiences of a short-term missions trip.

Young secular readers might benefit as well, perhaps those living in the Bible Belt with their Evangelical friends and family who seem disgustingly bizarre and incomprehensible.

Perhaps people like author Gina Welch will help us see the others' points of view. And perhaps it may be, both Christian virtue and liberal ideals seem deeply empty...

Without empathy.

And honesty.

(This book review was done in participation of the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program: http://www.librarything.com/er/list) show less

While Welch is certainly not the first writer to take this approach to understanding evangelical Christians (in fact, Kevin Roose was undercover at Falwell’s Liberty University writing The Unlikely Disciple at the same time that she was at TRBC), her approach is the most successful one I’ve found because she really does enter the experience as a true outsider with fresh eyes, and she stays long enough to form lasting relationships (Roose was only at Liberty for a semester). The show more ethnological aspects of In the Land of Believers are intelligent and insightful, and Welch’s reflections on her struggle to understand how she could come to feel deeply attached to a group of people whose fundamental tenets she finds unbelievable and occasionally frightening are fascinating.

In the Land of Believers is a book for anyone looking for a deeper understanding of evangelical Christians (or just a really great read). It is a portrait of community that is both unique in its position atop the evangelical movement and stereotypical in its practices and beliefs, and it is a call for greater tolerance from both sides of the line. As a reader who grew up in mainline Protestant churches but who hasn’t practiced for some time and now find myself living in the south and surrounded by people who regularly inquire as to whether I’ve found Jesus, I saw bits of my own experiences within the pages of this book. But I think there’s something here for everyone, religious or not, and even evangelicals would do well to read this book, see themselves from the outside, and gain and understanding of how secular people experience them.

This is a remarkable, informative, fresh perspective on a topic that is familiar and a cultural movement that is undeniable and unavoidable. Welch is fair, kind, and balanced (perhaps I should say “fair and balanced?”) in both her presentation of TRBC’s members and her exploration of what it means for her own identity that she comes to love many of them, to mourn Dr. Falwell’s death, and to continue singing church songs long after she leaves. In the Land of Believers will probably land Gina Welch on many a prayer list, but I’m hopeful that it will put her on many “to-be-read” and “best of” lists as well.

Read my full review at The Book Lady's Blog. show less

The author of this book--a liberal, secular Jew with a Master's degree--decided to start attending Jerry Falwell's church in Lynchburg, Virginia so that she could come to a better understanding of what Evangelical Christians are about. SHe pretends to be a potential convert (and then an actual convert) so that she can fit in and see what really goes on and what the people are like. I found her story to be tremendously interesting and written in a sensitive but honest way.

I am a liberal show more Christian--not an Evangelical--so I could relate to some of her concerns about Falwell's beliefs (the role of women, abortion, etc.), and some of the practices of Falwell's church were certainly new to me as well. But it was also interesting to me to see how a non-believer who has never really been to church perceived a church service, the music, the attitude of the congregation to visitors, and the overall experience. I think this book could be interesting both to non-Christians who are curious about an unknown world and to Christians who want to see how outsiders perceive them.

The author finds that, although she does not share many of the beliefs of the church members, she nonetheless has things in common with them and that many of them are nice, genuine people. I appreciated that she went into the experience with an open mind and tried not to be mocking or judgmental (even when she must have wanted to roll her eyes). I thought she found a nice balance between describing the events, and her reactions to them, honestly, and in describing them in a way that the church members probably would not find too offensive. She says that her mission was to promote tolerance between liberals and Evangelicals, and I think the book really shows that attitude. show less

Gina Welch, in an attempt to gain a better understanding of evangelical Christians, pretends to be interested in learning about Christianity (later, when that gets her virtually nowhere, she pretends to be a convert and is even baptized). Although she never espouses the beliefs of Thomas Road Baptist Church (made famous because of its founder, Jerry Falwell, who dies during Ms. Welch's study), she does make some genuine friends and realizes that evangelicals aren't nearly as alien as she show more thought.

I come at this book differently than the author does; I once drank the kool-aid and was an evangelical Christian myself for several years. It was interesting to see a non-believer's take on the whole spectacle (and, really, it is one - I was pentecostal, and that denomination can be certifiably crazy).

Although I agree, to a point, with the whole "we just need to understand one another" vibe of the book, there are some problems to the whole peace, love, and understanding conclusion. The first was experienced by Ms. Welch herself: until she pretended to be "saved," she couldn't go anywhere in the church. She never would have made her close friends had she continued to simply be interested in the church or religion; you have to go full-force into the lion's den. Otherwise, all you are ever seen as is a potential convert. You aren't a person. And I say this from my personal experience, both as a (FORMER) evangelical and as the one tossed outside of the circle because I wasn't a sheep (I don't mean that offensively; I was literally called a goat more than once).

Secondly, it's relatively easy for Ms. Welch to gloss over the rampant homophobia present in evangelical circles. She does mention it a few times, but like the "disbelief" in climate change, it's not a central issue. And I didn't expect it to be; she's not gay. However, I am, and I've seen the ugly face of Christianity that Ms. Welch just didn't see because of it.

Altogether, the book is okay, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. show less