How to Leave the Mormon Church - w/ Alyssa Grenfell | Ep. 1851 (@alyssadgrenfell)

How to Leave the Mormon Church: A Practical Guide for the Faith Crisis Generation

Leaving a high-demand religious group is never simple. For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, departing from the faith often means navigating fractured family relationships, identity reconstruction, and deeply ingrained behavioral patterns that persist long after belief has faded. A new book addressing precisely this challenge has emerged as a potential landmark text for those exiting Mormonism. Released in early 2024, How to Leave the Mormon Church by Alyssa Grenfell represents a practical, step-by-step approach to post-Mormon life that differs fundamentally from earlier critical works focused on doctrinal deconstruction.

Understanding how people actually leave, and how they rebuild their lives afterward, matters far beyond Mormon studies. It speaks to broader questions about religious exit, identity reformation, and the psychological toll of leaving insular communities. For researchers, family members of those questioning their faith, and ex-members themselves, this book signals a maturation in post-Mormon literature from defensive critique to constructive guidance.

Background: The Evolution of Anti-Mormon Literature

The landscape of critical Mormon literature has changed dramatically over the past decade. Jeremy Runnells' CES Letter (2013) became the standard reference for faith-crisis arguments, presenting theological and historical problems with extraordinary density and accessibility. Yet the CES Letter operates primarily as a deconstruction tool, it answers the question "why should I stop believing?"

What it does not address is the lived experience of actually leaving: managing family estrangement, redefining sexuality after decades of religious shame, deciding whether to drink coffee, or rebuilding personal identity without institutional scaffolding. Grenfell's work fills that gap.