While three separate councils assembled by Donald Trump have disbanded in the wake of his both-sides-ism following the white supremacist march in Charlottesville, the one group that has remained in place is his Evangelical Advisory Board.

Only one member has announced his resignation since last week: Pastor A.R. Bernard, who noted that he had unofficially left the group months ago.

It makes you wonder: What’s wrong with everyone else? Is there anything Trump can do that would push the other evangelical leaders away? How much will they put up with in exchange for more anti-abortion justices appointed to federal benches?

And why are members of their congregations going to church at all, lending their tacit support to everything Trump does, if they disagree with it? (Because, make no mistake, the Trump administration and white evangelical Christianity are fully intertwined at this point.)

Christopher Stroop‏, a former evangelical, thinks there’s only one thing that will convince these leaders to stop backing Trump: Their church members have to walk away. The loss of tithe money and the awful optics of a shrinking congregation is the only way they’ll ever change. To that end, he began the hashtag #EmptyThePews a couple of days ago to collect stories from evangelicals (and other ex-Christians) who walked away from their churches, explaining what the final straw was.

26. Now is the time to take a stand. Leave your congregation or your denomination and shout the reason from the rooftops. #EmptyThePews. End — Christopher Stroop (@C_Stroop) August 16, 2017

Here’s a sampling of what responders said:

I left America Evangelicalism, because of the election. I felt really betrayed by the church. #EmptyThePews — Emily Culella (@CulellaDeVille) August 17, 2017

Me! I left a church after the pastor said he wept for the future of our country when he saw the WH in rainbow colors. #EmptyThePews — Nathaniel (@Hoosier2012) August 17, 2017

#EmptyThePews I left organised religion behind after 9/11. I knew evangelicals would use it as an excuse to start wars. 45 made it worse — the north remembers (@Artem1sKalliste) August 17, 2017

I left Evangelicalism because I truly couldn’t reconcile queerness with demonic possession. Probably bc they’re unrelated. #EmptythePews — Sonja Alves (@redsonika) August 17, 2017

The trauma of the church accepting his sexual immorality was worse than my sexual assault. I'm in mourning. #emptythepews — Ms Cat. (@catherinemom23) August 17, 2017

When the pastor said "I can't tell you who to vote for, but…" #EmptyThePews — #Halaylah (@Halaylah) August 17, 2017

My husband worked for a church. Was fired last summer for criticizing Trump + Franklin Graham on FB. #EmptyThePews — S. E. Kesselring (@CaffeineAuthor) August 17, 2017

When Evangelicals pulled their support of needy children around the world after World Vision announced an LGBT friendly policy #EmptyThePews — Mandi Liv (@mandilivingston) August 17, 2017

When a pregnant teen was forced to stand in front of our church and confess her sin of premarital sex. Nail in the coffin. #EmptyThePews https://t.co/8SwkP49HK1 — Renae Grace (@MsRenaeGrace) August 17, 2017

When my male Christian professor asked me why I would go to grad school since I planned to get married. Nail in the coffin. #EmptyThePews https://t.co/8SwkP4riBz — Renae Grace (@MsRenaeGrace) August 17, 2017

When Presbyterians allowed LGBT clergy, my church switched to a new denomination created specifically to keep LGBT clergy out #EmptythePews — Lauren O'Neal (@laureneoneal) August 17, 2017

Knew this as early as age 10 when my church was sending missionaries to 'save' ppl who already had a god. #EmptyThePews https://t.co/18n4DyAHtB — Fresh Outrage Daily (@PineAndPasture) August 17, 2017

my last day at Orlando @FLUMC was when members passed around racist Obama fake dollar bill for laughs b4 the service #EmptyThePews @UMChurch — Lorena P Matejowsky (@LorieMatejowsky) August 17, 2017

I'm sorry. This is the Christianity I grew up with, so I left earlier and am not surprised at Evangelical Trumpism: https://t.co/qZhVTc2QmK — Christopher Stroop (@C_Stroop) August 17, 2017

We were told AS KIDS to redirect/shut down any talk of priests assaulting kids, but LGBTQ ppl were fair game as "perverse" #EmptythePews — (((L. Greco))) (@quijotescx) August 18, 2017

Denouncing white supremacy and racism is too political but condemning LGBTQ Christians is a yearly sermon. #EmptythePews — Nicole Obert (@nicoleobert) August 17, 2017

It’s a lot of disturbing stuff. And sadly, there’s so much more where these came from right here.

The more people who share their stories, the better. And maybe, eventually, some of the people who remain in the pews will take the hint.

