My Exodus: Leaving the Slavery of Religion, Loving the Image of God in Everyone

Despite the shocking subtitle, Chambers, former president of ex-gay ministry Exodus International, does not recount a transition away from Christianity in this cautious memoir. Rather, he tells the story of his earliest introduction to ex-gay ministries as he struggled with his own attractions to other men. Eventually, he marries a woman and comes to head Exodus, until he ceases its operations under pressures both from former participants alleging damage and from more conservative Christians who oppose Chambers’s rhetorical shift away from curing homosexuality and toward a more expansive, grace-focused Christianity. This memoir offers little on Chambers’s childhood, and tales of his non-professional life only appear to reflect on his work before and after Exodus. The scant moments of candor about his marriage or family life feel somewhat disjointed and do not offer a complete picture. A few chapters written by his wife appear in the middle but only serve to whet the appetite for hearing more of her side of the story. This memoir will appeal to those wanting to understand the demise of Exodus but will leave readers with questions about Chambers’s post-Exodus views. (Sept.)