What Stays When You Leave Adventism: A Conversation with Author Sally McMillan

Beyond The Remnant Episode 8 we discuss the Sanctuary Doctrine, focusing on chapters 12 and 13 of Sigve Tonstad's book, Beyond The Remnant.

What parts of a faith stay with you after you leave? In Sally McMillan’s novel My Name Is Allen White, a young man raised in a prominent Adventist family has questions about science that take him beyond the church. His choices strain his relationship with his father, but ultimately, leaving behind certain beliefs does not erase the values and habits that shaped him. Allen’s story is fiction, inspired in part by Sally’s late brother. It also echoes parts of her own journey. Sally left Adventism roughly twenty years ago, then returned to its history, language, and tensions while writing the book. In this PodlyWomen conversation, host Natalie talks with Sally about the family experiences behind the novel, Adventism’s unease with books and ideas that challenge the denomination’s worldview, and how she navigated life after leaving the denomination. What can you carry forward from a religious upbringing, and how do you find community and spiritual meaning when your relationship with that upbringing changes? Resources: Learn more about Sally’s work at sallyjmcmillan.com. Sally’s book is available on BookShop and Amazon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel here:https://www.youtube.com/@spectrummagazine1969 Follow us on Instagram. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected]. About Sally McMillan: Sally J. McMillan is the author of My Name Is Allen White, a novel inspired in part by her late brother and her Adventist upbringing. A former communication professor and university administrator, she now writes fiction, essays, poetry, and journalism. She lives in Seattle.

Beyond The Remnant Episode 7 traces the dynamic development of Sabbath theology in Adventist history and meditates on the Sabbath as God’s commitment to the world before it comes with a commandment.

When does one bad decision become an institutional failure? In August, Good Good Golf released an advertisement showing male co-founder Garrett Clark shoving a female golfer-content creator, Alexis Miestowsk, to the ground over a golf club. The video was removed after widespread criticism, but it had already been conceived, filmed, edited, approved, and published. How did so many people fail—or feel unable—to object? Similar questions arise within churches, where spiritual authority, denominational and institutional loyalty, and concern for a ministry’s reputation can make it difficult for women to report harassment or abuse, and even harder for them to be believed. The investigations surrounding retired Adventist pastor John Bridges and the story told in Netflix’s Death of a Pastor’s Wife raise concerning questions about who gets protected when allegations involve pastors or other church leaders. The Podly Women, joined by their first male guest, discuss when individual misconduct points to a larger cultural problem; how institutions normalize, overlook, or conceal harm; and why policies alone cannot protect women when the surrounding culture discourages people from speaking. What would meaningful accountability look like? And what would change if protecting people were treated as central to the church’s mission? Resources: End It Now North America (Seventh-day Adventist initiative to prevent and respond to abuse) National Domestic Violence Hotline Raising Voices (Resources to end violence towards women) Subscribe to our YouTube channel here:https://www.youtube.com/@spectrummagazine1969 Follow us on Instagram. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected]. About our panel: Natalie Bruzon is a journalist and editor whose writing explores religion, politics, and life inside—and just outside—Adventism. Trudy Morgan-Cole is a historical fiction author from St. John’s, Newfoundland, and a recently retired educator. Her novels include works set in Newfoundland and reimaginings of biblical stories.

Beyond The Remnant Episode 6 discusses how race, sex, and gender belong in that same conversation in Adventism and why truthful testimony on these topics is key to remnant identity.

Can an imagined story tell the truth? Suspicion of fiction has been part of the Adventist ethos since the denomination’s earliest years. Ellen White warned that fiction could inflame the imagination, distract readers from practical responsibilities, and weaken their interest in the Bible. Generations of Adventists were discouraged from reading novels. Some may even have stories of burning or discarding fictional books we already owned. But was Ellen White condemning all fiction, or the sensational, escapist literature of her time? And what might Adventism have lost by teaching people to distrust imagination? The Podly Women explore their own experiences with fiction in Adventist homes, schools, and churches; the difference between depicting immorality and endorsing it; and whether stories can deepen empathy, complicate our heroes, challenge our assumptions, and reveal truths that nonfiction cannot. Related listening: Romance Novels: Is It Porn? Mentioned in this episode: Watch the video essay Ella discussed Subscribe to our YouTube channel here:https://www.youtube.com/@spectrummagazine1969 Follow us on Instagram. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected]. About our panel: Natalie Bruzon is a journalist and editor whose writing explores religion, politics, and life inside—and just outside—Adventism. Trudy Morgan-Cole is a historical fiction author from St. John’s, Newfoundland, and a recently retired educator. Her novels include works set in Newfoundland and reimagining of biblical stories. Ella Quijada is a SPECTRUM Campus Connect columnist studying psychology at Southern Adventist University, with a pre-medical emphasis and minors in Spanish, chemistry, and biology.

Episode 5 examines whether health is a theological concern, why the body is a sacrament, and who the health message really is for.

Is Nara Smith a tradwife? Not according to her. Nara’s recent interview with Alex Cooper on Call Her Daddy reignited the internet’s debate over whether she has built her brand on tradwife aesthetics while rejecting the label, and whether her denial amounts to gaslighting her audience. The Podly Women use Smith’s interview and this summer’s buzziest novel, Yesteryear, as launching points for a broader conversation about tradwife culture. Is it an ideology, an aesthetic, or both? Why has it become so appealing, and what messages does it carry about femininity, womanhood, and a woman’s identity? Join the Podly Women as they explore the cultural phenomenon of traditional womanhood, and what we lose when a complicated conversation becomes a label. Subscribe to our YouTube channel here:https://www.youtube.com/@spectrummagazine1969 If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected] About our panel: Natalie Bruzon is a journalist and editor, a mom of two young kids, and a Union Adventist University grad.  Ezrica Bennett, a writer and graduate student at Claremont School of Theology, Oakwood University grad.  Trudy Morgan-Cole is a noted historical fiction author and a recently retired educator and Andrews University grad.  Sofia Lindgren is a fabulous twenty-five-year-old, office manager of SPECTRUM Magazine, and Pacific Union College grad.

In Episode 4, we discuss why the Greek “pistis Iēsou Christou” should be translated as “the faithfulness of Jesus Christ,” rather than “faith in Jesus Christ,” and how that reshapes our understanding of God.

Episode 3 discusses good Sabbath theology, which begins with the Sabbath healings in the Gospel of John.