Bestselling author, speaker, and former evangelical power-voice Jen Hatmaker is revisiting the year that reshaped her life, faith, and public standing. In a candid reflection, Hatmaker names 2016 as both the height of her influence within evangelical Christianity-and the moment she says she was effectively "canceled."
At the time, Hatmaker was a ubiquitous presence in evangelical spaces: filling conference halls, publishing widely read books, partnering with global justice organizations, and commanding a massive online following. She describes that season as one of professional momentum, deep friendships, and personal stability, including what was then more than two decades of marriage.
That world unraveled quickly.
In 2016, Hatmaker publicly affirmed LGBTQ inclusion, stating she would attend and celebrate a same-sex wedding. The announcement sent shockwaves through conservative Christian communities. Within days, major evangelical retailers pulled her books from their shelves, longtime ministry partnerships dissolved, and speaking invitations vanished. Relationships she had assumed were rooted in shared faith abruptly went silent.
"I lost my entire career in one phone call," Hatmaker later reflected-summarizing the speed and totality of the fallout.
Her theological shift coincided with outspoken criticism of political developments within evangelicalism, further accelerating her estrangement from the spaces that once celebrated her. For many supporters, Hatmaker's stance represented moral courage; for critics, it marked a departure from historic evangelical teaching. Either way, the consequences were immediate and enduring.
The years that followed brought further upheaval. In 2020, Hatmaker and her husband divorced after 27 years of marriage, a separation she has described as unexpected and devastating. She also began speaking openly about her evolving relationship with the church, eventually stepping away from institutional Christianity altogether-while maintaining that her spiritual connection to Jesus remains intact.
Today, Hatmaker's work occupies a markedly different landscape. Her writing and public voice now engage audiences beyond evangelicalism, addressing themes of deconstruction, justice, grief, resilience, and spiritual honesty. Rather than rebuilding her former platform, she has embraced a new vocation shaped by loss, re-orientation, and what she describes as a refusal to live untruthfully.
Hatmaker's reflection on being "canceled" is not framed as bitterness, but as testimony. It highlights the fragile nature of belonging in faith-based celebrity culture and exposes the cost of dissent in tightly bounded religious systems. Her story continues to spark conversation about authority, inclusion, and the price of integrity in modern Christian life.
As debates over faith, politics, and identity continue to fracture religious communities, Hatmaker's journey stands as a vivid case study in what happens when conviction collides with power-and what it takes to survive when the applause stops.
