Relentless
Truth-telling
Sarah Stankorb is the author of Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion (Broadleaf/September 2026). The book explores trends from the 1980s to today and is an intimate account of women whose stories got missed during the Christian Right's headline-grabbing rise to power. Their story is one of exodus and escape, from harm, disillusionment, and institutions that betrayed their own moral standards.
Her first book, national bestseller Disobedient Women (Worthy Books/Hachette), was the culmination of years reporting about women who used the internet to call out abuse within their evangelical communities. The deeply researched work gives long-overdue recognition to the women who upturned their lives to speak out boldly, even as they were expected to submit and remain silent. (See the Publishers Weekly STARRED review.)
Sarah's articles and essays have appeared in publications including The Washington Post Magazine, Elle, TheNew York Times, The Washington Post, Vogue, Marie Claire, The Cut, Glamour, O Magazine, Longreads, Slate, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Newsweek, The Atavist, CNNMoney, GOOD Magazine, Salon, DAME Magazine, and Cincinnati Magazine. In 2024, she earned a best in-depth newswriting prize (3rd place) from the American Academy of Religion for “The Southern Baptist Church Ignored Its Abuse Crisis. She Exposed It”. In June 2018, she was awarded a Society of Professional Journalists’ Excellence in Journalism, Best Community Issues Story award for "Rape Culture Lives Here."
Her beat spans politics, religion, gender, and cultural commentary.
Sarah grew up in Northeast Ohio. Her influences include an upbringing in an area outsiders call the Rust Belt, among people who, despite everything the world had shown them, believed hard work would result in the American dream.
In various professional roles, she has worked to support people living with HIV/AIDS, environmental conservation, and workforce development.
She is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Religion News Association.
Sarah is a graduate of the University of Chicago's Divinity School, where she studied ethics and South Asian religion and history, and Westminster College, where she studied world religions and graduated with honors in philosophy. In 2017, she was awarded with Hamilton County Ohio’s “Friend of Recycling” award and in 2022 was among her town’s Citizens of the Year. For books, Sarah is represented by Kerry D’Agostino and for film, Alexandra Franklin both from Curtis Brown, Ltd.