Over the
last year or so, I have fallen in love with Rachel Held Evans’ writings because
I find myself saying “me too!” as she tells her experiences growing up in the evangelical
church. She fell in love with Jesus,
studied furiously, and was intoxicated with certainty. Eventually, though, the questions that had
easy, satisfying answers became unsatisfying. Answers regarding faith, science, feminism, historical criticism, doctrine vs. compassion
suddenly seemed trite and shallow. Being
plugged in to the church sometimes feels like being assimilated, checking your
brain at the door, the force of a choice that really shouldn’t have to be made.
In her
latest book, Searching for Sunday: Loving
Leaving and Finding the Church, she tells her story of growing up
evangelical and the spiritual struggles that followed, including leaving the
church, and then looking for a church she could belong in. She tells her story through the sacraments:
baptism, confession, holy orders, communion, confirmation, anointing of the
sick, and marriage. She draws on the
good that comes from her upbringing as well as the shifts her spiritual
journey has taken by weaving it through the sacraments.
I thoroughly
enjoyed her story and the weaving in of traditions and spiritual
encouragement. It seemed that the
subtitle is a little misleading – she has not yet finished experiencing the ‘finding’
part. Perhaps that is what seems most authentic,
her lack of agenda to lead the reader to the same finish line, which she still
has yet to locate.
Disclaimer I received a complimentary copy of this book
from Thomas Nelson publishing in exchange for my honest review.
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