Customer Reviews

Churched: One Kid's Journey Toward God Despite a Holy Mess

5 star:		(44)
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1 star:		(3)

 

 

One of my favorite genres of literature to read is religious memoir. Off the top of my head, I can think of six or seven I've read in the last year - Frank Schaeffer's Crazy for God, Lauren Winner's Girl Meets God, Jon Sweeney's Born Again and Again, Barbara Brown Taylor's Leaving Church - A Memoir of Faith, and a couple from Frederick Buechner, The Sacred Journey, Now and Then, and Telling Secrets. Philip Yancey's Soul Survivor might also fit in that category. There are different things that I like about all of them. For some, it's seeing someone else who is close to the end of their journey, looking back at the things that happened in their lives that brought them to where they are now, like Buechner - on the back of his book The Longing for Home, there's a blurb from the New Oxford Review that says, "Journey on, Frederick Buechner. We need your stories to help us make sense of our own." Others, like Lauren Winner's and Donald Miller's, are thought provoking because they are a little further down the path I'm on, or at least a similar path. Schaeffer and Sweeney both come from a somewhat similar background in fundamentalism. Sweeney even begins one chapter in Born Again and Again: Surprising Gifts of a Fundamentalist Childhood by quoting part of a sermon by my Great Grandfather, John R. Rice. (Winner mentions Rice and his book Bobbed Hair, Bossy Wives, and Women Preachers in her chapter on Fundamentalism, but from an historian's perspective instead of a personal one.)

But while I can find similarities between their stories and my own, it's not often that I read someone who not only comes from a similar background but who also has many of the same stories, someone who heard the same preachers growing up (to say nothing of Patch the Pirate). Enter Matthew Paul Turner. I read Matthew's first book, the satiric Christian Culture Survival Guide, back when it was published, in 2004, and found it hilarious. After noticing his stories of Patch the Pirate and about a certain college founded by a friend of my Great Grandfather, with the name changed slightly, I sent him an e-mail. Turned out, he even heard my Great Grandfather preach when he was about 5 years old. In the 4 years since then, Matthew has written ten or twelve books. His newest - his first hardback - is due to hit stores on October 7th. Churched: One Kid's Journey Towards God Despite a Holy Mess is his first memoir, and hopefully the first of several. He sent it to me after he finished the final draft about four months ago, and I read it in two days. And it resonated with me, not only because Matthew started out in a similar place, but because we are both in about the same place now, more so than with any other memoir I've read.

Matthew's trademark humor is evident throughout, although much of it is a little painful because it is so close to the truth. For instance, when he writes about his pastor telling the church how he can spot sin in another person's life just by looking in their eyes, Matthew recounts, "For a fundamentalist, spotting sin was like going to Disney World." And after enduring the yelling of a Sunday school teacher, Matthew ends the story with, "That's when I began seeing a therapist."
On Sunday school: "I was trained in Sunday school to spot the Devil. My teachers told me to watch out for roaring lions, disgruntled angels, women wearing low-cut blouses, and Billy Graham." On his pastor: "Pastor Nolan's sermons were cruel and unusual punishment for people who had imaginations, sensitive eardrums, or someplace better to be." And, on movies: "A few months later Pastor Nolan proved my mother's theory about Hollywood correct. Or at least, he supported it. He preached to my junior church class and told us that it didn't matter if a person went to see a porn movie or Bambi, all of the money eventually trickled down to fund people who made the X-rated stuff.
I didn't know what pornography was, but the way Pastor Nolan described it, I was pretty sure miniskirts were involved."

The book closes with a chapter Matthew has titled "Benediction." The first words you read in the chapter are, "Fundamentalism has little to do with Jesus." And I'd have to agree, at least the brand of Fundamentalism that Matthew and I grew up with. It wasn't about Jesus or Hope or Resurrection or a better way, it was about scaring people until they looked and acted exactly like us.

In his 20's, for the first time, he tells us, Matthew found a small community in Maryland where he found hope, "a Jesus kind of hope." He writes, "The pastor wasn't the most dynamic preacher, not according to fundamentalism standards, but every time he spoke about the good news, he cried. He felt something. He couldn't always communicate the hope effectively, but he felt it. I had moments when I felt it, too... [F]or the first time in my life, I worshipped God without feeling afraid."

The chapter, and the book, ends with a sentence that I've been quoting every time I've told friends about the book. It sums up a key difference between what Matthew and I grew up believing, and what we believe now. Fundamentalism is about fear. And if I had to give you one word to sum up what I believe now, it would be "hope."

In Matthew's words, "Last Sunday Jessica and I went to church. It was Easter. A couple people got baptized. The guy sitting next to me took two smoke breaks. I closed my eyes during the praise and worship. Pete gave a sermon about hope. We took communion.
I wasn't afraid."

What I liked most about this book was how evenhanded it was. The author is not a blamer. He understood why his parents chose the fundamentalist church they did, and they are portrayed as caring, loving people who really felt they were taking the right route for this children. Turner's slow realization that the church is flawed is revealed so calmly and in such a matter of fact way. The last straw, although he doesn't call it that, is realizing that the church leaders are counting souls saved like accountants, and fudging figures here and there. Another touching moment in the book is when, out to save souls door to door, Turner meets a woman whose love of God doesn't involve fear, and he realizes for the first time that is a possibility.

I also liked it that even at the end, Turner hasn't found an ideal church, and isn't even sure one exists, but he knows he loves God and needs to belong to a church community. This kind of quiet testimony is a wonderful thing to read for those of us in similar situations.

In the present age, the word "fundamentalist" is thrown around so much that it has become a caricature. Matthew Paul Turner's memoir is likely to reinforce many outsider's stereotypes of fear-reveling Baptist fundamentalism, but it will also put a human face on it, no matter how tragically comic that face might be.

"Gettin' to Glory is what our lives were all about." Here begins a sometimes scary, hilarious and introspective retelling of Matthew Turner's Baptist youth. In recalling various memories - a sermon on the evils of Whitney Houston, the sunday-school teacher's "Barbie burning fiasco," the competition to save souls in under 90 minutes - Turner makes comedy out of a quite bizarre upbringing. (In fact, the feel he creates is much the feel of movies like "A Christmas Story," with a sarcastic and introspective kid tells the story of his strange existence.)

A reviewer below wonders who the target market of this book is. Yes, fundamentalists will dislike it for the negative light it casts on them. However, this book will most certianly appeal to a liberal Christian base who, like our author, can look at fundamentalism as having it wrong. (In full disclosure, I am an atheist with a liberal Lutheran fiancee, and both of us very much liked the book.)

The reason, however, that I could not give five stars to "Churched," was that, at a little over 200 pages, I found it a bit too short and episodic. Not only do we jump from sixth grade to 9th grade in half a chapter, but occasionally, it even happens that we skip - unchronologically- from a later to an earlier memory. Also, while Turner ultimately rejects fundamentalism, we hear virtually nothing about his jouney. In the second to last chapter, he is a believing Baptist (with a doubt here or there). In the last chapter, it is many years later and he is not a Baptist. I wish the book would have focused a little more on the 'in between' years - his progression from Baptist faith to a more liberal view. In brief, the book could have been longer and a bit more thorough.

In the end, Turner concludes that "Fundamentalism has little to do with Jesus." He can certainly say it with authority because, as we can see, he lived it and breathed it. And his is a journey that's as entertaining as it is astonishing.

As you may have figured out, the author of Churched was "trapped" in a fundamentalist church during his childhood. To be specific, an "Independent Fundamentalist Baptist" church. His family left the Methodist church when he was four and joined an IFB church where he attended until his graduation from high school. The author writes from the perspective of his younger self, immersed in a fundamentalist church. This is a clever way to make the church he attended and his family and friends look more bizarre and clueless than they likely were, but it is not meant to give the church, his family and friends a fair hearing. From the perspective of a four year old or a seven year old, any organized human endeavor is going to have some bizarre appearances (think, for example, of a jury trial or AA meetings). This perspective plays to the humor angle of the book but detracts from its substance.

The youth perspective is accompanied by an avalanche of snarky asides and comments the author adds to his anecdotes throughout. Some made me smirk and a couple made me laugh. Most were so-so. Although the writer is not without talent, the onslaught of snarkiness proves unrelenting.

Also, the childhood anecdotes left me wondering how, as a child, the author knew the inner thoughts and motivations of so many adults. For example, when his Mom lectured him on this or that subject, he knew exactly what her unspoken motivations were. As another example, the author also knows that the ushers in his church only volunteered for the job so they could avoid listening to the sermon. Indeed, all of the church members who volunteered to do something that occurred during the service only did so to avoid hearing the preacher preach. Perhaps this was true of some, but it seems far fetched -- based on my own upbringing in a conservative Church and service as an adult -- that this was true for all of the volunteers. Thinking back to when I was four and five and even seven, I would not trust myself nearly as much as this author to accurately gauge the hearts of so many people.

Does the book work as a caution about a fundamentalist upbringing? I doubt it. The church the author was raised in, if accurately portrayed, goes much further in its fundamentalism than most fundamentalists I know (and I have known plenty). The author apparently was exposed to teachings and ideas that were unsuitable for him and with which I disagree. While I can relate to some of his complaints (such as the focus on the "end times" discouraging hope for joys in life, such as marriage and children), overall, I do not see that this book offers much guidance on the subject. There is no real discussion of doctrine or exploration of how early is too early to stress even undisputed doctrines to children. Churched will likely reinforce negative stereotypes for those who already have them and result in a "my church is not nearly that fundamentalist" from conservative Christians.

Will the book speak to people who suffered like the author did but want to know Jesus in a vibrant new way? Sadly, I do no think so. There likely is a market of people who had too harsh of a religious upbringing and want to know and love Jesus in a new way. However, this book does not deliver. The back cover suggests an explanation of how the author "falls in love with Jesus" despite the travails of his upbringing, but the author seems to feel distant from Jesus even in adulthood. There is no "growth" in the book. We follow the author from four to seven, then kind of jump to high school briefly. Then he is an adult wandering from church to church. Did he really get to know Jesus? If so, how? These things are not explained or -- that I could tell -- narrated by anecdote. There may be hints, but nothing more.

Is Churched effective as a piece of humor? Not in my opinion. The author has some talent in that regard and some of his asides and commentary are funny. Perhaps a magazine piece rather than a book on the subject would play to the author's strengths. The sheer number of so-so or ineffective asides and comments prove so relentless that the effectiveness of the ploy is diminished and even the funny lines grow tedious.

Here's my beef with this book: it's anti-church and seems almost mean-spirited in belittling the "fundamentalists" that attended the church that Turner and his parents attended. Not to say that Christians are all wonderful, warm people...they're not. But it is one thing to say they're not, "but God and I love them anyway." It's quite another to ridicule them unmercifully for 220 pages.

And there wasn't a "happy ending" where Turner makes peace with his background, his church and his God. In fact, he doesn't write much about God at all...only the people who try to (or claim to try to) follow Him. The subtitle is a bit misleading; it should be "one kid's journey to get away from the fundamentalists."

If you want a Christian memoir that will make you laugh, and remind you how corny some Christians can be, but also inspire you and push/pull you closer to God, then read Donald Miller's "Blue Like Jazz." I think that's the book Turner hopes to write when he grows up. But "Churched" isn't it, and frankly I would give it a pass if I was you.

I grew up in a Baptist church, though no where near as ridiculous as MPT's church. His sacrasm made me laugh and his stories seem all too familiar.

The last few pages of the book made me cry because I am a pastor. It made me angry and sad at the same time to see how he felt about pastors. Angry because he had been led by such an iron rod and sad because I saw his hurt.

May God never allow me to be the super-human, unaproachable, demanding prophet he descirbes. Thank you Pastor Miller (my pastor of 20 years) for not being him either.

Good things I have to say about this book:

While Turner paints a horrific picture of fundamentalism as a whole, he miraculously does it without putting an ounce of blame on the people in his life. He portrays his parents as good, loving people despite their misguided spirituality. The only person in the book who gets a harsh treatment is Pastor Nolan.

In addition, there were some truly funny parts of the book. They were few and far between, but I really did laugh out loud a couple time. And, I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but I finished the book in one evening. I bought a couple of Turner's books, and I've noticed that I always finish them in one sitting.

Bad things I have to say about this book:

For such a fascinating and unique story, Turner offers little to no insight. He sort of just goes along giving a factual account of what happened. Some people may see that as a good thing, but I walked away from the book feeling like I had learned very little. He saves any remarks on his adult spirituality until the last few paragraphs, and even then the thoughts are disorganized and incomplete.

All in all, the book was average. If I had to compare it to a food, I'd say it's a bag of Doritos.. tastes good, passes the time, but in the end it's not going to satisfy you.

This book, which is basically a loose-knit collection of rather witty and awkwardly funny childhood experiences gleaned as the author grew up wide-eyed in a fundamentalist Protestant church is light and generally pleasurable, speedy reading. The humor, which is not infrequently deadpan and ironic, grows on a considerate reader.

The theme, which is truly enough to make practically any reader either laugh or cry (the author has chosen to endeavor to make readers laugh), is that fundamentalism nurtures a neurotic fear among its adherents (especially among exposed children) as, contrary to what its followers would doubtless claim, it seems to depict the Christian God as a kind of small-minded, narrow, wrathful, vengeful, petty Oriental despot eager to torture and fry folks in hell for eternity for even the most trivial of sins.

I would have possibly rated this book higher if the author had included an account of how he managed to keep growing spiritually and apparently eventually "escape" from the confines of strict fundamentalism to develop a more loving and bigger view of God after he grew up and became an adult in his thirties. Such an account could have made this book considerably more valuable to read -- beyond it being just "okay" entertainment-wise and quasi-amusing in what some other reviewer here accurately described as being somewhat in a "G-rated" manner.

For those picking up Matthew Paul Turner's Churched and expecting a diatribe against Fundamentalist Christianity, it would be better to turn somewhere else. Though Turner does portray the religion he was raised in negatively, his condemnation is rather gentle.

Churched is a memoir of Turner's childhood years belonging to the Independent Baptist Bible Church, which his family joined after being dissatisfied with being Methodist. Turner at the time was four years old, though you'd never believe it while reading the book: One of Churched's greatest failing is the narrative of Turner's early years. Turner recalls far more of his memories at that age than seems likely, and his four-year-old self is far too astute to be realistic.

This flaw aside, however, Churched is pretty well written. Turner treats his former church with a mixture of amusement and repugnance. The IBBC as he portrays it is an insular organization, protective of its own but fearful and hateful of outsiders. Anyone who doesn't meet their narrow definition of faith is condemned to Hell.

But unlike the documentary Jesus Camp, which is also about fundamentalism, Turner's version is less scary and more plain simplistic and silly. Maybe silly isn't exactly the right word, but it comes close enough. Despite years of attempted indoctrination, Turner was able to break free of his rigid church and find a faith that is real but less tied to any organization (though it was apparently not an epiphany that led him away but more of an erosive effect). And that's a key point of Churched: faith, in itself, is not inherently bad (or good); extremism, however (religious or otherwise) is a social ill.

He spent his childhood trapped within the confines of countless bizarre, strict rules. And lived to tell about it.

In this first-hand account, author Matthew Paul Turner shares amusing-sometimes cringe-worthy-and poignant stories about growing up in a fundamentalist household, where even well-intentioned contemporary Christian music was proclaimed to be "of the devil."
Churched is a collection of stories that detail an American boy's experiences growing up in a culture where men weren't allowed let their hair grow to touch their ears ("an abomination!"), women wouldn't have been caught dead in a pair of pants (unless swimming), and the pastor couldn't preach a sermon without a healthy dose of hellfire and brimstone. Matthew grapples with the absurdity of a Sunday School Barbie burning, the passionate annual boxing match between the pastor and Satan, and the holiness of being baptized a fifth time-while growing into a young man who, amidst the chaotic mess of religion, falls in love with Jesus.
I wanted to like this book. I couldn't wait for it to come. I dived right into it the minute I received it and...well. Let me start off by saying that it's a funny book to a lot of people. I know because I've read their reviews. Other reviewers loved this book. It's been tagged as poignant, hilarious, truthful and refreshing. Really? Am I reading the same book? Because I didn't get any of that out of this book. I got bored. Maybe because I am a lifelong Californian. Maybe you need to be from the bible belt to get this book. I didn't find the author compelling or even engaged in the story he is telling. AND it's his story. His memoir. If he isn't engaged in it then how can a reader get engaged? I may give this book a second chance as I was also reading the superb "Skin Map" simultaneously so maybe one outshone the other. I don't know. It's a great premise and has great promise but in this reviewers humble opinion it fell way short of the mark.
"I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review".