Growing up a church kid is tough, and being a Christian in this world is not for the faint of heart. In a spiritual tug-of-war, there is a battle between living for God and finding acceptance. Is it possible to live a set-apart life, and have a seat at the cool kids' table? In a humorous and let's-just-be-honest approach, Elyse Murphy goes on record about struggling through her teen and young adult years just trying to find her place. In Confessions of a Church Kid, Murphy reminds us that Jesus still loves us, awkward mishaps and all. -- Amazon.com.
Born into an evangelical church family, Ronna rebels, believing she can walk away, unscathed. Ronna is forced to examine her joyless existence and find the courage to stand on her own. In the process, she falls in love with her own life.
The Uncomfortable Confessions of a Preacher's Kid offers a raw, darkly humorous look into religious cults, the familial effects of closeted homosexuality and reclamation of sexual power in middle age.
It's never too early to learn the timeless promises of the Bible.365 Confessions for Kids empowers children through their own words to believe God's promises.Not just a prayer book or Bible story, this practical, daily tool is filled with imaginative illustrations ideal for hiding the Word of God in hearts of children.
A hilarious collection of stories about growing up as preacher's kids! The authors prove that a good sense of humor helps put everything in better perspective-including that wonderful institution called the Church. Fun cover, clever illustrations-and a theme that almost everyone in our society can relate to at some level-makes this a great impulse purchase! You will laugh until you cry as you read this "tell-all" about growing up in the church from two guys who witnessed it all from the very front row. Stories that will have you rolling in the aisles include: "Special Music: What to Do When It's Not So Special" "The Day Our Dog 'King' Got Saved" "The Church Softball League: Pansies Need Not Apply" "The Night Chad Got on Fire for the Lord."
A heart-warming childhood memoir about the son of a Dutch Reformed preacher, Reformed sweeps us into a young boy's world of trials and redemption. Tornados, disabled siblings, death, guns, fears of losing his mother, and the mysteries of sex are challenges Karl faces before he is ten years old. He wrestles with the moral and theological puzzles that shape his world. Sometimes his conclusions challenge the status quo. When bad decisions lead to delinquency and crime, he must learn how to respond as flashes of truth and grace ignite in him the first flames of faith. Without self-pity, nostalgic sentiment, or indictment of his past, Petersen's stories--vivid, candid, and humorous--draw us into his quirky family of ten in a time before iPads.
"What They Did to the Kid" is a memoir spinning as a comic novel for general-fiction readers intrigued by boys' school tales, and baby boomers who "survived Catholic school." Ryan O'Hara, coming of age from 14 to 24, is the wise adolescent narrating readers' entry into the secret culture of 1950's altar boys who go to the seminary, meet priests, and must decide their own identities. The novel's interior ticking covers the clock and calendar of boys' emerging consciences and edgy consciousness. "The San Francisco Chronicle" says, "Jack Fritscher reads gloriously." Strong characters and snappy dialog propel the character-driven plot of male-dominant pecking order. At Misericordia Seminary (aptly nicknamed "Misery"), Ryan O'Hara exposes his own story. He's trapped for oxygen-with 500 other boys-by the imperial Rector Karg, the disciplinarian Father Gunn "of the USMC," the tart Father Polistina, and the rebel-priest Chris Dryden "who knows Fellini and JFK." The storytelling Irish-American author gives each ensemble character-hero or villain, student or priest, man or woman-a rich back story. Black civil rights of the 60's as well as three interesting women characters open this tale out of the suffocating seminary and on to the hot streets of Chicago's South Side and Old Town. The compelling psychological drama hinges on the very source and aspirations of priestly vocation versus self-esteem. "Is God calling me-and what about chastity? Or is it just the 'Bali Hai' of blind ambition and social climbing-and what about sex?" Fritscher makes deeper than usual sense of soulful coming-of-age material. The hearty supply of boarding school episodes cumulatively reveals the dueling dynamic between the boyish protagonist, Ryan O'Hara, and the callous ambition of the handsome bully, Tank Rimsky, as they fight toward the finish line of "manly men's" ordination to the priesthood. "The hardest thing to be in America today is a man." The novel is based on an under-reported story: the Catholic Church recruited 200,000 boys into seminaries in the 1950's. Only 20,000 were ordained. "Kid" details, in a nostalgic and not unkind take what happened to the missing 180,000 boys and the women and men in their families. Daring to step inside Catholic culture, without being parochial, this American story reveals the 1950's roots of 21st-century "recovering Catholic" panic and angst. The millions of post-Catholic baby boomers who have exited the Church will compare notes and laugh knowingly at the dead-on characterizations. Fashionably anti-Catholic campers will say, "but, of course " Readers might catalog "Kid" in the genre of "Young Torless, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," and "Lord of the Flies." Before now, no one of the surviving 180,000 ex-seminarians has dared reveal this insider confession on the secret milieu of the Catholic education of priests. From interviews with more than a hundred former seminarians, Jack Fritscher uniquely stages their true story arcs with wit, verve, and comedy. "What They Did to the Kid" is the fourth novel from Jack Fritscher whose twelve books have sold more than 100,000 copies. Jack Fritscher is a graduate of the prestigious Pontifical College Josephinum, a Roman Catholic seminary, located in Columbus, Ohio, and directly subject to the Vatican in Rome. He received his doctorate in American Literature from Loyola University, Chicago.
Confessions of a Preacher's Daughter, is a memoir that delves into the internal struggles in the life of a young lady growing up as a preacher's daughter. After years of emotional and physical recklessness, she searches deep within to figure out the question, "Why me?"A preacher's kid shouldn't have this many struggles, and the family unit should be one filled with love and longevity. Journey with Tameka through years of her life as she shares intimate feelings and experiences brought on by others and some she caused herself. Let her story be a testimony and an inspiration to help heal, bless, and prosper you in the current season of your life.
