Matthew Paul Turner is a social and cultural commentator for today. The author of The Christian Culture Survival Guide and The Coffeehouse Gospel, he has also served as editor-in-chief for CCM, the nation's leading Christian entertainment magazine, and music and entertainment editor for Crosswalk.com, the world's largest Christian website. Matthew is also a frequent contributor to Relevant magazine. He and his wife, Jessica, live in Nashville, Tennessee.
"Churched is funny, poignant, and surprisingly moving. In this deft
story of his fundamentalist upbringing Matthew Paul Turner
proclaims the good news: that even church can't drown out the
message of Jesus."
-Sara Miles, author of Take This Bread "Turner's churched lives in
that elusive space between whimsical memories of an innocent youth
and cringe-inducing flashbacks of life growing up in the church.
Like a visit with long-lost relatives, churched reintroduced me to
characters anyone who grew up in the church will find familiar, and
I was surprised to find that I was glad to see them. Sweet-hearted,
funny, and honest, churched had me reminiscing about the little boy
searching for God that I once was and gently reminded me I still
have some miles to travel."
-Dan Merchant, writer/director of Lord, Save Us From Your
Followers
"Thanks to churched, Matthew Paul Turner's vivid, often hilarious
account of his childhood, I realized that not having grown up in
evangelical culture is less of a handicap than I previously
thought!"
-Andrew Beaujon, author of Body Piercing Saved My Life and writer
for the Washington Post
"Turner crafts an amusing field guide to fundamentalism that's both
a gentle lampoon of hypocrisy and misplaced fervor, and a model of
how to survive being 'churched' without cynically rejecting the
good with the bad, the Founder with his followers."
-Anna Broadway, author of Sexless in the City
"Matthew Paul Turner's memoir has the insight of Anne Lamott and
the comic honesty of David Sedaris. His stories force us to wonder
which of our Christian beliefs and practices come from scripture
and which spring up out of our own preferences and fears."
-Rob Stennett, author of The Almost True Story Of Ryan Fisher
"Finally! A bona-fide humorist in the North American church! I
might be tempted to say Matthew Paul Turner is Christendom's answer
to David Sedaris, but Matthew stands on his own without the
comparison. A memoirist who doesn't take himself or the world too
seriously, but still manages to write profoundly and beautifully,
Turner gave me a belly-laugh on almost every page. If you grew up
believing 'being conformed not to this world' meant being the
weirdest kid on the block, churched will be the funniest book
you've read in years!" -Lisa Samson, award-winning author of Quaker
Summer, Embrace Me and Justice in the Burbs
"With his homespun humor and eye for living detail, Matthew Paul
Turner's churched invites readers to rethink the quirks of
Christian culture for the sake of uncovering that which is
lastingly good and worth holding dear. Turner's work is a
refreshingly gentle discussion of faith and culture with the
potential to spark meaningful conversations."
-Pete Gall, author of My Beautiful Idol "If you didn't think
Jesus-loving fundamentalist kids were very funny, Matthew Paul
Turner proves you wrong."
-- Jason Boyett, author of Pocket Guide to the Bible and Pocket
Guide to the Apocalypse. "How can a book be so stinkin' funny and
yet so poignant at the same time? Matthew Paul Turner found his
voice! After reading churched I wanted to hug him and then toss out
all of my son's clip-on ties."
-Jennifer Schuchmann, author of Six Prayers God Always Answers
"Who knew that a journey through faith and fundamentalism could be
so painfully funny? I laughed out loud many a time while reading
churched. Matthew Paul Turner manages to channel both boyhood
innocence and wry retrospective through this fast-moving account of
growing up with Jesus in late twentieth-century America."
-Mike Morrell, TheOoze.com "A funny, heartfelt portrayal of one
man's attempt to find true meaning despite his upbringing among
fundamentalists who taught him that Azrael-the cat from The
Smurfs-was an agent of Satan. The true miracle of this book is that
its author never manages to lose his faith."
-Robert Lanham, author of Sinner's Guide To The Evangelical Right
From the Hardcover edition.
"Churched is funny, poignant, and surprisingly moving. In
this deft story of his fundamentalist upbringing Matthew Paul
Turner proclaims the good news: that even church can't drown out
the message of Jesus."
-Sara Miles, author of Take This Bread "Turner's churched
lives in that elusive space between whimsical memories of an
innocent youth and cringe-inducing flashbacks of life growing up in
the church. Like a visit with long-lost relatives, churched
reintroduced me to characters anyone who grew up in the church will
find familiar, and I was surprised to find that I was glad to see
them. Sweet-hearted, funny, and honest, churched had me reminiscing
about the little boy searching for God that I once was and gently
reminded me I still have some miles to travel."
-Dan Merchant, writer/director of Lord, Save Us From Your
Followers
"Thanks to churched, Matthew Paul Turner's vivid, often hilarious
account of his childhood, I realized that not having grown up in
evangelical culture is less of a handicap than I previously
thought!"
-Andrew Beaujon, author of Body Piercing Saved My Life and
writer for the Washington Post
"Turner crafts an amusing field guide to fundamentalism that's
both a gentle lampoon of hypocrisy and misplaced fervor, and a
model of how to survive being 'churched' without cynically
rejecting the good with the bad, the Founder with his
followers."
-Anna Broadway, author of Sexless in the City
"Matthew Paul Turner's memoir has the insight of Anne Lamott and
the comic honesty of David Sedaris. His stories force us to wonder
which of our Christian beliefs and practices come from scripture
and which spring up out of our own preferences and fears."
-Rob Stennett, author of The Almost True Story Of Ryan
Fisher "Finally! A bona-fide humorist in the North American church!
I might be tempted to say Matthew Paul Turner is Christendom's
answer to David Sedaris, but Matthew stands on his own without the
comparison. A memoirist who doesn't take himself or the world too
seriously, but still manages to write profoundly and beautifully,
Turner gave me a belly-laugh on almost every page. If you grew up
believing 'being conformed not to this world' meant being the
weirdest kid on the block, churched will be the funniest book
you've read in years!" -Lisa Samson, award-winning author of
Quaker Summer, Embrace Me and Justice in the Burbs
"With his homespun humor and eye for living detail, Matthew Paul
Turner's churched invites readers to rethink the quirks of
Christian culture for the sake of uncovering that which is
lastingly good and worth holding dear. Turner's work is a
refreshingly gentle discussion of faith and culture with the
potential to spark meaningful conversations."
-Pete Gall, author of My Beautiful Idol "If you didn't think
Jesus-loving fundamentalist kids were very funny, Matthew Paul
Turner proves you wrong."
-- Jason Boyett, author of Pocket Guide to the Bible and
Pocket Guide to the Apocalypse. "How can a book be so stinkin'
funny and yet so poignant at the same time? Matthew Paul Turner
found his voice! After reading churched I wanted to hug him and
then toss out all of my son's clip-on ties."
-Jennifer Schuchmann, author of Six Prayers God Always
Answers
"Who knew that a journey through faith and fundamentalism could be
so painfully funny? I laughed out loud many a time while reading
churched. Matthew Paul Turner manages to channel both boyhood
innocence and wry retrospective through this fast-moving account of
growing up with Jesus in late twentieth-century America."
-Mike Morrell, TheOoze.com "A funny, heartfelt portrayal of
one man's attempt to find true meaning despite his upbringing among
fundamentalists who taught him that Azrael-the cat from The
Smurfs-was an agent of Satan. The true miracle of this book is that
its author never manages to lose his faith."
-Robert Lanham, author of Sinner's Guide To The Evangelical
Right From the Hardcover edition.
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