Katie Langston

I selected this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers list and received an ebook for review. I have read several other books on this topic, all of which I found interesting. I had low expectations for this book because of its format, thinking it would read like an unedited, self-published book. I erred fatally in those assumptions. Kate Langston has written a powerful memoir that explores the joys and pain that growing up Mormon brought her. She covers in detail "secret" aspects of Mormonism that I have never read in any of the other books on the topic. For example, she describes how the sacred undergarment look and goes into detail on exactly what happens inside of the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City.
More importantly, she details the spiritual effects that the Mormon Church had on her because she could never live her life perfectly enough. She found the sense of guilt that this caused emotionally crippling. One night at a lecture about Christian theologian C.S. Lewis, she discovered the true meaning of the word "grace". This opened new spiritual horizons as well as searing spiritual pain as she tried to function within Mormon Church and culture. When she finally realized that she did not need to choose god because God chose her, her life began a totally new trajectory. Happily, from my perspective as a Jesus-follower, she ended up finding her way to the Christian faith and is in the final steps of becoming an ordained Christian pastor in the ELCA. Well-done, Kate Langston!… (més)

This is a brutal exposition as a memoir, constantly wrestling with doubts and fears. This powerful book will emotionally affect anyone who has never quite belonged, rebelled against the church, the leaders…against God. As Katie wrote in the last paragraph of chapter 20: “I had believed that I must choose God in order to be loved, but the reality was that God’s love chose me. The world right-sided itself in that instant, and I trembled as the foundations of my life fell out from under me, only to discover that I was standing, for the first time, on solid ground…..I wept as I’d never wept before, with relief, with gratitude, as years of pain poured out of me and hope at last poured in, a new song to replace the well-worn tracks of self-hatred. I’m loved. I’m loved. Oh, my God, my God, I’m loved!” - Katie, you will touch many people's lives as an ordained minister.
I write this review having received an advance review copy of the book from LibraryThing and as a practising Christian believer with a strong faith in the grace of our Lord and Saviour,Jesus Christ.… (més)