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Churched is a pleasant little mini memoir from Matthew Paul Turner about his experiences as a child growing up surrounded by Baptist fundamentalists, at home, at school, and three times a week for church services and Sunday school. He writes about the importance of Jesus and hell in his young life, very clear boundaries within which he could operate that, although he later rejected fundamentalism, seem to have provided a measure of safety and security at the time. His parents may have been extreme in their religious beliefs by many standards, but by Turner’s account were loving, supportive, and present in their children’s lives. The stories are sweet and quirky, easily read in a day. Those readers who are outraged at the very hint of fundamentalism will no doubt be appalled, but if one sets aside that general bias, there isn’t anything shocking or bizarre here. Despite the cover copy, I found no “holy mess,” nothing “bizarre” and laughed out loud when I saw the caption “He spent his childhood trapped within the confines of countless bizarre, strict rules. And lived to tell about it.” Seriously. The man moved to Nashville and made a career writing about Jesus–I think he’s recovered!

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