A LIBRARIAN’S ORIENTATION
What this book explores
Rachel Held Evans organizes this memoir of leaving and returning to church around seven sacraments: baptism, confession, holy orders, communion, confirmation, anointing the sick, and marriage. Personal stories, reported visits to varied congregations, and reflections on Scripture become a search for Christian community spacious enough to hold doubt, grief, embodiment, and belonging without restoring the certainty she had outgrown.
EDITORIAL NOTE
Why it’s in the Library
It gives church-weary travelers a concrete account of why someone might still long for liturgy, shared meals, and a worshiping community after institutional trust has fractured. The book neither treats departure as failure nor makes return the required ending. Its particular value is emotional and ecclesial recognition: it can help a traveler name what was lost, what remains desired, and why belonging can be harder to release than belief.
Good starting place if…
You miss some form of Christian community, ritual, or shared spiritual life, but cannot simply return to the institutional certainty or evangelical culture you knew before.
Know before you begin…
This is a memoir and constructive Christian testimony, not an institutional analysis or a guide to finding a safe congregation. Evans ultimately remains within Christianity and writes appreciatively about sacramental belonging; travelers whose healing requires distance from church may feel the narrative pull toward return even though the book does not prescribe it.