He spent his childhood trapped within the confines of countless bizarre, strict rules. And lived to tell about it.

In this first-hand account, author Matthew Paul Turner shares amusing—sometimes cringe-worthy—and poignant stories about growing up in a fundamentalist household, where even well-intentioned contemporary Christian music was proclaimed to be of the devil.

churched

is a collection of stories that detail an American boy’s experiences growing up in a culture where men weren’t allowed let their hair grow to touch their ears (“an abomination!”), women wouldn’t have been caught dead in a pair of pants (unless swimming), and the pastor couldn’t preach a sermon without a healthy dose of hellfire and brimstone. Matthew grapples with the absurdity of a Sunday School Barbie burning, the passionate annual boxing match between the pastor and Satan, and the holiness of being baptized a fifth time—while growing into a young man who, amidst the chaotic mess of religion, falls in love with Jesus.

From the Hardcover edition.