Pastor Katie Langston joins the Spirited Book Club to discuss her remarkable debut memoir, Sealed: An Unexpected Journey into the Heart of Grace. The online club is FREE, register here.
Born and raised a devout Mormon in Utah, Rev. Katie Langston chronicles her unexpected conversion to orthodox Christianity with candor and theological depth. Her remarkable debut memoir explores themes of religious fundamentalism, mental illness, and family belonging—culminating in her surprising and liberating encounters with the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Book Overview
Katie Langston never expected to leave Mormonism.
She grew up in a devout, conservative Mormon family in Utah, served a proselytizing mission to Bulgaria when she was 21, married for “time and all eternity” in the Mormon temple when she was 23.
From the outside, she had a typical Mormon life. Inside, she was coming apart at the seams.
From childhood, she battled “The Questions”—obsessive-compulsive disorder, though she didn’t have a diagnosis for it until much later—and lived inside a complex maze of anxiety and fear. This was compounded by Mormonism’s emphasis on “worthiness,” a designation of acceptability in Mormon practice, that brought her to the edge of despair as a young mother.
Then, almost by accident, she had an encounter with the grace of Jesus Christ—and her world changed.
In candid but not sensationalized ways, Langston explores little-understood Mormon practices and teachings while grappling with universal human questions such as the nature of faith, the complexity of family, the process of healing, and what it means to truly belong.
Reviews for Sealed
“Katie Langston uses exquisite, edge-of-the-sword honesty and elevated prose in Sealed, a lovely memoir that chronicles her difficult struggle to find peace with God.”—Phyllis Barber, author of How I Got Cultured
“Langston’s powerful and deeply theological memoir speaks to the steep costs of religious perfectionism. It will resonate with anyone who has never quite belonged and longs for what she has found on the other side: the grace of a loving God for whom she was already, always, more than enough.”—Jana Riess, author of The Next Mormons and Flunking Sainthood
“Langston’s book is an instant classic that plumbs the depths of the Mormon experience, while offering a moving vision of God’s grace.”—Stephen Carter, editor, Sunstone Magazine
FIRST BOOK CLUB MEETING for July 14: Read the first half or more...
FIRST BOOK CLUB MEETING for July 28: Read the last half
++Book discussion facilitated by Rev. Katie Langston and Sheri Brown
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