Searching for Sunday

Rachel always has a way of making christianity feel like there's true hope for progression. I love her. This book was just her talking about her messy life and leaving / coming back to church and all of the nuance that involved. I wish rachel was my friend IRL.

I am a Christian who doesn't attend church. To put it quite simply: it has harmed me greatly, mostly over my trans identity. That is what drew me to this book. I was excited to hear about the experiences and feelings of another Christian struggling with church. I truly am so glad that I got to read this book. I learned a lot about the church. I learned about how much diversity in practices, styles of worship, services, ways to observe communion (or the eucharist, depending on your form of the Christian faith) there is. For the first time I got to see what draws people to Christ in different ways and how so many practices I never considered or previously thought dumb were beautiful in their own ways and how they brought other Christians closer not only to God but to other Christians. For instance, I have never been publicly baptized. I was baptized the night I gave my life to Christ with only my immediate family and maternal grandparents around. Because of that, I don't understand what it means to a Christian, how it impacts one to be baptized in a public way in front of their spiritual family. Another example is confirmation. I have never been part of a church that had confirmation. So, I never really thought about it much. After reading this book I think that I understand to an extent what kind of beauty it brings to a community of believers. Those are just a few examples. I could go on about how it changed my views on communion, oils, etc. At the end of the day what I want to say is, this book opened my eyes. It opened my eyes to the true beauty of diversity of different Christian faith forms. To see how different ways of observing different sacraments can bring different people closer to God and the rest of the church. This book truly shows the beauty of the Christian church, despite how much brokeness there often is in it, even if I can't be a part of it.

Rating: 4 stars of 5

Rachel was a fantastic storyteller with a gift for putting sentences together in beautiful ways. Her poignant words in this book often left me sitting and staring off into the distance as I thought through some truth she had shared that caused me to pause and reflect for a few moments.

Searching for Sunday is presented as a memoir of Rachel???s journey through seasons of disillusionment with and love for the church. People who can relate to her story will likely find inspiration and communion in it.