memoir Archives | Philip Yancey

What Makes a Church Toxic?

Philip Yancey — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 09:50:36 +0000

When I discuss my recent memoir, Where the Light Fell, often I use the phrase toxic church to describe the extreme form of Southern fundamentalism I grew up under. I joke that I’ve been “in recovery,” a process of detoxing, ever since. “Tell me,” asked one podcast interviewer, “What makes a church toxic?” Three characteristics ... Read more

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Kids in Church

Philip Yancey — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 06:02:32 +0000

My new memoir, Where the Light Fell, includes a few scenes from the childhood church I attended, near Atlanta. How does this compare to scenes from your childhood experience? My most memorable Sunday evening service takes place when Dr. M. R. DeHaan, a radio star from Michigan, speaks at a weekend conference. It’s like the ... Read more

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Ocean Summer

Philip Yancey — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 07:01:36 +0000

I’ve been dredging my life for recollections to include in a memoir, which will come out in October with the title Where the Light Fell. Here’s a memory from one of the annual trips my family in Atlanta made to visit relatives in Philadelphia. I was ten years old at the time. One summer, to ... Read more

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My Untold Story

Philip Yancey — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 06:21:28 +0000

For as long as I’ve been writing, I have wanted to produce a memoir. I’ve read great memoirs on other religious groups: Frank McCourt’s account of Irish Catholics in Angela’s Ashes, Chaim Potok’s memoir-like novels on Orthodox Judaism, Tara Westover’s bestseller Educated about fundamentalist Mormons. Yet my own tribe of evangelical/fundamentalists, hardly a fringe group, ... Read more

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Word Power

Philip Yancey — Thu, 28 May 2015 15:54:00 +0000

As a child I would hear my mother and other adults use a secret code in my presence: for example, “I think we’ll stop for some i-c-e-c-r-e-a-m for the boys.” Again and again I heard that code: strange word gaps in a sentence replaced by short nonsense sounds that somehow made sense when linked together—made sense ... Read more

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