Immanuel

Matthew McNaught explores his upbringing in an evangelical Christian community in Winchester, where a group of his church friends were pursuing it to its more radical fringes. Years later, they left SCOAN with accounts of violence, sexual abuse, sleep deprivation, and public shaming. McNaught reconnects with his old friends and realizes that their journey into this cult-like community was directly connected to the teachings and tendencies of the church of their childhood. He questions whether the church's descent into hubris and division was separable from the fellowship and mutual sustenance of its early years and seeks to find community and connection without dogma and tribalism.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 248 pages
Publication date: 08 June 2022
Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions

Matthew McNaught's journey into an evangelical Christian community in Winchester is explored in his essay, "Immanuel," which won the inaugural Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize. As he moved away from his childhood faith in the early 2000s, a group of his church friends pursued it to its more radical fringes. They moved to Nigeria to join a community of international disciples serving TB Joshua, a charismatic millionaire pastor whose purported gifts of healing and prophecy attracted vast crowds to his Lagos ministry, the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN). Years later, several of these friends left SCOAN with accounts of violence, sexual abuse, sleep deprivation, and public shaming.

McNaught reconnected with his old friends and realized that their journey into this cult-like community was directly connected to the teachings and tendencies of the church of their childhood. Speaking to them awakened a yearning for this church that he couldn't shake off. Was the church's descent into hubris and division separable from the fellowship and mutual sustenance of its early years? Was it possible to find community and connection without dogma and tribalism?

"Immanuel" blends essay, memoir, and reportage to explore these questions and more. It is an exceptional debut about community, doubt, and the place of faith in the twenty-first century. McNaught's writing is insightful and thought-provoking, and he provides a unique perspective on the challenges and complexities of faith in a modern world.

Weight: 322g
Dimension: 128 x 197 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781910695678