cover image Glory Land

Glory Land

Lynn Cryderman, Lyn Cryderman. Zondervan Publishing Company, $12.99 (176pp) ISBN 978-0-310-22454-9

Many spiritual memoirs recount a prodigal's return to the fold of a particular religious tradition after many years of wandering in an irreligious wilderness. Cryderman's spiritual memoir, though, is a portrait of a life lived in the hallways and pews, Sunday schools and church camps of the Free Methodist Church. The son of a pastor and missionary, Cryderman, associate publisher at Zondervan, called the churches of his youth his second home; he attended their services on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights and Wednesday nights. Although he admits that he can't say he always wanted to be there when the church doors opened, the author acknowledges that his years of church attendance--he figures he has attended church 2100 of the 2600 Sundays he has been alive--have given him a ""small and imperfect view of heaven."" Drawing on hilarious anecdotes from his years in church, he recalls how the hymns he learned, the Scriptures he memorized and the chalk talks of Sunday school implanted in him a deep love for God and church. In fact, Cryderman says that the hymn singings and the testimony services made ""Sunday nights worth missing The Wonderful World of Disney."" The love, trust and security he experienced and witnessed in his social church life deeply shaped Cryderman's personal religious life. Even today, when he asks himself why he bothers to keep going to church, he says the answer is simple: ""I keep going to church because I need what it gives me. A family. A sense of belonging to something so big it can't be contained."" Cryderman's humorous and engaging memoir will strike a chord with all those who spent their summer evenings singing ""Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"" and falling in love with both Jesus and a fellow camper. (May)