Closing the Chapel Doors: A Guide to Letting Go of Religious Guilt and Fear

This comprehensive guide empowers readers with a gentle, humorous, and compassionate approach to rediscovering life outside of religious parameters. The work gives both practical and insightful tools to help recovering Christians release fear-based beliefs. Readers will come to understand how identity and religious belief are formed, how the brain biases reality, why leaving a religion creates substantial stress and how to release its harmful effects. The work also covers how to deal with difficult people, family members, and specific challenges faced by GLBTs; how to navigate the holiday season, and how the origins of Christianity differ greatly from the Christian history taught in church.

The author, a professional librarian and information specialist, channel, and intuitive medium, interweaves science, brain research, alternative Christian history, and metaphysics to create a bigger picture--one that encourages a deeper connection with one's Authentic Self. The book ultimately frames the overall experience of leaving one's faith as an empowering step towards honoring the growth of one's soul. It encourages making peace with past experiences --to live in joy and acceptance of one's emerging identity as a new and freer creation of life.

"Readers will appreciate the abundant and interesting information.... Various attention-getting expressions will also delight readers. Textual references to entries in the bibliography show evidence of extensive research, especially for the section about the history of Christianity. Those chapters will provide comfort to readers who feel uneasy about leaving that religion.... Even readers who will never again walk through the chapel doors may be able to bless them. With unconditional love, they will not need to hold a grudge against their original religion."
--Norma D. Kellam, ForeWord Clarion Review (Originally reviewed as "Blessing the Chapel Doors: A Guide to Letting Go of Religious Guilt and Fear."