In the strange, us-versus-them world of the 90’s Christian subculture, your faith was measured by how many WWJD bracelets you wore and whether or not you’d “kissed dating goodbye.”
Evangelical poster-child, Addie Zierman wore three WWJD bracelets, led two Bible studies and listened exclusively to Christian rock. She was “on fire for God,” unaware that the flame of her faith was dwindling until it burned entirely out.
With candor and transparency, Addie chronicles her journey through church culture, first love, and her entrance—unprepared and angry—into marriage. When she washes out of church and nearly her marriage on a sea of tequila and Depression, she isn’t sure if she’ll ever go back.
When We Were on Fire is a funny, heartbreaking story of untangling oneself from cliché in search of a faith worth embracing. It’s a story for anyone who has ever felt alone in a crowded church. For the cynic. The doubter. The former Jesus Freak struggling with the complexity of life.
It’s a story about the slow work of returning to love, Jesus, and (perhaps toughest of all) his imperfect followers. And, in the end, it’s about what lasts when nothing else seems worth keeping.
Praise for When We Were On Fire
“I think Addie speaks for an evangelical generation who came of age in the American teen ghetto of youth group short-term mission trips and longings for revival, contemporary Christian music and WWJD? Pathos. Her journey through the disillusionments and then her rebellion against the false boundary-markers and empty language of an “on fire” faith culminates in her ongoing journey of hope and redemption. There is a wise sadness to her words, a depth that disarms. Addie is a beautiful writer but she’s also bold and honest as she tends the wounds of consumer evangelicalism on her old self, and then bravely gathers up all these disparate pieces of the painful and lovely obsessive faith of her past with new grace and gentle strength to move forward.”
— SARAH BESSEY, author of Jesus Feminist
“Reading When We Were On Fire was like reading my own story. It’s an insightful, unflinching look at growing up evangelical. Addie recounts her misplaced zeal and resulting crisis of faith with humor and poignancy . . . ultimately discovering that a relationship with God is less about following Christian culture norms and more about following Him.”
— Kristen Howerton, author of Rage Against the Minivan Blog and Managing Editor of ShePosts
“Fire provides light and warmth, or it can bring pain and destruction. Addie tells us a story in which her fiery faith sparked both outcomes and how she’s worked to contain those flames. She walks the reader through this process with such grace, humor, and utter transparency that I couldn’t help but see my own faith journey in hers. A refreshing, hopeful book from an expert storyteller.”
— JASON BOYETT, author of O Me of Little Faith
“Addie Zierman is a poet with a lion’s heart. When We Were on Fire is a memoir of such sophisticated and witty grace, it reads as the laughing prayer of a vagabond saint. Zierman’s words take root in you, grow slow, and push outward into a ring of endless light. Would that in my own days of fire, youth groups and See You at the Pole rallies, I had been given this book with the single word: ‘Hope.’”
— PRESTON YANCEY, author, seeprestonblog.com
“Addie Zierman’s unflinching candor and tender vulnerability make When We Were on Fire a must-read memoir. Addie walks through fire and still comes through shining with hope.”
— ELIZABETH ESTHER, author of Girl at the End of the World
“For all of us who found our way while seeped in evangelical culture, Addie has written us a love letter. Hilarious and heartfelt, passionate and poetic, her take on growing up evangelical reveals a classic coming of age story with an evangelical twist. Through clean and messy faith, confusion, love lost and gained she reflects deeply on each experience with enough humility and humor to keep you page turning through this easy and beautiful read. You will love When We Were on Fire from beginning to end, as did I.”
— GRACE BISKIE, author of Converge Bible Studies: Kingdom Building and Contributing Author of Talking Taboo: American Christian Women Get Frank about Faith. Writer for A DeeperStory.com, Prodigal & Prism Magazine.
