The Book of Tom: A Journey to Authenticity

By Tom Schellenbach

In this unsparing memoir, Tom Schellenbach, a gay former Franciscan priest, chronicles his personal evolution while studying for and serving for five decades within the Catholic Church. Tom retraces his experiences from his childhood in Hamilton, Ohio as one of 13 children, to his entry into the seminary at the age of 14 which ultimately led to his becoming a priest, his leaving the priesthood but still working for the Church, his resignation, and finding his true love.Set against the swift cultural changes of the 60s, 70s and 80s, the Church remained stubbornly unwilling to acknowledge the cultural changes that were reshaping the attitudes of their parishioners and the priests who served them. The Church's resistance to change ultimately led Tom to leave the priesthood to pursue a life of uncompromising authenticity. His work as a priest took him from the verdant hollers of rural Kentucky to the spare, open beauty of Navajo country in the southwest. His story offers a rare look into the life of a priest, revealing the loneliness and alienation many priests struggle with as they pursue their dedication to serve. On the cusp of his third decade of service in the Church, Tom succumbed to a crisis of faith and identity. He details his halting exit from the priesthood, and his coming out at a time when homosexuality was more commonly met with hostility and fear. Yet there was no turning back. Gone was his "safe" identity he had shaped since his early teens. His life was his to begin again. The Book of Tom is an important memoir that lays bare the challenges of stark truthfulness and honesty faced when answering the call to authenticity -- no matter our path in life. It reflects the Catholic Church's failure to lead with compassion during a time of cultural change, and it highlights a critical inflection point in our culture's long-overdue evolution to acceptance of those in the LGBT+ community.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1724623877
• ISBN13: 9781724623874
• Release Date: July 2018
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 286 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"