Living on the Edge of the Inside: A Survival Guide

Parent-child is the default relationship of church to member-the church as parent, the member as child. In this opening chapter, I propose that differentiation from the church is the most important developmental task we face while living on the inside of the edge.

"Chris has managed to write a great primer for Latter-day Saints who desperately need a new way to navigate their changing relationship with the Church. I could have been spared a lot of heartache, had I had this book ten years ago when church started getting really complicated for me. Full of practical advice, it's sure to become a handbook for individuals who struggle with what's in a different Handbook." (Cynthia Winward, Co-host, At Last She Said It)

"One of the most difficult reads of my life.... I found an undeniable ring of authenticity, sincerity, and vulnerability in Chris's writing that made it impossible for me to dismiss or cast his experiences aside. As I finished Living on the Inside of the Edge, quite exhausted, I felt as though I had made a new friend-one who drove me a little crazy, one very different from me in some ways, but a friend that I now hold in profound respect." (Loren Marks, Professor, BYU School of Family Life; Co-director, American Families of Faith National Research Project)

"In my experience, Mormon adults do a lousy job of talking to one another as adults, with all the complexities adulthood entails. That's what makes Living on the Inside of the Edge so refreshing-it's a book by a Mormon adult for other Mormon adults. You probably won't agree with everything here. Chris doesn't care. He just wants you to be an adult. I'm pretty sure God does too." (Patrick Mason, Author, Restoration: God's Call to the 21st-century World)

"Every week, I hear from people who have one foot out the door of the Church but actually want to find reasons to stay. For those people, Christian Kimball's book is a lifeline, containing wise suggestions about how to stay for those who choose to do so. ... Kimball employs his liminal position to the reader's advantage, advocating for 'middle-way Mormons' as a consummate observer and judicious friend." (Jana Riess, Senior columnist, Religion News Service; Author, The Next Mormons: How Millennials Are Changing the LDS Church)