Pre-order now! Immanuel, by Matthew McNaught
Between the late ‘90s and early 00’s, the Immanuel church, based in Winchester, was experiencing exponential growth. Having tapped into the spiritual malaise of the local youths, Immanuel was founded on principles of kindness, community, and shared experiences. However, as author Matthew McNaught came to realise, and exposes thoroughly in this memoir, the Immanuel church’s links to an obscure Nigerian fringe organisation, the Synagogue Church of All Nations, came to be its undoing. Exploited by SCOAN and it’s leader, TB Joshua, McNaught traces the lives of those most affected as he grapples with his own conflicted memories of a place which on the one hand provided a network of care and support, and on the other, willfully sent their own congregation to service the whims of a cult leader who weaponised their faith. A heartbreaking, urgent read about the nature of faith and the importance of community.
Follow Matthew McNaught on Twitter @matt_mcnaught and keep up with news from Fitzcarraldo Editions here @FitzcarraldoEds
Order your copy today directly through October Books or buy online through our bookshop store and we’ll get a commission on your purchase.
Immanuel by Matthew McNaught
Paperback £12.99June 8th
At what point does faith turn into tyranny? In Immanuel, winner of the inaugural Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize, Matthew McNaught explores his upbringing in an evangelical Christian community in Winchester. As he moved away from the faith of his childhood in the early 2000s, a group of his church friends were pursuing it to its more radical fringes. They moved to Nigeria to join a community of international disciples serving TB Joshua, a charismatic millionaire pastor whose purported gifts of healing and prophecy attracted vast crowds to his Lagos ministry, the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN).
Years later, a number of these friends left SCOAN with accounts of violence, sexual abuse, sleep deprivation and public shaming. In reconnecting with his old friends, McNaught realised that their journey into this cult-like community was directly connected to the teachings and tendencies of the church of their childhood. Yet speaking to them awakened a yearning for this church that, despite everything, he couldn't shake off.
Was the church's descent into hubris and division separable from the fellowship and mutual sustenance of its early years? Was it possible to find community and connection without dogma and tribalism? Blending essay, memoir and reportage, Immanuel is an exceptional debut about community, doubt, and the place of faith in the twenty-first century.
Order your copy today directly from October Books or buy online through our bookshop store and we’ll get commission on your purchase.
We are open:
Monday - Saturday
10am - 5.30 pm
We are back open six days a week, with the whole store open for browsing. We will still of course be taking customer orders and you will still be able to buy food and cleaning products online through our online store.
We are able to be open 6 days a week again because of your consideration and care whilst in the shop. Though things are opening up, covid cases are still high and a lot of our staff have only received one jab. So we are asking customers to continue to leave that extra space, sanitise their hands and pull on their mask. We really appreciate it.
