During her youth, the center of Tiffany Payne's universe was the church. Growing up with a strict set of rules bestowed from her family's evangelical practices, she felt a sense of duty to follow the rules, to remain devoted, and to bring others into the fold. "We volunteered all of our time, our finances, our friends, our family - everyone was rooted in the church," says Payne. "I learned from a very early age that that was not just a value in my life, it was the value."
In Piecing Me Together: Reclaiming Myself from Religion and Relationships, Payne talks about her journey away from religious indoctrination. After embarking into a teaching career and relocating to Minneapolis as a young adult, Payne began a journey through tumultuous relationships, while at the same time slowly dismantling her ties to the church and ultimately deconstructing and reconstructing her own approach to life.
"I had this really intense desire to move toward authenticity, and I want my words to match my actions to match the truth that I carry in my heart," says Payne. "It was a really long and painful journey to get there."
Piecing Me Together can be found at Barnes and Noble in Roseville, at Eat My Words Bookstore in Minneapolis, and online.
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
