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Ever felt like you didn’t belong? It’s a common feeling. But why in the world do we want to belong? Purple Ducks looks into where that need originates and tells some funny stories along the way. If you’re a dedicated Christian, this book will leave you with mixed emotions. If you don’t attend church, after this read, you may just find yourself wanting to join a congregation which meets in a pub.

Belonging is important. The lack of it can cause some serious damage to your life and to the lives of others. There are all sorts of ways people exclude others and keep them from belonging to certain groups or organizations.

For the most part, this exclusion happens at school when we are younger and at the workplace when we become adults. But there’s also another place where people can feel excluded, that place is the church building.

This book is written by a man who witnessed exclusion in the church and took it upon himself to do something about that. He read the stats, went to the lectures and learned about how 83% of Americans do not attend church.

At the congregation he attended while in seminary, he witnessed church leaders rejecting the community around the building. They were different looking people and different thinking people than the thirty-five members in the pews on Sunday morning. And the people around the building liked to sleep late on Sunday mornings. According to one church leader, that was a mortal sin.

Having struggled with belonging all his life, due to various situations and events, Brian Humek realized he was not alone and wanted to write Purple Ducks for those who have been excluded and those who exclude others. Peppered with humorous anecdotes on belonging or a lack of it, Brian hopes some lessons can be learned from the words in Purple Ducks.