Drawn From Shadows Into Truth: A Memoir

A fascinating autobiography in the spirit of St. John Henry Newman, Drawn from Shadows Into Truth: A Memoir is the intriguing story of how a married minister in the Disciples of Christ eventually came to be an ordained priest in the Catholic Church. This captivating narrative of Father Ryland’s quest for Jesus Christ and the One Church He founded is a spiritual and intellectual adventure—from a poor Oklahoma farm boy to a naval officer to a Protestant minister to a Harvard lawyer to a married Catholic priest with five children, twenty-two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Pick it up, and you’ll be unable to put it down!

About the Author:

Oklahoma native Father Ray Ryland, Ph.D., J.D., was an Episcopal clergyman from 1950–1963. In 1963 he was received with his wife, Ruth, and their five children into the Catholic Church. Twenty years later, he was ordained to the priesthood of the Catholic Church, with a dispensation from the rule of celibacy under the Pastoral Provision.

Fr. Ryland served as a naval officer in WWII, as professor of theology at the University of San Diego from 1969–1991, and as adjunct professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville from 1991–1994 and 1998–2000. He has been chaplain and board member of Catholics United for the Faith and the Coming Home Network International for over a decade.

Fr. Ryland earned his bachelor's degree from Phillips University in 1942. He studied at Harvard Divinity School and Union Theological Seminary in New York, where he received his master's of divinity degree. He also studied at Columbia University, Virginia Theological Seminary, University of the South, and the University of San Francisco. In 1969 he received his doctorate in religious studies at Marquette University. In 1975 he received his law degree from the law school at the University of San Diego and was admitted to California Bar Association.