I write about what happened when a sceptic started asking questions.
Faith memoir and honest writing for evidence-minded readers – people who want the account to stand up, not just sound good.
Faith memoir and honest writing for evidence-minded readers – people who want the account to stand up, not just sound good.
I’m a project management consultant from Swindon. A husband, a father of six, and for most of my life, not a believer. I spent years trusting evidence, process, and things I could verify – and then found myself asking questions I couldn’t put down.
In early 2026 I was baptised, alongside my wife, at St Philip’s in Upper Stratton. My first book tells the story of how that happened – plainly, honestly, and without asking the reader to take anything on trust that I didn’t have to.
A first-person account of a conversion nobody saw coming, least of all me. Written for the reader who is sceptical by nature – because I was one. No pressure, no polish, just what actually happened and the questions that got me there.
Out now★★★★★“I read this book in one day, I couldn’t put it down. It’s a personal account of finding faith that cannot fail to touch your heart, candid with momentum and honesty. I found it heart warming and inspiring.”
Rebecca Romer · verified purchase on Amazon
Already read it? A few honest sentences help more than anything else I can do – review it on Amazon or on Goodreads. If you were given a copy rather than buying one on Amazon, Goodreads is the easier of the two.
This book exists because people were patient with my questions long before there was any reason to be. My wife, who was asked to defend her faith at a moment’s notice more times than was fair. The friends who kept answering. And the congregation at St Philip’s in Upper Stratton, who made room for a sceptic before he had worked out what he was doing there.
To everyone who has bought a copy, borrowed one, or passed it to somebody they thought might need it – thank you. I wrote it hoping it would reach one person who thinks faith is not for people like them. Every copy that leaves a table makes that a little more likely.
Nobody tells you what happens after the baptism. The Unexpected Path to Faith ended at the water; this is the story of what the water asked next. A true account of an ordinary man’s second year as a believer: a church fête, a theology course, a parish that kept opening doors he hadn’t knocked on, and the slow discovery that he was being handed work to do. The doubts, the pride and the stumbles are all kept in. For the new believer wondering what comes next, and for the sceptic who wants to see whether faith survives contact with real life.
Coming soonShorter pieces alongside the books – reflections on faith, doubt, and the questions that started it all. If there’s a question about faith you’d like an honest, non-preachy answer to, I’d like to hear it – it may become a piece here.
The doubts that arrive after you believe, not before. This one has no answer yet.
If He had that power, why did He not use it? The answer is love, the long way round.
One historical question decides the whole thing. Go and test it properly.
The liberty that lets someone reject faith was built by people who held it.
The short version of how an evidence-minded atheist changed his mind.
Science answers how. The questions underneath belong to someone else.
Full immersion at thirty-seven, with my questions intact.
Liar, deluded, or telling the truth. I could only make one option work.
The first believer in our family was ten years old.
St Philip’s is the Church of England parish church for Upper Stratton, Swindon – and the place where much of this story happened. Sunday service is at 11am on Beechcroft Road, and everyone is welcome, wherever you are with faith. It’s where I was, when I first walked in.
Give to St Philip’s. Scan the code or use the link above to support the parish through the Parish Giving Scheme.
If the book helped you, made you think, or left you with a question – I’d like to hear from you. That’s the whole reason it exists.
Email meOr write directly: hello@scottgough.com