Barbara Brown Taylor is an Epsicopal priest. She holds the Harry R. Butman Chair in Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont College in northeastern Georgia and serves as adjunct professor of Christian spirituality at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur. Recognized as one of the twelve most effective preachers in the English language by Baylor University in 1995, Taylor has published numerous collections of her sermons and theological reflections, including The Luminous Web, Speaking of Sin, and Gospel Medicine.
Barbara Brown Taylor tells an engaging story of the birth of her
own voice as a preacher, the struggles to bring the gospel to
speech, and the joys of being an instrument of God’s will.
*William H. Willmon*
It is easy for those of us who preach to slip into thinking of
preaching as a task, a chore, even a weekly homework assignment. .
. . Taylor, as a parish priest, is fully aware of the incessant
demands of the pulpit. But to her mind, preaching is not just a
duty; it is also a ceaseless delight. . . . Her use of language is
enchanting; her prose is luxuriant. Images spin across the pages
like ballerinas. . . . Taylor has the rare combination of a sturdy
theological mind and a receptive, almost wide-eyed, openness to
experience. . . .
In sum, this is a book about the life of a preacher, but more than
that it is about being fully alive in the Christian faith. Barbara
Brown Taylor is, to use her own words, ‘a detective of divinity,
collecting evidence of God’s genius and admiring the tracks left
for me to follow. . . .’ I am grateful that she is on the case.
*Princeton Theological Seminary*
The decision of the Episcopal Church in 1976 to ordain women to the
priesthood and episcopate has brought us many blessings, not the
least of which is the improvement in preaching. Probably no other
woman has contributed as much to that improvement as Barbara Brown
Taylor. Nor is it likely that another has received so much
recognition for her contribution. . . . I am convinced that whoever
reads the book will marvel at it, take pleasure in it, and be lured
beyond their present stage of progress by it. . . .
In his essay on Anglican spirituality in The Study of Anglicanism,
A. M. Allchin pointed out the close connection between our
spiritual writings and the creation of great literature. This he
attributes to a sense of the presence of God in all things and all
people. Taylor’s work has that quality. While all of us cannot
expect to preach as well as she, reading her work can alert us to
looking for what she sees and can also show us how she enables us
to see it too and to show it to others. At the very least, we can
quote some of her phrases and help them to continue doing their
marvelous work.
*Seabury-Western Theological Seminary*
Barbara Brown Taylor has been called ‘One of the twelve most
effective preachers in the English language.’ When you read her
anthologies of sermons you can see why. She has a fabulous command
of English and is a marvelous storyteller. These, combined with her
deep and essential faith, make her sermons powerful and engaging. .
. . This summer when I was chaplain at our Diocesan Family Camp, I
read these sermons to adults as a morning meditation around the
campfire. Everyone was engaged and found them immediately relevant
to their lives.
*Robert J. Gaestel*
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