Barbara Brown Taylor

Barbara Brown Taylor (born 1951) is an American Episcopal priest, academic, and author.^[1][2] In 2014, Time magazine placed her in its annual Time 100 list of most influential people in the world.^[3]

The Reverend Barbara Brown Taylor
Born	Barbara Brown (1951-09-21) September 21, 1951 (age 73) Lafayette, Indiana, US
Spouse	Edward Taylor ​ (m. 1982)​
Ecclesiastical career
Religion	Christianity (Anglican)
Church	Episcopal Church (United States)
Ordained	1984 (priest)
Academic background
Alma mater	Emory University Yale University
Academic work
Discipline	Religious studies
School or tradition	Panentheism
Institutions	Piedmont College
Website	barbarabrowntaylor.com

Education and recognition

Taylor was born on September 21, 1951, in Lafayette, Indiana. She did her undergraduate studies at Emory University where she graduated in 1973. She then went on to study at Yale Divinity School, where she graduated in 1976. She was ordained in 1984,^[1] and became the rector of Grace-Calvary Episcopal Church (Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta) in Clarkesville, Georgia, in 1992.^[4] She later left parish ministry and became a full-time professor at Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia, and an adjunct professor of Christian spirituality at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.^[5] She taught world religions and exposed her mainly Christian students to other faiths so they could better understand how various groups worship.^[5]

In 1996, she was named one of the twelve "most effective" preachers in the English-speaking world by Baylor University.^[6] She was awarded the 1998 Emory Medal by the Emory Alumni Association of Emory University for her distinguished achievement in education.^[7] In February 2009, Barbara Brown Taylor led the second annual Piedmont College religion conference in Athens, Georgia.^[8] Taylor had been the keynote speaker at the conference in previous years.^[9] In addition, Taylor gave the 2009 Annual Buechner Lecture at the Buechner Institute at King University. She has written twelve books on faith and spirituality.^[1][10] In February 2010, days before Piedmont College's religion conference, Taylor ranked in the top ten most influential living preachers in a poll conducted by the Southern Baptist Convention.^[11]

Career

In the early 2000s, she chose to leave active ministry, while retaining her ordination. Her memoir of this time Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith was the first of a trilogy of books about redefining her faith followed by An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith and Learning to Walk in the Dark.

Private life

She lives on her farm in northern Georgia, with husband Edward Taylor.^[3]

Bibliography

• "He was alive and he was real". Christian Century. 110 (28): 967. 1993.
• The Preaching Life. Cowley Publications. 1993. pp. 174. ISBN 978-1-56101-074-5.
• Gospel Medicine. Cowley Publications. 1995. p. 161. ISBN 978-1-56101-110-0.
• Bread of Angels. Cowley Publications. 1997. pp. 176. ISBN 978-1-56101-142-1.
• God in Pain. Abingdon Press. 1998. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-687-05887-7.
• Mixed Blessings. Cowley Publications. 1998. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-56101-162-9.
• When God is Silent. Cowley Publications. 1998. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-56101-157-5.
• Home By Another Way. Cowley Publications. 1999. pp. 212. ISBN 978-1-56101-167-4.
• Speaking of Sin: The Lost Language of Salvation. Cowley Publications. 2001. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-56101-189-6.
• The Luminous Web: Essays on Science and Religion. Cowley Publications. 2001. pp. 109. ISBN 978-1-56101-169-8.
• The Seeds of Heaven: Sermons on the Gospel of Matthew. Westminster. 2004. p. 113. ISBN 978-0-664-22886-6.
• Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith. HarperOne. 2007. p. 272. ISBN 978-0-06-087263-2.
• "The poured-out church". Christian Century. 11: 35. 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
• An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith. HarperOne. 2009. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-06-137046-5.
• Learning to Walk in the Dark. HarperOne. 2014. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-06-202435-0.
• Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others. HarperOne. 2019. p. 256. ISBN 978-0-06-240656-9.
• Co-editor with David L. Bartlett, Feasting on the Word Commentary Series. Westminster John Knox Press. 2008.

References

1. "Barbara Brown Taylor live at the Westminster Town Hall Forum". Minnesota Public Radio. March 5, 2009. Archived from the original on March 30, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
2. Elizabeth Dias (April 17, 2014). "Barbara Brown Taylor Faces the Darkness". Time. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
3. "Time 100 Artists: Barbara Brown Taylor". Time. April 23, 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
4. Virshup, Amy (June 15, 2006). "Newly released: Leaving Church by Barbara Brown Taylor". The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
5. Gross, Terry (March 11, 2019). "For Priest Turned Professor, 'Holy Envy' Is Key To Appreciating World Religions". NPR News. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
6. Woodward, Kenneth L. (March 4, 1996). "Heard Any Good Sermons Lately?". Newsweek. Newsweek, Inc. Archived from the original on March 29, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2009.
7. Emory Alumni Association. "Emory Medal Recipients". Archived from the original on October 28, 2009.
8. Cheesman, Heather (February 23, 2009). "Know your neighbor conference: Teaching tolerance and interfaith in today's diverse community". The Navigator. Piedmont College. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2009.
9. Lumpkin, Elise (February 25, 2008). "Faculty uncovers 'Christ-haunted' South". The Navigator. Piedmont College. Archived from the original on October 17, 2010. Retrieved March 22, 2009.
10. "Piedmont Professors' book signings". The Navigator. Piedmont College. March 21, 2005. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2009.
11. ABP staff (February 2, 2010). "Billy Graham tops poll of most influential living preachers". Associated Baptist Press. Archived from the original on February 6, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2010.

Further reading

• "Praise the preacher!". Philadelphia Inquirer. April 11, 1996. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
• "Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor". Religion & Ethnics News Weekly. December 1, 2000. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
• "Poetic preacher The Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor resisted her calling to the pulpit until she finally relented and found her true self". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. October 17, 1998. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
• "Interview: Episcopalian minister Barbara Brown Taylor on being a female in her career, teaching and her book 'Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith'". Fresh Air. NPR (National Public Radio). August 28, 2006. Retrieved March 20, 2009.

External links

• Official website