St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Chattanooga welcomes author and blogger Rachel Held Evans as keynote speaker for Kick-Off Sunday on Jan. 11. She speaks at 9:15 a.m., with a reception after St. Paul’s 10:30 a.m. worship service.
Rachel Held Evans is a New York Times Best-Selling Author and popular blogger with over a quarter of a million visits to her blog each month. She has been featured in interviews on The View, The Today Show, NPR, Slate, The BBC, The Washington Post, The Guardian (UK), The London Times, The Huffington Post, and Oprah.com, and was recently named one of Christianity Today’s “50 Women to Watch.”
Rachel writes from Dayton, Tennessee — the small town made famous by the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. Her first book, Faith Unraveled (originally released under the title Evolving in Monkey Town), explores the relationship between faith and doubt and recounts the challenges of asking tough questions about Christianity in the context of the Bible Belt. Her second book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head and Calling Her Husband Master, documents a year-long experiment in which she attempted to follow all of the Bible’s instructions for women as literally as possible.
In April of 2015 her third book will be released – entitled, Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving and Finding the Church.Rachel’s content is well researched and accessible, her delivery fresh and funny, and relevant to the young and old alike. She speaks out of her own experience of growing up in a very conservative church tradition, which led to a crisis of faith during her college years. She now communicates with an appreciation for her foundation of faith while addressing an honest look at what Scripture and the Gospel of Jesus really says to us today.
This free event is open to all – offerings and donations benefit St. Paul’s many ministries. Arrive early for seating.