Barbara Brown Taylor




Barbara Brown Taylor lives on a farm in the foothills of the Appalachians, where she tends chickens, hangs laundry out on the line to dry, and cooks the organic vegetables that husband Ed grows in the garden. The last time she and Ed counted, they shared the land with 66 beating hearts: 2 horses, 4 dogs, 2 cats, 10 guinea hens, and 48 chickens. This does not include the white-tailed deer that graze the pasture, the wild turkeys that roost in the woods nor the red fox that is suspected of eating 7 roosters on a single afternoon two weeks ago. While the Taylors mourn the loss of the roosters, they are enjoying the peace and quiet.

Short Vita

Books
Leaving Church, HarperSanFrancisco, 2006
The Seeds of Heaven, Westminster John Knox, 2004
Speaking of Sin, Cowley, 2000
The Luminous Web, Cowley, 2000
Home By Another Way, Cowley, 1999
When God is Silent, Cowley, 1998
Mixed Blessings, Cowley, 1998
God in Pain, Abingdon, 1998
Bread of Angels, Cowley, 1997
Gospel Medicine, Cowley, 1995
The Preaching Life, Cowley, 1993

Recent Articles
"The Snake Savior" in Sermons from Duke Chapel, ed. William H. Willimon (Duke University Press, 2005)

"Friends of the Disciples" in Preaching in the New Millennium, ed. Frederick J. Streets (Yale University, 2005)

"The Weekly Wrestling Match" in What's The Matter with Preaching Today? ed. Michael Graves (Westminster John Knox, 2004)

"Famine in the Land" in Just Preaching: Prophetic Voices for Economic Justice, ed. Andre Resner Jr. (Chalice Press, 2003)

"The Derelict Cross" in Best Christian Writing 2002, ed. John Wilson (HarperSanFrancisco, 2002)

"The Day We Were Left Behind" in Best Spiritual Writing 1999, ed. Philip Zaleski (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999)

Recorded Books and Sermons
Speaking of Sin, Episcopal Media Center (audio book on tape), 2003

Home By Another Way, Episcopal Media Center (audio book on tape), 2000

Gospel Medicine, Episcopal Media Center (audio book on tape), 1997

Education
Yale Divinity School, Master of Divinity, 1976
Emory University, Bachelor of Arts in Religion, 1973

Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degrees
Wake Forest University, 2006
The University of the South, 2005
Hastings University, 2005
Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, 2002
Colgate University, 2001
Virginia Theological Seminary, 2001
Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, 1997
Piedmont College, 1995

Memberships and Honors
National Board of Advisors, The Buechner Institute
Board of Advisors, Yale Divinity School
Board of Advisors, The Istanbul Center
Board of Visitors, McAfee School of Theology
The Authors Guild
The Georgia Associaton of Writers
The American Academy of Religion
The Society of Biblical Literature
The Center for Progressive Christianity
Who's Who Among America's Teachers 2002, 2004 &    2005
The Emory Medal, Emory University, 1998
Yale Divinity School Alumni Award, 1993
Associated Church Press Award of Excellence, 1996,   2001, 2002, 2003, 2006

Professional Experience
Butman Professor of Religion, Piedmont College,    1997-
Adjunct Professor of Christian Spirituality, Columbia    Theological Seminary, 2001-
Rector, Grace-Calvary Church, 1992-1997
Associate Rector, All Saints' Church, 1987-1992
Assistant Rector, All Saints' Church, 1983-1987
Chaplain, Georgia Baptist Medical Center, 1982-1983
Assistant Director of Development, Yale Divinity    School, 1981-1982
Assistant to the Dean, Candler School of Theology,    1976-1981

Family
Born September 21, 1951, to Grace McGahee Brown of College Park, Georgia, and Earl Clement Brown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota (d. 2002). Two sisters, Kathryn Stevens of Fayetteville, Georgia, and Jennifer Moore of Atlanta, who are the mothers of nephews William Wallace Stevens IV and Patrick Conor Moore. Married E. Edward Taylor on November 20, 1982, becoming stepmother to daughters Kathleen Jacobs of Dunedin, Florida, and Claire Mills of Atlanta, who is the mother of granddaughters Madeline and Ava. Thanks be to God!












Selected Works

Memoir
Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
(HarperSanFrancisco, 2006) "I love this book. Her beautiful, absorbing memoir will bless countless readers, helping us to see God in the church, and out in the world, and in the small interstices in between."
--Lauren Winner
Nonfiction
The Seeds of Heaven (2nd edition)
(Westminster John Knox) Sermons on the Gospel of Matthew
The Preaching Life
(Cowley) “One is reminded of Somerset Maugham’s The Summing Up and Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life.”
--Fred B. Craddock
Home By Another Way
(Cowley) “Sermons wonderfully intelligent, moving and direct.”
--Annie Dillard
When God Is Silent
(Cowley) The 1997 Lyman Beecher Lectures on Preaching at Yale



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