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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
I absolutely loved this book. It perfectly captured so many of the emotions I had when I worked in a church and particularly when I left that work. People in positions of leadership in any faith tradition walk a slippery tight rope of setting an example and having all the answers, and yet knowing you can do neither to the level of expectation you place on yourself (and imagine others place on you). While I loved my work at times, I never felt I did enough or was "good" enough.
Taylor captures these struggles perfectly, but what she absolutely nails is the feeling of being untethered and confused when you leave church work. She writes of her journey back to God on a completely different and more honest level. I know that road, but thought I was the only one walking it.
She writes of a faith that makes complete sense to me even as it may not follow the path of traditional Christianity. It was so refreshing to read someone of such stature and respect speak in terms of believing in the mystery and the power while not quite accepting or understanding the details.
My book is heavily underlined and notated and will be a copy I hold on to. Can't wait to read more of her writing and hope she has much more to say on the subject.
Taylor captures these struggles perfectly, but what she absolutely nails is the feeling of being untethered and confused when you leave church work. She writes of her journey back to God on a completely different and more honest level. I know that road, but thought I was the only one walking it.
She writes of a faith that makes complete sense to me even as it may not follow the path of traditional Christianity. It was so refreshing to read someone of such stature and respect speak in terms of believing in the mystery and the power while not quite accepting or understanding the details.
My book is heavily underlined and notated and will be a copy I hold on to. Can't wait to read more of her writing and hope she has much more to say on the subject.
I somehow made it through four years of seminary without ever reading anything by Barbara Brown Taylor. My loss, clearly. This is a beautiful, evocative book about how parish ministry isn't the right thing for everyone who feels called to do pastoral work. So many of her fears are some of the same fears I struggle with as I discern my own call process. She describes so beautifully the process of falling in love with ordination and with ministry and then falling out of love with it and what it looks like to be a minister without a church. This is one that should be read by anyone considering the ministry. Her prose is elegant without being lofty. Her words just flow off the page. It is also a very quick read, easily read in a day or two. I look forward to finding more of her works and reading them. She has some great stuff to say.
The kind of beautiful book that makes me want to underline every other paragraph. The kind of book you read then must go on a long drive or walk so it can fully unfurl before you. So much meat to chew in a delightfully poetic package.
A great read for those finding themselves at the spiritual crossroad of being bored with the religious status quo and simultaneously wanting more God.
A great read for those finding themselves at the spiritual crossroad of being bored with the religious status quo and simultaneously wanting more God.
First read this 13 years ago, months after finishing seminary. Definitely appreciated and connected with a lot more this time around.
This is a GREAT book. Taylor, an episcopal priest from Georgia who is now a professor, tells the story of how she entered the priesthood, and what made her decide to leave parish ministry. A wonderful preacher, Taylor is an equally wonderful writer. Her description of life as a pastor in small town Georgia is spot on for just about any parish. If you want to know what it's like to be a pastor...this is a good read for you. if you are a pastor and want a cautionary tale of burnout this is a good read for you.
A beautifully written book. I felt sad that she ended up leaving her priesthood, but I understand it.
Although I understand that faith, and reflecting on your life in the form of memoir, both require quite a bit of introspection, this book spent a little too much time inside the author's own head for it to be truly satisfying to me.
As someone who grew up in a tradition where women could not be ordained, I enjoyed the peek into the thoughts and life of a woman clergy member, and it jives with what I imagine the clergy I know probably experience. It also convinced me that, much as I love thinking/learning about religion, I could never be a member of the clergy -- WAY too much people management required.
Still, this book felt more like it was a big summary of the author's experience of deciding to transition from preacher to laity than a memoir where we got to take those steps with her. I wanted to know more about how she settled in to pastoring a small church after leaving a larger one, but it seemed she arrived and suddenly five years passed and she was leaving. What this book was really missing for me was CHARACTERS. I wanted to get to know some of the people who had an impact on her journey, or some of the bonds she made in her new town, or at the very least to get a sense of her husband's personality or their relationship. But everything that's not happening inside her own mind is periphery to the story, which makes this read more like a manifesto than a memoir.
Luckily, Barbara Brown Taylor is a competent writer, and her reflections on God are interesting, so spending over 200 pages inside her head isn't as bad as it might have been. I just would have liked to get out a little more.
As someone who grew up in a tradition where women could not be ordained, I enjoyed the peek into the thoughts and life of a woman clergy member, and it jives with what I imagine the clergy I know probably experience. It also convinced me that, much as I love thinking/learning about religion, I could never be a member of the clergy -- WAY too much people management required.
Still, this book felt more like it was a big summary of the author's experience of deciding to transition from preacher to laity than a memoir where we got to take those steps with her. I wanted to know more about how she settled in to pastoring a small church after leaving a larger one, but it seemed she arrived and suddenly five years passed and she was leaving. What this book was really missing for me was CHARACTERS. I wanted to get to know some of the people who had an impact on her journey, or some of the bonds she made in her new town, or at the very least to get a sense of her husband's personality or their relationship. But everything that's not happening inside her own mind is periphery to the story, which makes this read more like a manifesto than a memoir.
Luckily, Barbara Brown Taylor is a competent writer, and her reflections on God are interesting, so spending over 200 pages inside her head isn't as bad as it might have been. I just would have liked to get out a little more.
Okay, so BBT doesn't really leave church. She just leaves pastoral ministry. If she had actually "left church" for, say, a career in pharmaceutical sales, she would have had a much harder time of it. But still, her account is pretty darned honest for a pastor. Having gone the ordained pastoral ministry route, left and come back a couple of times myself, I totally get where she's coming from. Church ministry is one of the most vexing, beautiful, awful, difficult and rewarding careers one can undertake. Her meteoric rise among the Episcopalians in Georgia was bound to have difficult personal consequences. While she seems to hold back on exactly how things were at her old congregation, I deeply appreciate that she is not able to be forthcoming, because pastors are schooled in NOT sharing what it's really like to be pastors. I'm pleased, though, that she's even able to share as much as she does in her memoir. I found myself rooting for her throughout the book. Good for you, BBT. You found your way outside of parish ministry. Good for you.