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New York Times Best-selling author and Episcopal priest, Barbara Brown Taylor, sits down with fellow writer Isaac Anderson to discuss writing as an act of faith.

On May 16-17, Western Theological Seminary and Hope College will co-host a Writer’s Workshop featuring award-winning author Barbara Brown Taylor.

Barbara Brown Taylor is a New York Times best-selling author, professor, and Episcopal priest. Her first memoir, Leaving Church, won a 2006 Author of the Year award from the Georgia Writers Association. Her last book, Learning to Walk in the Dark, was featured in TIME magazine. She has served on the faculty of Piedmont College since 1998 as the Butman Professor of Religion & Philosophy and has been a guest lecturer at Emory, Duke, Princeton, and Yale. Taylor and her husband Ed live on a farm in the foothills of the Appalachians, sharing space with wild turkeys, red foxes, white-tailed deer and far too many chickens. –from barbarabrowntaylor.com

Workshop Schedule

Breakout Seminars

Workshop Speakers

Also Included: One-on-one meetings, Open mic, Bookstore

Advanced Writer’s Retreat (separate registration required)

Lodging

Rachel Held Evans will join Barbara Brown Taylor along with many other authors.

Rachel Held EvansRachel Held Evans is a New York Times best-selling author whose books include Faith Unraveled (2010), A Year of Biblical Womanhood (2012), and Searching for Sunday (2015). Hailing from Dayton, Tennessee—home of the famous Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925— she writes about faith, doubt and life in the Bible Belt.

Rachel has been featured in The Washington PostThe GuardianChristianity Today, Slate, The Huffington Post, The CNN Belief Blog, and on NPR, The BBC, The Today Show, and The View. She keeps a busy schedule speaking at churches, conferences, and colleges and universities around the country.

A lifelong Alabama Crimson Tide fan, Rachel is married to Dan. Her preferred writing fuel is animal crackers and red wine. –bio from rachelheldevans.com

Read Rachel’s blog HERE.

Other authors holding workshops at the event.

books

Learning_to_Walk_in_the_DarkAltar_in_the_wo BbtanotherwayfiLeaving_Church

In episode 2.2, Rev. Dr. Frank A. Thomas discusses ways to practice self-care in a highly demanding, instant gratification culture where clergy burn-out is common.

In episode 2.2, Rev. Dr. Frank A. Thomas discusses ways to practice self-care in a highly demanding, instant gratification culture where clergy burn-out is common.

book-cover

Western has become a partner organization of The Big Read – Holland Area this year. The Big Read builds literacy by bringing a community together around one book and the shared experience of reading and discussion. Although this is Western’s first year as a partner, it is the third year of the Big Read in Holland, and over 7,000 people participated in Big Read activities in the Holland area last year. The Big Read’s primary sponsor is Hope College, with assistance from local libraries, the Holland Museum, and several other community organizations.


This year’s Big Read book,
Brother, I’m Dying, by award-winning author Edwidge Danticat, is a multi-generational story of one family’s life in Haiti and the United States. The book serves as a rich celebration of Haitian culture and history and also raises questions about how people with different backgrounds interact with each other in today’s world. One reviewer called it a “warm-hearted tragedy,” and it is rich with stories of familial bonds and love along with injustice and pain.  

 

 

Immigration Workshop at WTS

There are over a dozen Big Read activities planned for the first weeks of November in the Holland area. As part of this, Western is hosting an interactive Immigration Workshop at 7:00pm on Monday, November 14, led by the Christian Reformed Church Office of Social Justice and sponsored by Fellowship Reformed Church. The workshop looks at immigration and refugee resettlement in the United States and explores how Christians may engage in these processes. All are invited. 

All Big Read Events:

Nov. 1, 7:00pm – Kick-off at Knickerbocker Theatre. TED-talks on the historical and cultural context of the book.

Nov. 2, 1:00pm – Panel discussion on refugees, resettlement and integration at Herrick District Library.

Nov. 3, 5:00 pm & 7:00pm – Haitian cuisine at Cook Dining Hall w/ Olga Benoit. $15 adults, $10 students.

Nov. 4, 7:30pm – Geraud Dimanche concert of music and dancing, Jack H. Miller Center for the Musical Arts

Nov. 5, 11:00am – Story time with children’s author Anne Sibley O’Brien, Herrick District Library

Nov. 5, 2:00pm – Hands-on Art Workshop at CultureWorks (710 Chicago Dr. Ste 200, Holland)

Nov. 7, 7:00pm – La Belle Vie at the Knickerbocker Theatre followed by Q&A with directors.

Nov. 9, 7:00pm – Lecture by immigration lawyer Sarah Yore-Van Oosterhout at the Howard Miller Library in Zeeland.

Nov. 10, 7:00pm – Poverty, Inc. screening with Q&A by Haitian entrepreneur Daniel Jean Louis.

Nov. 11, 7:00pm – Book discussion at Holland Museum

Nov. 12, 10:00am – Memoir writing workshop with Rhoda Janzen at Herrick District Library.

Nov. 14, 7:00pm – Interactive Immigration Workshop at Western Theological Seminary, Mulder Chapel.

Nov. 15, 7:00pm – Keynote address by Edwidge Danticat in Dimnent Chapel, Hope College. Booksigning afterward.

Nov. 17, 7:00pm – Student exhibition at the Holland Armory

In this episode Andy Bast sat down with Bruce Benedict, chaplain of worship arts at Hope College and founder of Cardiphonia, to talk about the retuned hymn movement–in which musicians compose new music to old hymn texts.

In this episode Andy Bast sat down with Bruce Benedict, chaplain of worship arts at Hope College and founder of Cardiphonia, to talk about the retuned hymn movement–in which musicians compose new music to old hymn texts.