Dr Barbara Brown Taylor Visit
An outstanding American teacher, preacher,
writer and professor of spirituality.
Workshop in the
Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
on Saturday 29 May 2010, 10am - 4pm.
God in Ordinary Time
At least one way Christian communities have survived shifting
tides of history and culture is by teaching that the church is the
primary place of God’s activity in the world. In this day together,
we will suppose the opposite: that the world is the primary place of
God’s activity, freeing churches to focus on ways of articulating,
celebrating and participating in the divine work that goes on with
or without us.
Barbara Brown Taylor teaches religion at Piedmont College in
rural northeast Georgia and is an adjunct Professor of Spirituality at
Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur. She is the author of twelve
books, including "An Altar in the World", published by HarperOne in
February 2009.
Her first memoir, "Leaving Church" met with widespread critical acclaim,
winning a 2006 Author of the Year award from the Georgia Writers
Association.
An outstanding preacher and communicator, an at-large editor of The
Christian Century and sometimes commentator on Georgia Public Radio,
Taylor lives on a working farm with her husband Ed and a yard full of
animals.
Around 230 hardy souls braved the wintery conditions on Saturday
29 May to come to the Cathedral to hear the inspiring and
descriptive workshop by Dr Barbara Brown Taylor. The Farmers Market
in the Cathedral carpark did a roaring trade on hot coffee and
crepes!
Among other things during the workshop sessions, people were asked
“what is the smell of resurrection” and “what is the taste of
forgiveness”
to engage all of people’s five senses of sight, taste, smell, touch and
hearing as we encounter God in all the “ordinary times” of life. Barbara
also had the workshop audience salivating as she described a recipe for
key lime pie (use Google for the recipe! Ed) as another example of how
we see things not only with our eyes. People were also asked to show
their scars (without removing clothing!) to other people, and describe
how they see or are touched by God in their scars.
| On Sunday Barbara preached at the Choral
Evensong at the Cathedral, and a copy of her sermon is available
on the Cathedral website. Please click the following
link. |
 |
Her visit is sponsored by the Wallis Trust, a
charitable trust established to further the vision of Margaret Wallis to
nurture ecumenical spirituality, knowledge and understanding. The
Trustees of the Wallis Trust are Bishop Tom Brown, Mrs Joy Cowley,
Archdeacon Judy Hardie and Mr Graham Millar
|
