I finished Reading "Leaving Church" by Barbara Brown Taylor and truly appreciated the read. It was an easy read full of feeling and heart as this one time female priest shares her journey from pastoring a large congregation in Atlanta where priestly duties never ended to a rural white-picket fence-like town where her greatest lessons are revealed.
Brown takes us through her personal journey where she learns that “church is broken and we know it, even if we don’t know what to do about it”, “We speak and sing of divine transformation while we do everything in our power to maintain our equilibrium. If redeeming things continue to happen to us in spite of these deep contradictions in our life together, then I think that is because God is faithful even when we are not”. This is a wonderful book that helped me see myself along her journey and the last few chapters were particularly heartening as she finds peace with leaving Church as she once knew it and yet finds aspects to keep in her new vocation as a college professor. Walking away from the collar, so to speak, gave Brown a new found faith and a new way to live out her beliefs that are truly challenging yet peace-filled to her own ministry.
Although the first chapters were good I felt I had already been there so the last few chapters were where I found the most meaning. So the initial journey though well rehearsed by me was totally worth the last few chapters which opened my eyes and heart in a way that makes me rethink how I live and think about church and my participation in it.
