The Preaching Life

by Barbara Brown Taylor

In her bestselling preaching autobiography Barbara Brown Taylor writes of how she came to be a preacher of the gospel as a priest in the Episcopal Church. In this warm and poignant collection, Barbara Brown Taylor’s humor and wisdom delve into the meaning of Christian symbols and history—both her own, growing up in the Mid-West and Georgia, and the Church’s, from its earliest beginnings in the Near East. Seamlessly, Taylor weaves together reflections on her vocation with the long-standing struggles of the Church to hear, respond, and remain faithful to its mission of holy love. She moves effortlessly from reflection to homily, concluding the volume with thirteen sermons illustrative of the answered call. This rich meeting of memoir, theology, and sermon stands at the center of Taylor’s work, bringing into one book the origins and the vision of her remarkable preaching life.

But her voice is not sentimental. Instead, Taylor explores Christian meanings and histories in order to hear and speak, in the present, for God. “God has given us good news in human form and has given us the grace to proclaim it,” she writes, “but part of our terrible freedom is the freedom to lose our voices, to forget where we were going and why. While that knowledge does not yet strike me as prophetic, it does keep me from taking both my ministry and the ministry of the whole church for granted.” This book on the calling to preach is itself a call to reawaken to the activating presence of God.

Genres: Religion, Theology, Christianity, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Memoir, Church

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Barbara Brown Taylor is a New York Times best-selling author, teacher, and Episcopal priest. Her first memoir, Leaving Church (2006), won an Author of the Year award from the Georgia Writers Association. Her last book, Learning to Walk in the Dark (2014), was featured on the cover of TIME magazine. She has served on the faculties of Piedmont College, Columbia Theological Seminary, Candler School of Theology at Emory University, McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, and the Certificate in Theological Studies program at Arrendale State Prison for Women in Alto, Georgia. In 2014 TIME included her on its annual list of Most Influential People; in 2015 she was named Georgia Woman of the Year; in 2016 she received The President’s Medal at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Mercer University and is working on her fourteenth book, Holy Envy, forthcoming from HarperOne in August 2018.

Reviews

[Alan Marr · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only thing that stopped me from giving this a 5 was the second half of the book. The sermons were good but i wanted more of the other stuff. I loved the chapters on "Call", "Vocation" and "Imagination". Thanks Carolyn for the recommendation.

[Jocelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We are still ambivalent about the role of the imagination in the life of faith. Is an imagined thing a true thing or a false thing? Is it real or not? What good is it, if it cannot be proved? And what about objective truth? Are we really prepared to confess that God is the property of our imaginations?

"No. But we may be prepared to confess that our imaginations are the property of God. All our other faculties are useless to us; we cannot perceive God as we would a ginkgo tree or a speckled trout or children chasing a yellow dog. Those clues to God's existence are all available to our senses, but the One whom they suggest is not. The reality in front of our eyes is not deep enough to contain its creator. When we sense God's presence, we glimpse another reality, one that we may enter only by the door of our imaginations" (pp. 43-44).

I think I've come home.

[Murph Hutson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding!

[Hannah Jones-Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

First half reflects on BBT’s call, second half is different sermons.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gift Barbara Brown Taylor is! Her way with words, her way of looking at the world, and most of all, the profound truths she so creatively and articulately lays before the the reader, are inspiring and thoughtful, and sometimes they cut to the quick. I have been reading this book in fits and starts for several months now. It's that kind of a book. You can read it for awhile and then just let a chapter soak in for a time, and then you can pick it up again as if you're coming home to hear more stories from an old friend. Don't let the title make you think that this book is written by a preacher only for other preachers. This book is an excellent devotional read for anyone who wants honest reflections on scripture and life.

[Terri Milstead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Barbara Brown Taylor's writing so I was really happy to see the first section of this book as required reading for my preaching class! Thoroughly enjoyed as always. Informative, thought provoking and emotion stirring, just as good preaching should be.

[Morgan Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those books that dusted off my sense of call.

[Josh Sweeney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barbara Brown Taylor’s book, The Preaching Life, breaks down the different attributes that a preacher will need in their ministry and includes thirteen sermons written by her. The audience that she is writing to is primarily preachers who are just starting or need a bit of a reminder of who they are called to be. Starting with one’s call, she navigates the reader through the terms of vocation, imagination, Bible, worship, and ending on preaching. Reverend Taylor presents through personal stories and challenges what is required of a preacher. The main point she tries to drive home is that the role of the preacher is not preaching. She writes, “Preaching is not something an ordained minister does for fifteen minutes on Sundays, but what the whole congregation does all week long; it is a way of approaching the world, and of gleaning God's presence there.” Rev. Taylor wants the preacher and the congregation to realize that the worshipping community is more significant than one individual. There are many right ways to be a preacher for a congregation and many wrong ways to be a preacher. Rev. Taylor gives tools and reminders that the preacher's role is to be a guide for those we encounter and be attuned to God's voice for God's people.

Her ability to weave personal stories to well thought out expression and ideas were magnificent. I almost felt like she showed us how to write a sermon with each chapter and the use of story, reflection, and charge to the reader. Of all the chapters she wrote, call hit home the hardest was call. My call story has been going on for a long time and is filled with twists and turns with God continuously calling me into ministry. It was not until recently that I realized the voices of others were part of my call too. Rev. Taylor writes, "Sometimes those calls ring clear as bells, and sometimes they are barely audible, but in any case, we are not meant to hear them all by ourselves. It was part of God's genius to incorporate us as one body so that our ears have other ears, other eyes, minds, hearts, and voices to help us interpret what we have heard." It was hard for me to hear others' words on something vital to me for a while because I got so driven, and the blinders made it unable for me to take in what they were saying. As I wrestled with my call and listened to God, I could hear God saying just be quiet and listen to others. As ordained ministers, we must have our eyes and ears opened to God, our congregation, and ourselves.

The only objection I had was her push back to technology. Her views make sense with a book written in the 1990s that she would push back against technology. Brown writes, "Climbing into the pulpit without props or sound effects, the preacher speaks-for ten or twenty or thirty minutes-to people who are used to being communicated within very different ways." I think the preacher if the church allows it and has the capabilities, should use technology as a means to communicate. The technology should not overshadow the proclamation of the Word, but it should be used to enhance it. The recent Global Health Crisis unveiled a considerable weakness for many preachers and churches who did not know anything about technology. They chose to avoid it and hope it would never come up, and their hand was forced. There are plenty of preachers (Andy Stanley, Mike Slaughter, Rodger Nishioka) across denominational lines who use technology appropriately and could be labeled trendsetters with their delivery style.

[Jean Marie Angelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book recommended to me from my spiritual advisor who is an Episcopal priest. I would not have discovered Barbara Brown Taylor. Very glad I read this and I will seek out more of her writing.

Some passages struck me. Here are a few:

"God has given us good news in human form and has even given us the grace to proclaim it, but part of our terrible freedom is the fredom to lose our voices, to foreget where we were going and why. While that knowledge does not yet strike me as prophetic, it does keep me from taking both my own ministry and the ministry of the whole church for granted."

"Putting one foot ahead of the other is the best way to survive disillusionment, because the real danger is not the territory itself, but getting stuck in it."

"I want a safer world. I want a more competent God. Then I remember that God's power is not a controlling but a redeeming power — the power to raise the dead, including those who are destroying themselves — and the red blood of belief begins to return to my veins."

"Day by day we are given not what we want, but what we need."

"God's call is wonderful and terrible.
What many Christians are missing in their lives is a sense of vocation.... having a vocation means more than having a job. It means answering a specific call; it means doing what one is meant to do.
Our baptisms are our ordinations, the moments at which we are set apart as God's people to share Christ's ministry, whether or not we ever wear clerical collars around our necks."

"For me, to preach is first of all, to immerse myself in the word of God, to look inside every sentence and underneath every phrase for the layers of meaning that have accumulated there over the centuries. It is to examine my own life and the lie of the congregation with the same care, hunting the connections between the word on the page and the word at work in the world."

"The ministries of the word and sacrament may begin in the church, but they never end there."

"God is willing to meet us where we are, coming among us as a burning bush, a mighty wind, a pillar of cloud, a still small voice, a descending dove, a newborn babe.... God is a palpable God."

"Worship is the ongoing practice of faith."

"Believe what? That our prayers will be answered? That things will turn out the way we think they should? That we will get what we want? That is the way it seems to work in the stories... The storm stops, the demon departs, the little girl gets up and walks around. So naturally we try to figure out what those people did right that we can do it too, so that the same thing will happen to us. Only that is not with the stories are about. They are not stories about how to get God to do what we want, which is just another way of staying in control. Instead, they are stories about God is, and how God ask, and what God is like. Mark wrote them down for one reason alone: 'This is no ordinary man. This man is the son of God. Believe it.' "

"Charity is no substitute for kinship. We are not called upon to be philanthropists or social workers, but brothers and sisters."

"That is our story, a story with everything human in it — promise, failure, blame, guilt, forgiveness, healing, hope —a story about us and a story about our God, who does not create us just once but who goes on creating us forever, putting our pieces back together so that we are never ruined, never entirely, and never for good."
​

[Adam Callis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich, and reminds me very much of my favorite, Buechner. Her chapter on Preaching is a good one to keep close by, to reread. Every time I read something from someone outside the more traditional evangelical circles, I end up benefiting from it.

A few quotes:

"I do not want to pass on knowledge from the pulpit; I want to take part in an experience of God's living word, and that calls for a different kind of research" (87).

"It is not enough to tell a congregation what they need to know about God, or Scripture, or life. The preacher who delivers airtight conclusions from the pulpit leaves the congregation with only two choices: they may agree with what they have heard or they may not, but they are prevented from drawing their own conclusions. The preacher has judged them incapable of doing that hard work and has done it for them" (88).

"As our ability to control the world around us has increased, our respect for its mystery has decreased" (41).

"Over and over, my disappointments draw me deeper into the mystery of God's being and doing. Every time God declines to meet my expectations, another of my idols is exposed. Another curtain is drawn back so that I can see what I have propped up in God's place" (10).

The section of written sermons is also very good, and she has a knack for thinking critically about what is happening in the text, specifically with the parables. She doesn't moralize them. My favorite moment was in her reflection on the parable of the shepherd with the lost sheep, when she was hypothetically describing a moment of eating with children, only to have them notice Jesus eating across the room with a rough crowd of drug addicts and prostitutes. She wonders how to explain the nature of Jesus' actions, and then drops this great line: "I could tell them this morning's parables, I suppose, but I am afraid they might get the message: that to be lost is to be precious in the sight of God, and that their good behavior rates less joy in heaven that the alleged repentance going on at that nearby table. How do you tell kids something like that? It is like telling them to get lost" (155).

Her writing reminds me of how cutting and divisive the parables must have been when Jesus gave them, and how most of us religious people would have been deeply offended and confused.

Great book.

[Carmen Imes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taylor has a way with words, and the chapters often contain nuggets worth underlining and perspectives worth remembering. Here are a few examples:
"Let the summer showers of God's love soak the seeds of your right answers so that they blossom into right actions and watch the landscape begin to change" (126).
"God's talent for finding us proves greater than our talent for getting lost" (153).
"A congregation can make or break a sermon by the quality of their response to it . . . a weak sermon can grow strong in the presence of people who attend carefully to it, leaning forward in their pews and opening their faces to a preacher from whom they clearly expect to receive good news" (82).

I have found this last point to be true. The practice of preaching to different audiences opens me up to dimensions in the text that I have otherwise missed. The same passage comes alive in new ways in a different context, in part because the Spirit has already been at work in particular ways in that place.

Taylor's sermons in the book address her own flawed perspectives honestly, calling us to reimagine how we think about the world and about others. They often hold unique insights into the application of the text. However, if one is hoping in Taylot's book for a guide to (or examples of) exegetical preaching or an exploration of the calling to preach or process of preparing to preach, this book does not quite hit the mark. Her reflections on the need for imagination are welcome, but they would bear more weight if they were paired with close attention to literary, historical, theological, and linguistic insights from the biblical text.

[aryssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is broken into two sections: 1) BBT's essentials to adjust your world-watching lens. 2) a collection of BBT's exceptional sermons.

I was fond of about half of the thematic chapters--especially her descriptions of imagination, calling, and preaching. She sets her readers up to see the world a certain way. This is a breath of fresh air from many evangelical-style sermons and preaching books I've known that emphasize writing or rhetorician skills. On the contrary, BBT's compelling rhetoric thrives because she interweaves her own, her congregation's, and God's perspectives into an poignant description of how these perspectives align and affect our interactions with God and God's creation.

BBT is emphatic that the way we think about the world is how we will speak about the world. So, with regard to "the preaching life," our imagination and attention to others and God are the most prevalent concerns with crafting sermons. And BBT's attention is honest and challenging. She doesn't say what's been said but reveals what we've all been asking. Her sermons invite you to be curious with her, not fearfully pushed into illusive sureness. BBT emboldens us into raw curiosity.

[Joe Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Preaching Life is probably one of my top three favourite books that I have read about preaching. It is a wonderful book that shares personal stories and lessons that Barbara picked up along her journey into pastoral ministry.

This book reveals how the role of preaching is related to all aspects of ministry and life. The preacher's duties are more encompassing than merely standing up to deliver a well-structured message on a Sunday.

What I cherished most about this book, was its practical, humble and vulnerable nature. It gives helpful tools and examples; is sensitive to the variety of challenges and circumstances that preachers face; and provides honest reflections on the life of a preacher.

The book is split into two parts. The first half provides helpful reflections on preaching and the life of a preacher. The second half is a collection of some of Barbara's personal sermons, clearly using some of the tools that were provided in the first half of the book. These sermons are great examples of how sermons can be relatable, challenging and insightful.

[Steve Penner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had not realized when purchasing this book that it was 20 years old. After preaching now for 26 years it seems kind of dated. Probably would have been better read 20 years ago. Taylor's preaching definitely comes out of the Episcopal tradition. She follows the lectionary and is topical in her approach and style. Because I am an expository preacher, I did not find the examples of her sermons, which occupy the last half of the book, to be very helpful. They were interesting but permeated by the liberal angst and guilt that often sounds from mainline quarters. The first half of the book on preaching in general was more helpful and I appreciated several of the stories she told from her own life. I understand that she has written several books since this first one, mostly on pastoral life, but since she gave it up for academic life, I doubt that I will continue to read her.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book by an eminent American Episcopal (Anglican) priest who also happens to be a woman.

The first part of the book is one of the clearest and most engaging explanations I've ever read on the topic of what it means to be called by God. The second part contains a number of excellent sermons, which are good for personal reading and also for layreaders or priests to read as the Sunday sermon in church.

Barbara Brown Taylor's preaching style is more like storytelling and less like the typical, evangelical expositional style of sermon. For those who are bored by the expositional style, she is a breath of fresh air. For those who prefer the expositional style, she presents an interesting new model for preaching - and perhaps a challenge as well.

[CJ Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very artfully written - BBT is a better writer than preacher. Loved the Cyrano de Bergerac analogy for preaching.

The samples of Taylor’s preaching feature plainspoken, story-driven messages, often on themes of longing, belonging, alienation, and reconciliation. They feature frequent personal elements of Taylor’s life story, relationships and interactions, and initial reactions to the text.

Taylor’s preaching voice is relational, rather than authoritative. Her sermons are frequently encouraging or hortatory; rarely didactic or expositional. They are also usually from the NT, rather than the OT, and from gospel narratives, rather than the epistles.

Her applications target the heart more than head or hands, and are usually exploratory, rather than directive.

[Richard Willsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

She doesn’t really have much to say about the gospel. Her writing is not about Christ and him crucified for my sins. And if Christ is not crucified for my sins and why was it crucified. So that he can be the great unfathomable I am. All of the law seems to be summed up in, “Gee it’s hard to be a human.” Followed with what my pass is gospel and some churches, “at least Jesus knows what you’re going through. ” pg 100, “ it takes a lot of courage to be a human being, but if Jesus was who he said he was, the bridge will hold.” If Jesus is who he says he was?

[Thomas (Tom) Baynham,Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with many books that one reads for a second or third time, there were many words of wisdom that jumped out at me over the past two months. I was reminded of the notes and insights I highlighted while reading this text as a seminary student, while at the same time reflecting on how I've grown as a person and clergy person. Taylor writes in a style that creatively combines the practical and the academic.

[Elin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barbara Brown Taylor skriver så inspirerande om tro och liv och här speciellt om livet som präst, att tolka Guds ord i ord och handling. Hon ger tankar och tips i att arbeta med sakramenten, att läsa Bibeln och predika som jag kommer att bära med mig och ha stor användning för. Den andra delen som är ett antal av hennes predikningar är också inspirerande och hennes stil att predika är väldigt inspirerande. En bok jag kommer att vilja läsa igen och sparar många citat ifrån.

[Lisa Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of this book paints the most beautiful word pictures about life. I found the stories in this book absolutely heartwarming, it was a blessing to read around Christmas. Taylor tells of her faith journey from a young child to a rector. I imagine her sermons are really quite wonderful. I feel like it is an added blessing the copy i got is signed by the author. If you want a feel good book about a journey in faith, and to see how beautiful it can be ...grab this!

[Caroline S. Walls · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with other reviewers in that I wish the first half of the book had been the whole book. I wanted more of that autobiography. I liked the sermons included at the end, but I wish they were two separate books. I found myself slowing down by the sermon section so I could read one. Stew for a few days. Then read another. They aren’t long sermons, but they are complete and impactful. I love BBT, but I’ve loved others of her books more.

[Josh Trice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book feels like a warm hug from a trusted friend. Taylor sprinkles wisdom throughout this book, tid-bits here and there that speak to the heart of what it means to be human and experience God and His goodness.

This book surprised me, having read it for a preaching class I thought that is what it would be concerned with. That’s not the case. Taylor shares a wonderful account of her experience in life with God.

Beautiful read!

[Laura Kisthardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for Fall 2019 Intro to Preaching class at Yale Divinity School. Barbara Brown Taylor is a beautiful writer, however I felt like this book was showing its age, primarily in the way chapters were structured and the sermons were composed. It didn't wow me, but it is a thoughtful reflection on preaching ministry.

[Cheryl Swaker-Coneal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Gentle and Gracious Push

Taylor's writing style of story and encouragement invites readers to consider how life proclaims OUR gospel. She informs and provokes each of us toward self-awareness and a sense of being part of the whole family of God.

[Francine Apollo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is part memoir and in part a collection of sermons/addresses.
I loved it. This author was recommended to me by a woman in my weekly Bible Study. I am so grateful.

I will re-read this one. Highly recommended.

[Denise Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written reflections and insights. Her writing brings you closer to God.

[Jacob Hudgins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like her writing style, but sometimes she is too poetic to make a point. Didn’t really take anything away from this one. I much prefer An Altar in the World.

[Todd Buegler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. So much wisdom, tied together so nicely in story and experience. I highly recommend this book.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

love this book, every time I read it! even the narrative instruction section about ministry feels like gospel. (I read it for a preacing course I facilitate)

[Landon Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the very best books on preaching. Highly recommend.