Publisher Description
Discover the new collection of original writings by Rachel Held Evans, whose reflections on faith and life continue to encourage, challenge, and influence, lovingly performed by Daniel Jonce Evans, Jeff Chu, Jamie Wright, Sarah Bessey, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Kristen Howerton, Kaitlin Curtice, Amanda Held Opelt, Rev. Neichelle R. Guidry, Ph.D., Candice Marie Benbow, Kathy Khang, the Rev. Wil Gafney, Ph.D., and Amena Brown.
Rachel Held Evans is widely recognized for her theologically astute, profoundly honest, and beautifully personal books, which have guided, instructed, edified, and shaped Christians as they seek to live out a just and loving faith.
At the time of her tragic death in 2019, Rachel was working on a new book about wholeheartedness. With the help of her close friend and author Jeff Chu, that work-in-progress has been woven together with some of her other unpublished writings into a rich collection of essays that ask candid questions about the stories we’ve been told—and the stories we tell—about our faith, our selves, and our world.
This book is for the doubter and the dreamer, the seeker and the sojourner, those who long for a sense of spiritual wholeness as well as those who have been hurt by the Church but can’t seem to let go of the story of Jesus. Through theological reflection and personal recollection, Rachel wrestles with God’s grace and love, looks unsparingly at what the Church is and does, and explores universal human questions about becoming and belonging. An unforgettable, moving, and intimate book.
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“Wholehearted Faith speaks equally well to all; book groups will find rich fodder for discussions, parents will find support for raising tender-hearted Christian children, and pastors will find that perfect illustration for Sunday’s sermon."
—
Presbyterian Outlook
About the Authors
Rachel Held Evans (1981–2019) was the bestselling author of numerous books on spirituality and religion. Her words about faith, doubt, and life were featured on her own blog but also in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, the London Guardian, and the Huffington Post. She appeared on NPR, BBC, the Today Show, and The View. She served on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
Jeff Chu grew up in Berkeley, California, and Miami, Florida. He graduated magna cum laude from Princeton, earned a master’s degree from the London School of Economics, and received French-American Foundation and Harvard Divinity School fellowships. He has written for Time, Conde Nast Portfolio, the Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company, winning Deadline Club and German Marshall Fund awards for his work. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
About the Narrators
Sarah Bessey is a
writer and award-winning blogger at sarahbessey.com, an editor at A Deeper Story, and a contributor at SheLoves magazine. She lives in Abbotsford,
British Columbia, Canada, with her husband, Brian, and their three children,
Anne, Joseph, and Evelynn.
Nadia Bolz-Weber is the founding pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints, an ELCA mission church in Denver, Colorado. She’s a leading voice in the emerging church movement and her writing can be found in the Christian Century and Jim Wallis’s God’s Politics blog. She is author of Salvation on the Small Screen?: 24 Hours of Christian Television and the Sarcastic Lutheran blog.
Kathy Khang is director of campus access initiatives with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. She previously was InterVarsity’s regional multiethnic director and area director for Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She is a speaker, journalist, and activist, a columnist for
Sojourners magazine, and a coauthor of
More Than Serving Tea: Asian American Women on Expectations, Relationships, Leadership and Faith.Amena Brown is an author, spoken word poet, speaker, and event host. The author of five spoken word albums and two non-fiction books, Amena performs and speaks at events from coffeehouses to arenas with a mix of poetry, humor, and storytelling. She and her husband, DJ Opdiggy, reside in Atlanta, GA.
Neil Hellegers grew up in New Jersey and attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a BA in theater arts and a minor in psychology before getting an MFA in acting from the Trinity Rep Conservatory in Providence, Rhode Island. He moved to New York City in 2003 and, since then, has made a career of theatrical performance, percussion, theater education, and audiobook narration. He currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son.