Rachel Held Evans (née Rachel Grace Held; June 8, 1981 – May 4, 2019) was an American Christian columnist, blogger and author. Her book ''A Year of Biblical Womanhood'' was a
''New York Times'' bestseller in e-book non-fiction, and ''Searching for Sunday'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller nonfiction paperback.
Early life and education
Evans was born in Alabama to Robin and Peter Held and spent her early years in
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
. When she was 14, she and her family moved to
Dayton, Tennessee
Dayton is a city and county seat in Rhea County, Tennessee, Rhea County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 7,065. The Dayton Urban Cluster, which includes developed areas adjacent ...
, where her father took an administrative position at
Bryan College
Bryan College is a private Christian college in Dayton, Tennessee. It was founded in the aftermath of the 1925 Scopes Trial to establish an institution of higher education that would teach from a Christian worldview.
History
During the Sco ...
. She attended
Rhea County High School, then went to Bryan College where she majored in English literature. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2003.
Career
After graduating from college, Evans moved to
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...
, to intern for the ''
Chattanooga Times Free Press
The ''Chattanooga Times Free Press'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is distributed in the metropolitan Chattanooga region of southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. It is one of Tennessee's majo ...
''.
In 2004, Evans returned to Dayton where she worked full-time for ''
The Herald-News
''The Herald-News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Joliet, Illinois, United States. It serves the Joliet, Will County and Grundy County area, and is owned by Shaw Media.
History
The paper was founded in 1904 as the ''Joliet Herald''. In ...
'', the local paper. In 2006, she switched from full-time employment to writing
pro bono as the paper's humor columnist; in 2007, she won an award for Best Personal Humor Column from the Tennessee Press Association.
She continued to write freelance articles for national publications and began to blog.
In September 2008, Evans signed with
Zondervan
Zondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). They are a part of HarperCollins Christian Publ ...
for her first book, ''Evolving in Monkey Town''. The book explores her journey from religious certainty to a faith which accepts doubt and questioning; the title is based on the
Scopes Monkey Trial that took place in Dayton.
Her second book, ''A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband Master'', was published in October 2012.
She recounts how she spent an entire year of living a Biblical lifestyle literally. The book also garnered national media attention for Evans as she appeared on ''The Today Show''.
In 2014, Evans re-released ''Evolving in Monkey Town'' with the new title of ''Faith Unraveled''.
In 2015, she wrote a column in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'': "Want millennials back in the pews? Stop trying to make church 'cool.'" In the column she self-identified as a
millennial
Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s ...
and expressed her belief that churches attempting to attract more millennials were wrong in their approach because they focused primarily on stylistic aspects of the church experience, which "are not the key to drawing millennials back to God in a lasting and meaningful way. Young people don't simply want a better show."
In early August 2016, Evans published an editorial for ''
Vox'' defending her "
pro-life
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respon ...
Christian" position and support for
Democratic presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
in the
2016 U.S. presidential election
The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...
.
In 2018, Held Evans and
Sarah Bessey
Sarah Styles Bessey (born 1979) is a Canadian Christian author and blogger. She has written four popular books and is the co-founder and cohost of the progressive Evolving Faith Conference and podcast.
Background and personal life
Sarah Styles wa ...
co-founded the Evolving Faith Conference, an annual gathering of young
progressive Christian
Progressive Christianity represents a post-modern theological approach, and is not necessarily synonymous with progressive politics. It developed out of the liberal Christianity of the modern era, which was rooted in the Enlightenment's think ...
s.
They expected about 200 people to attend the first conference in
Montreat, North Carolina
Montreat is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 723 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is best known for Montreat Conference Center, Montreat College, ...
, and had 1,400 attend.
[ Jeff Chu joined them as co-organizer for the October 2019 conference, which became "in part a consolation for readers, friends and devotees of Rachel Held Evans" after her death in May of that year.][
]
Death
Evans was placed in a medically induced coma in April 2019 following an allergic reaction to medication for an infection. By May 2, "severe swelling of the brain" worsened her condition, and she died on May 4.
Personal life
In 2003, Evans married her college boyfriend, Dan Evans. The couple had two children. She was an Episcopalian who attended St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Cleveland, Tennessee. At the time of her death, she no longer considered herself to be an evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
due to the movement's close association with the Christian right
The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with ...
in the United States.
Legacy
Emma Green, writing for ''The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', notes that Evans "was part of a vanguard of progressive-Christian women who fought to change the way Christianity is taught and perceived in the United States." Green goes on to argue that Evans' legacy is "her unwillingness to cede ownership of Christianity to its traditional conservative-male stewards" and that her "very public, vulnerable exploration of a faith forged in doubt empowered a ragtag band of writers, pastors, and teachers to claim their rightful place as Christians."
Books
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References
External links
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March 2015 Interview with Rachel Held Evans in ''The Englewood Review of Books''
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Rachel Held
1981 births
2019 deaths
21st-century American Episcopalians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American women writers
21st-century Christians
American Christian writers
American bloggers
American columnists
American spiritual writers
American women bloggers
American women non-fiction writers
Bryan College alumni
Christian bloggers
Infectious disease deaths in Tennessee
Journalists from Alabama
People from Dayton, Tennessee
American women columnists
Writers from Birmingham, Alabama
Writers from Tennessee
Former evangelicals
American left-wing activists