Leaving Church

Taylor's sensitive memoir of her personal journey of faith is given voice by narrator Karen Saltus. Taylor's story about her decision to leave the Episcopalian priesthood and her small Georgia congregation is Southern born and bred. But Saltus misses an opportunity when she delivers this first-person account with a standard Midwestern accent, even neglecting to give the listener a taste of Georgia in the dialogue packed into Taylor's numerous anecdotes. Still, Saltus's voice is pleasing, her pacing appropriate. And any Georgian will appreciate her pronunciation of difficult place names. Listeners interested in an honest account of faith, belief, and the priesthood in the 21st century will appreciate Taylor's thoughtful spiritual autobiography. S.K.G. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Starred review from March 13, 2006
A widely acclaimed preacher, Taylor draws on her homiletical skills in this finely crafted memoir with a simple plot: an Episcopal priest exhausts her inner resources, first in an urban church and then in a small country parish; she changes jobs, struggles and finds renewal. Such a synopsis, however, does not do justice to Taylor's literary style in this rich evocation of her lifelong love affair with God. "When I think of my first cathedral," she writes, "I am back in a field behind my parents' house in Kansas, with every stalk of prairie grass lit up from within." Drawn to the church, she compulsively overworks: "I had such a strong instinct for rescue that my breasts fairly leaked when I came across those in need of rescuing." Though she has found new employment, she realizes she is still a priest: "I miss being a lightning rod, conducting all that heat and light not only from heaven to earth but also from person to person." Current and former clergy will relate to her comical and sometimes touching descriptions of parish life, while memoir buffs will savor her journey as she identifies her core beliefs, sets boundaries and learns to relish her "blessed swath" of the world.

April 1, 2006
A frequent guest preacher and teacher at churches and universities across the country, Taylor (Christian spirituality, Columbia Theological Seminary) shares her life journey with particular emphasis on her full-time ministry as an Episcopal priest. She minces no words and gives witness to the idea that -we do not decide things as much as gravitate toward them. - A keen storyteller, she shares her doubts about her vocation as well as admits that she finds it hard at times to worship God in a church community. Her quoting Philo of Alexandria - -Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle - -epitomizes not only her own openness to tomorrow but also her acceptance of today. Those familiar with Marjorie J. Thompson -s "Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life "or Gerald W. Hughes -s "God in All Things "(his sequel to "God of Surprises") can expect to find comparable dramatic imagination and creative images here. This easy-to-read memoir is likely to speak to adults dealing with doubt, tension, or grief. Public libraries, large and small, can include for inspirational reading." -Leroy Hommerding, Fort Myers Beach P.L. Dist., FL"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2006
Episcopal priest Taylor, a respected and beloved preacher, ended a 20-year career when, after much reflection, she left the church. She had expected to spend the rest of her life writing sermons and leading worship. Instead, she now teaches full time at a college in Georgia. With its three indicatively titled sections--"Finding," "Losing," "Keeping"--" Leaving" " Church" aims to explain her compulsion to leave the familiar behind. When she was first ordained and for years thereafter, she felt certain about the fundamentals of her own faith and what it meant to be Christian. But she slowly realized that she was conflicted, internally and with the church, in large part because of church-inclusiveness controversies, including gay and lesbian issues. She laments that while ostensibly protecting the integrity of scripture and church doctrine, people can trample the rights of others. She discovered that change isn't easy. Sometimes, even getting dressed in the morning seems an insurmountable challenge. Ultimately, Taylor's is a luminous portrait of faith not lost but questioned, refound, and regained.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)