Rachel Held Evans’s labor of love
Rachel’s work changed the trajectory of American Christianity, but she was always grounded and generous.
During the last plenary session of the Progressive Asian American Christians conference this weekend we heard some incredible stories by the LGBTQIA+ community. I was asked to lead a time of prayer and offered the following words for our beautiful sister and friend, Rachel Held Evans, someone who advocated for women’s voices, people of color and women of color’s voices, and especially LGBTQ voices.
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Some of you may have heard the news that Rachel Held Evans passed away Saturday. You may or may not know of her or have heard of her, but that’s OK, all you need to know really is that she loved us, loved the church through her witness, her stories, her words. Even if you hadn’t met her or talked to her in person, you can know who she is through her books—that’s her. I can say without an ounce of hyperbole that Rachel was someone whose work changed the trajectory of American Christianity, but she was never above it all. She was totally grounded in her family and friendships. She was authentic and generous always with her time and help. She became such an inspiring and loyal advocate for the work of people on the margins and relentless in this, courageous and fierce. And yet, she always, always erred on the side of compassion, on lifting up our humanity, on lifting up our belovedness.
