Held Evans to address the relationship between millennials and faith

Statistics show that people in their 20s and 30s are leaving the church, which leaves many people asking why. New York Times best-selling author Rachel Held Evans will offer her perspective on this question at Canterbury United Methodist on Sunday, Nov. 16. She will speak at 9:15 a.m. and 6 p.m. 

At the evening session, she will focus on her book Faith Unraveled, which explores her own relationship between faith and doubt growing up in the Bible Belt. In it, she recounts the challenges of asking her own tough questions about Christianity, many of which she is still wrestling with today. 

In the morning she will focus on another of her books, A Year of Biblical Womanhood, which documents a yearlong experiment in which she attempted to follow all of the Bible’s instructions for women as literally as possible. 

Evans has been featured on ABC’s The View, The Huffington Post, NPR, Slate, The BBC, The Washington Post, The Guardian (UK), The Times London and Oprah.com. She was also recently named one of Christianity Today’s “50 Women to Watch.” 

“The unique part of Rachel’s speaking and writing is that she does not shy away from the real issues and questions that millennials have with and about the church,” said Stephen Ingram, director of student ministries at Canterbury. “She understands that the problems they have with the institution are not only relevant, but can actually help the church grow into its next incarnation — a hopefully better version of itself.”

This speaking engagement is free and open to the public. For more information, visit canterburyumc.org/fallseries.

-Submitted by Doug Black