Christian author Rachel Held Evans dies at 37: NPR

Rachel Held Evans, a progressive Christian writer whose writing challenged traditional evangelical conceptions of the politics and role of LGBTQ women and church members, passed away on Saturday. She was 37 years old.

Evans was hospitalized in mid-April for what she described in a tweet as "an influenza + UTI combo and a severe allergic reaction to the antibiotics that they've given me." She was placed in a medical-induced coma after her brain began to suffer from constant seizures, according to updates posted online by her husband, Daniel Evans.

On Saturday, he wrote that she had had significant brain swelling after being weaned from coma.

"This whole experience is surreal," he writes. "I still hope it's a nightmare I'll wake up to … I have the impression of telling the story of someone else."

He thanked everyone who had prayed, offered family support and donated money. "Rachel's presence in this world has been a gift to all of us and her work will survive for a long time to come."

Evans has attracted a loyal clientele for more than ten years on religious issues. Episcopal, she has become a popular – and sometimes controversial – figure among the evangelicals. As of Saturday, it had about 163,000 followers on Twitter.

Evans was born in Alabama in 1981 and moved to Dayton, Tennessee, to adolescence according to Slate. After graduating in 2003 from Bryan College, a small Christian college in Tennessee, she worked as a journalist and humor columnist.

At the end of 2007, she launched her own blog, calling it a "travel forum" for faith travels. Her writings pushed theological boundaries and sparked debates as she challenged traditional evangelical interpretations of the Bible, including the role of LGBTQ people in the church, for which she ardently defended.

His first book, originally titled "Evolving in Monkey Town" and later reissued as "Faith Unraveled", describes the evolution of his faith and his struggle against Christianity.

"I thought I was called to challenge atheists, but atheists ended up challenging me," she wrote in a 2016 article detailing her graduation years in college earlier. "I thought God would use me to show gays how to be straight, but instead God used gays to show me how to be a Christian."

In 2012, she published a second book, "A Year of Biblical Femininity," about her experience of trying to follow the standards of the Bible for a woman, which included submitting to the authority of her mother. husband.

"It was a challenge because my husband and I have a very egalitarian relationship," said Evans, NPR's Guy Raz before the book's release. "So it was strange to try to impose a hierarchy on this relationship".

In 2016, she gave birth to the first of her two children and wrote about becoming a new parent. "We plan to raise him Christian, despite our lingering doubts about God and our struggles with the Church," she wrote.

Later that year, she wrote an article to Vox justifying her decision to vote for Hillary Clinton as a pro-life Christian.

"Even though I think abortion is morally wrong in most cases, and it supports more legal restrictions," I often vote for pro-choice candidates while their policies will do their utmost to respond to health and economic concerns. that push women to have an abortion in the first place. "

While Evans was hospitalized, fans and friends went to Twitter, using the hashtag #prayforRHE to share what she had meant for them. Seminarist Becky Castle Miller wrote that she had seen many women who said they did not have continued the ministry if not for Evans, adding, "I am one of them."

Sarah Bessey, a friend and associate of Evans, said his writing was meaningful to those who took the same path. "She championed the voices and experiences of people who were often ignored or marginalized in the church," Bessey told NPR.

In his last message of March 6, Evans wrote about the beginning of Lent and about the frustration and sorrow that readers of the faith might feel about their own churches, citing recent divisions within the church. United Methodist Church regarding the inclusion of LGBTQ.

"I am struck today by the fact that the Ash Wednesday liturgy teaches something that almost everyone can hear," she wrote. "Do not forget that you are dust and you will return to dust." Death is part of life. My prayer for you this season is that you take the time to celebrate this. reality and cry her, and that you will know that you are not alone. "