Rachel Held Evans–January 21, 2012

Rachel Held Evans is an award-winning author and popular blogger from Dayton, Tennessee—home of the famous Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925.

Rachel’s first book, Evolving in Monkey Town explores the relationship between faith and doubt and recounts the challenges of asking tough questions about Christianity in the context of the Bible Belt. She says, ”It’s about moving from certainty, through  doubt, to faith. It’s not about the answers I found but about the questions I asked,  questions I  suspect you might be asking too. It’s not a pretty story, or even a finished story. It’s a  survival  story.”

In October, Rachel finished a yearlong experiment in “biblical womanhood” in which she attempted to follow all of the Bible’s instructions for women as literally as possible. That experiment will be documented in a book published by Thomas Nelson in 2012.

In addition to her writing, Rachel has maintained a busy speaking schedule across the country for retreats, conferences, universities and churches. Some of her most recent events have included, The Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College, Baylor University, Abilene Christian University Summit, Gordon College, Eastern Nazarene College, Hope International University, Big Tent Christianity, The Southern Festival of Books, and Soularize.

She has also been featured in interviews on NPR, Slate, The BBC, The Washington Post, The Guardian (UK), The London Times, The Huffington Post, and Orpah.com.

Rachel is a skeptic, a creative, and a follower of Jesus. She is a lifelong Alabama Crimson Tide fan, and happily married to her husband Dan.

Follow her very popular blog at  www.rachelheld evans.com