Rachel Held Evans is Speaking Out—Even After Her Death

HOW SHE CHANGED HER MIND—When best-selling author and evangelical rebel Rachel Held Evans died in May at age 37, millions of us mourned the loss. The New York Times described her as “a best-selling author who challenged conservative Christianity and gave voice to a generation of wandering evangelicals wrestling with their faith.”

Even in death—her voice was not silenced. Millions still are reading her four books and thousands of online columns and commentaries. Now, her husband Dan has surprised her worldwide audience by publishing posthumously one last column about LGBT inclusion—or, as Dr. David Gushee puts it: how she changed her mind. Please, read our Cover Story about Rachel Held Evans’ final column—and share it with friends.

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MILESTONE FOR FAMILIES

This month, we are marking the fifth anniversary of Dr. David Gushee’s landmark book Changing Our Mind, which now is helping families around the world to learn to love their LGBT children, as Gushee explained in our interview with him last week.

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PEW CHARTS WORLDWIDE ACCEPTANCE

This week, Pew Research has published several reports that will interest anyone interested in the journey toward inclusion. First, a country-by-country look at Same Sex Marriage around the World. Then, Pew gives us a Global Snapshot of Same-Sex Marriage. Finally, Pew summarizes 5 Facts in a column that also charts American public acceptance rising in recent decades.

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MARKETING OUR BEST SELLER

FRONT EDGE PUBLISHING’s Marketing Director Susan Stitt writes about the inspiring philosophy behind building a worldwide community around David Gushee’s Changing Our Mind, our bestseller that has touched lives around the world.

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How Being an Outsider Helps Us Reach Out

SUZY FARBMAN brings us an inspiring personal story this week, which she describes as “How I learned the unexpected benefit of not belonging.”

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Holidays & Festivals:

REMEMBERING THE NIGHT OF BROKEN GLASS

WHY KRISTALLNACHT IS SO IMPORTANT. Many journalists, educators and community leaders have emphasized the continuing importance of marking such historic milestones—especially in light of attacks like last year’s mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue close to Kristallnacht. Holidays columnist Stephanie Fenton has the story behind this tragic and telling night in Nazi Germany, including links to further photos and reflections.

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Care to see all the holidays? It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances—just remember the address InterfaithHolidays.com

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Faith & Film

ED McNULTY, for decades, has published reviews, magazine articles and books exploring connections between faith and film. Most of his work is freely published. Ed supports his work by selling the Visual Parables Journal, a monthly magazine packed with discussion guides to films. This resource is used coast-to-coast by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.

Among Ed’s free reviews and columns are:

• HARRIET—An important film every bit as exciting as any superhero blockbuster from Hollywood. Ed urges readers to go see this movie, giving it 5 out of 5 stars.
• LUCY IN THE SKY—The based-on-real-life story of an astronaut who gets caught up in a tragic earth-bound relationship is not as bad as some critics have claimed, Ed argues, giving it 3.5 stars.
• RAISING HELL—Ed writes: “Director Janice Engel’s documentary elicits lots of laughter, but this is not the story of a comedian, but rather that of a journalist who was sort of a combination of Mark Twain, Bernstein and Woodward, and an Old Testament prophet.” (5 stars)
• BLACK AND BLUE—Ed gives this action-packed thriller about a black, female cop 4 stars.
• THE GREAT ALASKAN RACE—Ed writes: “Brian Presley both directs and plays the lead role in this family film that pays tribute to the heroic feats of Alaskan mushers and their dogs in 1925.” (4 stars)
• MONOS—Ed gives 4.5 stars to this film from Argentina about a guerrilla group.
• THE JOKER—Ed writes: “Of all the super villains, in the D.C. or any universe for that matter, the Joker is the most interesting. Definitely worthy of his own origin movie.” (4.5 stars)

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