Are You Persuaded?: In and Out of Being a Bishop - Paperback

by Porter Taylor (Author), Katharine Jefferts Schori (Foreword by)

Porter Taylor never doubted God but doubted whether the church was the only vehicle for the holy. Growing up Episcopalian, he lived with an awareness of the tag "Frozen Chosen" for the church. Therefore, he searched to find God elsewhere. Once he returned to the church, he found himself ordained as a priest and then a bishop. The higher up he went in the hierarchy, the harder it was to represent the church yet stay centered in his faith. Because of his position, he was part of the installment of the first gay person ordained an Episcopal bishop and the first woman and African American ordained as the head of the Episcopal Church. Porter never lost his faith in Jesus or his love for the church. However, he realized that he had done what he could as a bishop, and his calling required more freedom than the office could provide. He was then persuaded that the spirit was calling him to be faithful by stepping outside the episcopacy and returning to his first love of teaching.

Author Biography

Porter Taylor is the sixth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina. He earned an MDiv from the School of Theology at the University of the South and a PhD in literature and theology from Emory University. Previously, he served as the rector of St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church in Athens, Georgia. Porter has published two books: To Dream as God Dreams: Sermons of Community, Conversion, and Hope and From Anger to Zion: An Alphabet of Faith. He is happily married to Jo Taylor and deeply grateful for his two children, Arthur and Marie. They live in Asheville, North Carolina.