Introducing The Reverend DOCTOR Andrew Taylor-Troutman!

Congratulations to our awesome pastor!

Dissertation Title – This Is the Day: A Year of Observing Unofficial Holidays About Ampersands, Bobbleheads, Buttons, Cousins, Hairball Awareness, Humbugs, Serendipity, Star Wars, Teenagers, Tenderness, Walking to School, Yo-Yos, and More

Excerpt from Introduction to Andrew’s Dissertation:

For almost three years, with the help of colleagues in a doctoral program at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, I’ve mulled over an idea called public theology. Much of what I had previously learned about Christian theology was concerned with what happens inside the church walls, institutions, and worldview. “Public” suggests a wider lens. For me, these lines from Wendell Berry express the idea of public theology: An economy of widest worth, / High heaven’s kingdom come on earth.

Rather than outside space and time, “heaven” is here “on earth,” meaning in the dirt, grass, scrub pines, poison ivy, crickets, otters, roly-polies, blue whales, rain, rainbows, you, and me. Encompassing far more than financial transactions or political systems, “economy” refers to communities and relationships marked and made by the encompassing idea of “widest worth.” We practice such economies both locally and globally, as individuals and communities, wherever we live, move, and have our being.

Note from Andrew: I’m grateful for the support of Chapel in the Pines to pursue this degree. While I received a full scholarship for tuition, my continuing education money paid for my lodging and travel. Most of all, many people in the congregation have been incredibly supportive of my writing. I hope to publish my dissertation by the end of this year, and I’ll look forward to sharing it with you.