“Wearing God”
with Lauren F. Winner
Saturday, February 22, 2020
St. Andrews UMC, 1201 Maxwell Drive, Raleigh, NC 27603
The Bible overflows with poetic language for God – God appears as a beekeeper, an undertaker, a child at play, a piece of clothing. But most of us have been formed in church communities that have focused on a small cupful of biblical imagery for God, preferring to hymn God as shepherd or friend or Father, and not paying very much attention to God as beekeeper or child at play. In this day apart, we’ll explore some of the overlooked imagery, asking what it might kindle or invite in our spiritual lives.
Lauren F. Winner writes and lectures widely on Christian practice, the history of Christianity in America, and Jewish-Christian relations. Her books include Girl Meets God, Mudhouse Sabbath, a study of household religious practice in 18th-century Virginia, A Cheerful and Comfortable Faith, Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, and, most recently, a book on overlooked biblical tropes for God, Wearing God. She is completing a book called Characteristic Damage, which examines the effects of sin and damage on Christian practice.
Dr. Winner’s research has been supported by numerous institutions, including Monticello, the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University, and the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University. She has appeared on PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and has served as a commentator on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” She has written for The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly, Books and Culture, and Christianity Today, and her essays have been included in several volumes of The Best Christian Writing.