Barbara Brown Taylor’s new title, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith (283.092/Tay), will be offered during the first Pathways session of Fall 2010. A priest in the Episcopal Church, she teaches religion at Piedmont College in rural northeast Georgia and is an adjunct professor of spirituality at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur.

She has traveled the world in the pursuit of sacred wisdom, finding most of what she needed in her own backyard. Taylor writes about the consequence of leaving full-time ministry to become a professor. She shares how she learned to encounter God beyond the walls of any church. From simple practices such as walking, working, getting lost in deep meditations on topics like prayer, and pronouncing blessings, Taylor reveals concrete ways to discover the sacred in the small things we do and see.

Our library has other titles by Taylor, including Bread of Angels, Gospel Medicine, Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith, The Preaching Life, and Seeds of Heaven: Sermons on the Gospel of Matthew. Her website is Barbara Brown Taylor

Dick Nogaj will be speaking on September 22 as part of the Wednesday night Faith Builders series, and, in October, presenting a Pathways class on Sunday mornings. His recently published autobiography, Don’t Retire, Get Inspired: One Couple’s Extraordinary Journey to Make a Difference (361.2/Nog), tells the story of how he, along with his wife Florence, took the opportunity of his retirement from the engineering firm he founded to work on improving the lives of others. Local efforts included launching a Habitat for Humanity affiliate in DuPage County, and starting the RJN Foundation. Two other projects help farm workers and low-income families in Immokalee (near Naples in southwest Florida).

The Nogajs have turned their attentions to the root causes of the problems they see by advocating for fair wages for farm workers and for immigration reform. The Nogajs now divide their time between Florida and Wheaton. Further information about the book and the author can be found at Don't Retire Get Inspired