Phyllis Tickle has had a significant impact on the religious landscape in America over her 50-year career. As a college dean, a publishing gadfly, and an advocate of the church's emergence, she has garnered a loyal following in the tens of thousands. Among those she's influenced are influential church leaders themselves, including Diana Butler-Bass, Brian McLaren, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Peter Rollins, Doug Pagitt, Jon M. Sweeney, Jana Reiss, Lauren F. Winner, and others. In this volume, they reflect of Phyllis's influence, and on the challenge that Phyllis's work poses the future church.
Author Bio
Tony Jones is the author of The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier, and the theologian-in-residence at Solomon's Porch in Minnesota. He is the author of many books, including The Sacred Way, and is a sought-after speaker in the areas of emerging church, postmodernism, and Christian spirituality. Tony lives in Minnesota.
Jon M. Sweeney is an independent scholar and award-winning author. His books have been translated into many languages. He's a popular interpreter of the life and work of Francis of Assisi, and author of more than 40 books including
St. Francis of Assisi with a foreword by Richard Rohr, and
The Complete Francis of Assisi used by Third Order Franciscans. HBO optioned the film rights to Sweeney's book on the medieval Pope Celestine V,
The Pope Who Quit. In 2023, Jon published Sit in the Sun: And Other Lessons in the Spiritual Wisdom of Cats, and Meister Eckhart's Book of Darkness and Light, coauthored with Mark S. Burrows. Jon has been interviewed on CBS News, WGN-TV, Fox News, and CBS Saturday Morning, and by publications online from CNN to Romper. He's a practicing Catholic who also prays regularly with his wife, a congregational rabbi. He loves the church, the synagogue, and other aspects of organized religion. He would never say he's "spiritual but not religious." He is the father of four and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sweeney is codirector of The Lux Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies at Sacred Heart Seminary; religion editor at Monkfish Book Publishing; editor of Living City magazine; and contributing editor for books at SpiritualityandPractice.com.
Since 2008, Jana Riess has been an editor in the publishing industry, primarily working in the areas of religion, history, popular culture, ethics, and biblical studies. From 1999 to 2008, she was the Religion Book Review Editor for Publishers Weekly, and continues to write freelance reviews for PW as well as other publications.
She holds degrees in religion from Wellesley College and Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in American religious history from Columbia University. She speaks often to media about issues pertaining to religion in America, and has been interviewed by the Associated Press, Time, Newsweek, People, the Boston Globe, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and Newsday, among other print publications, as well as “Voice of America,” the “Today” show, MSNBC, and NPR’s “All Things Considered,” “Tell Me More,” and “Talk of the Nation.”
She is the author or co-author of many books, including The Prayer Wheel; Flunking Sainthood; What Would Buffy Do?; Mormonism for Dummies; and The Writer’s Market Guide to Getting Published, andThe Next Mormons: The Rising Generation of Latter-day Saints. Her book The Twible: All the Chapters of the Bible in 140 Characters or Less . . . . Now with 68% More Humor! won first place in the non-fiction category in the Writer’s Digest Annual Self-Published Book Awards.
She is a senior columnist for Religion News Service.
Sybil MacBeth is the author of Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God (2007) and Praying in Color Kids’ Edition (2009).
Sybil can’t remember a time when she didn’t pray; but sitting still and closing her eyes were not in her childhood-prayer skill set. She loved to memorize Scripture passages, the names of books of the Bible in order, and lots of traditional prayers and hymns. She carried those words with her as a growing vocabulary of faith and prayer. She continues to love to doodle, dance, sing, walk, read, and talk about God. Sybil combines her lifelong love of prayer with her experience as a community college mathematics professor to offer workshops and retreats throughout the U.S. and Canada. Her workshops, both prayerful and playful, engage people of varied learning styles. Sybil is married to Andy MacBeth, an Episcopal priest, and is the mother of two adult sons.
Praying in Color has been translated into Spanish, Italian and Korean. Her 2014 book The Season of the Nativity: Confessions and Practices of an Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany Extremist (Paraclete Press, Fall 2014) invites people to experience the richness of the holiday season at home. Learn more at Sybil’s website and blog: prayingincolor.com.
Lauren F. Winner is the bestselling author of three books, including Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Discipline. Dr. Winner has appeared on PBS's Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and has served as a commentator on NPR's "All Things Considered." She writes and lectures widely on Christian practice, the history of Christian America, and Jewish-Christian relations. She is Assistant Professor of Christian Spirituality at Duke Divinity School.
