NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The unexpected death of Christian author Rachel Held Evans on Saturday has led to an outpouring of support from those touched by her writings, with many saying she is the reason they kept their faith in God and the church.
In mid-April, Evans was hospitalized and put into a medically-induced coma when doctors found she was experiencing seizures while treating her for an infection.
On Saturday, her husband, Dan Evans, announced her death on her website and shock and grief overtook many at the news.
A GoFundMe campaign, launched to help cover medical expenses during her hospital stay, had a goal of $70,000. By Sunday morning, it had exceeded $179,000.
Rachel Held Evans, author of "Evolving Growing up in Monkey Town," is pictured in front of the Rhea County (Tennessee) Courthouse, the site of the 1925 Scopes monkey trial, on July 19, 2010. Evans died Saturday, May 4, 2019, after a brief illness. (Photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean)
Rachel Held Evans was known for her progressive Christian voice. She was a speaker, writer and author of numerous best-selling books, including “Faith Unraveled,” “A Year of Biblical Womanhood,” “Searching for Sunday” and “Inspired.”
Her writings resonated particularly with those struggling with their faith, traditional evangelicalism and the treatment of women and LGBT persons within the church.
“Yet instead of throwing out God or church, Rachel demonstrated a robust Christian faith outside the bounds of evangelicalism,” Katelyn Beaty, author of “A Women’s Place,” wrote in a tribute column for the Religion News Service.
“She showed that that world’s gatekeepers, its voracious ‘discernment bloggers,’ don’t have the final say about one’s standing before Christ.”
Beaty wrote that Evans in her “Searching for Sunday” book traced her own personal journey through the Episcopal church.
“Along the way, she helped many readers stay tethered to faith when they wanted to bolt,” Beaty wrote.
May 4: Fellow writers, fans shocked and saddened by death of Christian writer Rachel Held Evans
Indeed, after her death, the #BecauseofRHE hashtag began trending as people told their own stories about how Evans inspired them to keep their faith and remain active in their churches.
“When I was still struggling with my faith, this woman was one of the voices who made me feel like no one had the right to reject me,” wrote one woman under the name Jamie Holderman. “She held space for me to feel loved.”
When I was still struggling with my faith, this woman was one of the voices who made me feel like no one had the right to reject me. She held space for me to feel loved. #BecauseofRHEhttps://t.co/sTi1wYkyTL
The Rev. Emmy Kegler, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Minneapolis and the founder of Queer Grace, an online resources guide around LGBTQ life and faith, told of how Evans inspired her.
“She taught me how to hold my faith upside down and shake it till grace fell out,” Kegler wrote Sunday. “I’ll do the same again today, not just for myself but for all in need. #BecauseOfRHE.”
She taught me how to hold my faith upside down and shake it till grace fell out.
I'll do the same again today, not just for myself but for all in need.#BecauseOfRHE
Others paid similar tributes.
We don’t have to be hopeful yet. Rachel understood that the power of resurrection is in letting yourself be crucified first. To feel it all, so you can use it on Sunday. It’s okay to let it be Friday. First the pain, then the waiting, then the rising. #BecauseOfRHE
My dear @rachelheldevans, I know when you first went into hospital, you mourned that you would miss @GameOfThrones
Just thought you should know, a young woman with fierce courage saved the kingdom.
But it wasn’t just progressive Christians who felt touched by Evans, her writings and her life.
Most notably, Russell Moore, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, took to Twitter to urge people to support her family and donate to the GoFundMe campaign.
Evans “leaves behind a husband and two small children, one 3 and one less than one year old. As many as can, let’s please help this grieving young family with the overwhelming medical bills,” Moore wrote.
Moore regularly tangled with Evans online but said conservative Christians are better off because of her.
“I was on the other side of her Twitter indignation many times, but I respected her because she was never a phony,” Moore told The New York Times. “Even in her dissent, she made all of us think, and helped those of us who are theological conservatives to be better because of the way she would challenge us.”
Evans, 37, was from Dayton, Tennessee, and in addition to her writings, served on former President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. She was a regular speaker across the nation.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Duane W. Gang on Twitter: @duanegang
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