The Happy Hour #330: Karen Swallow Prior

My guest for The Happy Hour #330 is Karen Swallow Prior. Karen Swallow Prior, Ph. D., is Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is the author of several books including On Reading Well, and her writing has appeared at Christianity Today, The Washington Post, Relevant, The Gospel Coalition and more. She and her husband of 35 years currently live in central Virginia in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I have been a long-time admirer of Karen’s voice and writing, and I’m so thankful she is joining us on the podcast. After reading her article published back in August, I knew I needed to reach out. In today’s episode, Karen talks about her experience of going from a private person to a public person, the stigmas and baggage that come with remaining a southern baptist, and some of the downsides of having a visible platform. She also gets vulnerable about some of the recent challenges she is facing around leaving her employer of 21 years, and the corruption of power that we see within the evangelical world. There is a very real and evident tension that comes with reminding people who Jesus is when the people who claim to follow Him fall. It’s a serious task to uphold the responsibility of power, and it is definitely a difficult task to respond to falls in leadership. But I love how she worded it in her article: “Churches, schools, universities, all Christian ministries steward in the name of Christ the most precious things in all of creation: human bodies and souls. That’s a lot of power. It’s even more responsibility. When power goes unchecked, all hell breaks loose.” I appreciate Karen’s transparency on a topic that can be difficult to address, but I hope it is a reminder of the great responsibility we’ve been given as Christ ambassadors to represent His kingdom well.

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