Progressive Christian author dies at 37

Rachel Held Evans, a best-selling Christian author who was unafraid to wade into fierce theological battles over issues like the role of women, science, LGBT issues and politics on her blog and social media, died Saturday after spending weeks in the hospital for an infection. She was 37.

Her husband, Dan, who has been writing health updates, wrote on her blog Saturday that she had been weaned from an induced coma, but swelling in her brain was not survivable.

“This entire experience is surreal. I keep hoping it’s a nightmare from which I’ll awake,” Dan Evans wrote. “I feel like I’m telling someone else’s story.”

Rachel Evans tweeted in mid-April that she was in the hospital with the “flu + UTI combo and a severe allergic reaction” to antibiotics and asked for prayer. Dan Evans wrote that she then developed seizures, so doctors put her into a medically induced coma.

The hashtag #PrayforRHE became a trending topic on Twitter this month for Rachel Evans, who had two young children, ages 3 and almost 1. Her friends set up a GoFundMe to cover medical expenses.

Writer Sarah Bessey, a close friend of Evans, wrote on Twitter that she was surrounded by her family and her close friend, who sang and prayed. The Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber tweeted that she anointed her with oil Friday night.

“Rachel’s presence in this world was a gift to us all and her work will long survive her,” Dan Evans wrote Saturday.

An Episcopalian, Evans drew a large following in the evangelical community in both progressive and conservative circles. She criticized widespread evangelical support for President Donald Trump, encouraged women in church leadership and questioned a literal reading of the Bible, among other issues. From her home in Tennessee, she became a beloved progressive speaker at many conferences around the country.

Her books, including “A Year of Biblical Womanhood,” “Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again” and “Faith Unraveled” pushed theological boundaries for many conservative evangelicals but gave voice to many progressive evangelicals who had become frustrated with their churches. In 2012, she was named one of Christianity Today magazine’s “50 Women to Watch.”