Tex Sample

Tex Sample in October, 2008

Tex Sample (born December 28, 1934) is a specialist in church and society, a storyteller, author, and the Robert B. and Kathleen Rogers Professor Emeritus of Church and Society at the St. Paul School of Theology, a United Methodist seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, where he taught from 1967–1999. He has published four books about the working class.

Background

Born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Sample received a BA from Millsaps College, an M.Div. and Ph.D. from Boston University, and a DD from Coe College. A former cab driver, laborer, and oil field roustabout, As of 2015 he is a freelance speaker and consultant based in greater Kansas City, MO.[1] A much sought-after lecturer,[2] storyteller, workshop leader and consultant, Tex is a contributor to the DVD programs in the Living the Questions series.[3] His most recent books are Earthy Mysticism (2008),[4] The Future of John Wesley's Theology (2012), and Human Nature, Interest, and Power: a Critique of Reinhold Niebuhr's Social Thought (2013).

His father named him after Texanna Gillham, an African-American woman who was born in slavery and helped raise his father near Center, Texas.[1]

Books

  • Blue Collar Ministry: Facing Economic and Social Realities of Working People, Judson Press, 1984, ISBN 0-8170-1029-7
  • U.S. Lifestyles and Mainline Churches: A Key to Reaching People in the 90's, Westminster John Knox Press, 1990, ISBN 0-664-25099-8
  • Hard Living People & Mainstream Christians, Abingdon Press, 1993, ISBN 0-687-17931-9
  • Ministry in an Oral Culture-Living With Will Rogers, Uncle Remus, and Minnie Pearl, Westminster John Knox Press, 1994, ISBN 0-664-25506-X
  • White Soul: Country Music, the Church, and Working Americans, Abingdon Press, 1996, ISBN 0-687-03293-8
  • The Spectacle of Worship in a Wired World: Electronic Culture and the Gathered People of God, Abingdon Press, 1998, ISBN 0-687-08373-7
  • The Loyal Opposition: Struggling With the Church on Homosexuality, Tex Sample and Amy E. Delong, editors, Abingdon Press, 2000, ISBN 0-687-08425-3
  • Powerful Persuasion: Multimedia Witness in Christian Worship, Abingdon Press, 2005 ISBN 0-687-33901-4
  • Blue Collar Resistance and the Politics of Jesus, Abingdon Press, 2006 ISBN 0-687-33502-7
  • Earthy Mysticism: Spirituality for Unspiritual People, Abingdon Press, 2008 ISBN 0-687-64989-7
  • The Future of John Wesley's Theology: Back to the Future with the Apostle Paul, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2012 ISBN 978-1-61097-629-9
  • Human Nature, Interest, and Power: a Critique of Reinhold Niebuhr's Social Thought, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2013 ISBN 978-1-62032-626-8

References

  1. ^ a b Tex Sample web site Retrieved May 2, 2015
  2. ^ 2014 Cole Lectures at Vanderbilt Divinity School, Retrieved May 2, 2015
  3. ^ Living the Questions "a practical tool to... re-educate thinking Christians", Retrieved May 2, 2015
  4. ^ Abingdon Press author page Retrieved May 2, 2915