Diana Butler Bass

Early life and education

Diana Butler Bass was born Diana Hochstedt Butler in 1959, in Baltimore, Maryland. Raised a United Methodist, she became an evangelical. She attended Westmont College, a Christian college in Santa Barbara, California, from which she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981.

Bass received a Master of Arts in Theological Studies degree in ecclesiastical history from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 1986. Studying under the supervision of George Marsden, she received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in religious studies from Duke University in 1991. Her doctoral thesis was titled Standing Against the Whirlwind: The Evangelical Party in the 19th Century Protestant Episcopal Church.

Following her first marriage, she married Richard Bass on January 18, 1997.

Career

Bass worked primarily as an academic for a decade before becoming an independent scholar. She began in 1991 as an assistant professor of religious studies at Westmont College, from which she was fired in 1995. She went on to serve as a history instructor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, from 1995 to 1996, as a visiting assistant professor of religious studies at Macalester College from 1996 to 1997, and as an associate professor of religious studies at Rhodes College from 1997 to 2000. In 2002, the Lilly Endowment awarded Bass a major grant to support her research on mainline Protestant churches at Virginia Theological Seminary.

Scholarship and writings

Bass's books range from a study of nineteenth-century evangelicalism (Standing Against the Whirlwind: Evangelical Episcopalians in Nineteenth-Century America) to a contemporary ethnography of mainline Protestantism (Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church Is Transforming the Faith) to theological explorations of contemporary life (Grounded and Grateful) to a spiritual memoir (Strength for the Journey: A Pilgrimage of Faith in Community), the latter of which records her growing dissatisfaction with conservative evangelicalism.

Speaking appearances

In 2005, Bass appeared on Religion & Ethics Newsweekly on PBS, and was, along with Martin E. Marty, one of two scholars chosen to represent mainline Protestantism in The Life of Meaning: Reflections on Faith, Doubt, and Repairing the World, a book edited by the show's host, Bob Abernethy.

In 2015, she was one of the keynote speakers at the Parliament of the World's Religions, held in Salt Lake City.

Awards and recognition

Two of her books, Strength for the Journey and Christianity for the Rest of Us, have been named among the best books of their respective years by Publishers Weekly. Christianity for the Rest of Us was named book of the year by the Academy of Parish Clergy. Standing Against the Whirlwind was awarded the Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize by the American Society of Church History. Grounded: Finding God in the World and Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks won the Wilbur Award as the best nonfiction book of the year from the Religion Communicators Council in 2017 and 2019, respectively.

Newspapers and magazines that have covered her work include USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

List of written works

• A Beautiful Year, St Martin’s Essential, 2025;
• Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence. HarperCollins. 2021;
• From Nomads to Pilgrims: Stories from Practicing Congregations. Alban Institute. 2006. With Joseph Stewart-Sicking
• Episcopalians in America, Columbia University Press, 2006.
• The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church. Alban Institute. 2004.
• Broken We Kneel: Reflections on Faith and Citizenship. Jossey-Bass. 2004.
• Strength for the Journey: A Pilgrimage of Faith in Community. Jossey-Bass. 2002.
• (as Diana Hochstedt Butler) Standing Against the Whirlwind: Evangelical Episcopalians in Nineteenth-Century America. Oxford University Press. 1995.

Notes

References

References

1. (June 2011). "Progressive Christianity: An Interview with Diana Butler Bass". Patheos.com.
2. (February 16, 2011). "Diana Butler Bass | Sojourners: Celebrating 40 Years of Faith in Action for Social Justice". Sojo.net.
3. Price, Seth. (March 17, 2018). "'Grateful' with Diana Butler Bass". Can I Say This at Church.
4. "Meet Diana Butler Bass". Kansas-Oklahoma Conference of the United Church of Christ.
5. (2014). "American Evangelism: George Marsden and the State of American Religious History". University of Notre Dame Press.
6. (2015-08-24). "About Diana {{!}} Diana Butler Bass".
7. Hochstedt Butler, Diana. (1991). "Standing Against the Whirlwind: The Evangelical Party in the 19th Century Protestant Episcopal Church". Duke University.
8. Bass, Diana Butler. (March 28, 2018). "Practicing Gratitude: How Keeping a Journal Changed My Perspective".
9. Bass, Diana Butler. (2017). "Strength for the Journey: A Pilgrimage of Faith in Community". Church Publishing.
10. Bass, Diana Butler. (March 3, 1993). "Between Two Worlds: Evangelical, Female – and a Scholar".
11. Bass, Diana Butler. (March 28, 2018). "Practicing Gratitude: How Keeping a Journal Changed My Perspective".
12. Bass, Diana Butler. "About Diana". self-published.
13. "Diana Butler Bass Extended Interview | July 8, 2005 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly". PBS.
14. "Diana Butler Bass {{!}} parliamentofreligions.org".
15. "Salt Lake 2015 Parliament".
16. (November 6, 2006). "PW's Best Books of the Year".
17. "Apclergy - Book of the Year, Top Ten Books published in 2006".
18. . ["Standing Against the Whirlwind: Evangelical Episcopalians in Nineteenth-Century America. The Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize Essay for the American Society of Church History for 1993 - Religion in America"](https://www.waterstones.com/book/standing-against-the-whirlwind/diana-hochstedt-butler/9780195085426).
19. . (February 14, 2017). ["Grounded: Finding God in the World-A Spiritual Revolution"](https://books.google.com/books?id=ErXNsgEACAAJ). *HarperCollins*.
20. Grossman, Cathy Lynn. (November 1, 2006). "Some Protestant Churches Feeling 'Mainline' Again". USA Today.
21. Kulman, Linda. (June 7, 2005). "Religion in America: Pumping life into mainline Protestantism". U.S. News & World Report.
22. Underwood, Anne. (October 18, 2006). "Author: There's Hope for U.S. Protestant Churches". MSNBC.
23. Broadway, Bill. (May 1, 2005). "Old-Time Religion For Mainline Churches". Washington Post.
24. (September 20, 2003). "New Life Seen in Protestant Churches". Los Angeles Times.
25. Rodgers, Ann. (2007-06-11). "She studies what makes churches thrive". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
26. . ["Diana Bass"](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/diana+bass).