Stanley Hauerwas is a rare gift to the church because he refuses to be bound by the rules of the academy in the same way that he refuses to allow us to confine Israel and the church’s God within the walls of our theology. He is a rare gift insofar as he amplifies the voices of those whom establishment theologians would rather ignore in their discomfort—voices like the cognitively impaired...

Dr. Hauerwas was my ethics teacher at Duke Divinity. On the very first day of class, he began by addressing the crowded room with his signature Texan accent and said, “Let us pray.” We, the students, dutifully bowed our heads in reverence and waited for the prayer to begin. This was the entirety of the prayer: “Frightening Lord, teaching this class scares the shit out of me. But perhaps...

The morning of my dissertation defense, right before my defense time, I said a Eucharist in Goodson Chapel to offer my labor to God. Stanley didn’t have to come - he wasn’t on my committee - but he did. It meant the world to me.

My life and ministry have been blessed by Stanley's friendship.  One learns quite early in a friendship with Stanley, not to ask him his opinion if you do not want the unvarnished truth.  Now, in this wonderful gathering, you too can get the full-frontal Hauerwas.  Get ready to be smacked by the truth in Jesus' name!  One more thing, it has been said of Stanley, as it was said of Barth, that...

I didn't realize quite the impact Dr. Hauerwas would have on my life until it was too late. His written work, essays, and conversations have challenged me to not only take the Gospel seriously but to take myself seriously as a minister of the gospel. It is because of him that I consider the theological role of the pastor for the community as important as the pastoral role we are called to play.

Stanley Hauerwas has been the kind of creative thinker and provocative theologian our age requires. He has been a particular mentor to me and others like me who are trying to sort out a practical theology within the American and secular contexts in which we find ourselves. He is a saint of my devotion, not because I agree with him in all things, but because he has a way of making me...