Sharon Garlough Brown

Author, Speaker, Spiritual Director

Sharon Garlough Brown is a spiritual director, speaker, and cofounder of Abiding Way Ministries, providing spiritual formation retreats and resources. She is the author of Shades of Light, the Shades of Light Study Guide, Remember Me, and the bestselling Sensible Shoes Series, which includes the spiritual formation novels Sensible Shoes, Two Steps Forward, Barefoot, An Extra Mile, and their study guides. Her latest work, Feathers of Hope (third in the Shades of Light series) released in April 2022.

A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, Sharon has served on the pastoral staff of congregations in Scotland, Oklahoma, England, and West Michigan, where she co-pastored with her husband, Jack, for many years. She and Jack have now returned to the UK and reside in Dundee, Scotland.

In March 2013 her book Sensible Shoes was named one of television personality Kathie Lee Gifford's "favorite things," and in December 2018 An Extra Mile was awarded Christianity Today's "Fiction Book of the Year."

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Sharon Garlough Brown

Podcast Episodes featuring Kristy Lahoda

Sensible Shoes, Part 2 - The Spiritual Disciplines of Lament and Confession within the Ignatian Examen

Length: 30 min Guest: Sharon Garlough Brown

Welcome to the Season 2 season finale of Fiction that Forms us!

How do we become more receptive and responsive to the work of the Spirit within our lives? In her first novel, Sensible Shoes, from the series of the same name, Sharon Garlough Brown takes her characters on a journey of practicing various spiritual disciplines. In this episode, I talk to author Sharon Garlough Brown about the spiritual disciplines of lament and confession within the Ignatian Examen. The spiritual practice is one of attentiveness that enables our receptivity by reviewing our day with God in two movements: consolation—where we noticed and responded to God today—and desolation—where we were unaware of, ignored, or rejected God during our day.

Sensible Shoes - A Conversation about Hannah and Charissa

Length: 35 min Guest: Sharon Garlough Brown

How do we overcome vices that the world teaches us to idolize? In her first novel, Sensible Shoes, from the series of the same name, Sharon Garlough Brown takes the reader through the growth journey of four characters, whose lives become interwoven throughout the novel as they embark on a sacred journey with God and each other. In this episode, I talk with author Sharon Garlough Brown about her novel, where we discuss the spiritual formation of Hannah and Charissa, two of the four main characters. Just as they learn to surrender their identities to God, we, too, are invited to surrender the worldly identity we’ve taken upon ourselves in order to put on our God-given identity as beloved child of God.

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Fiction That Forms Us

Stories that Inspire Us and
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Latest Episode:

Sensible Shoes, Part 2 - The Spiritual Disciplines of Lament and Confession within the Ignatian Examen

Episode 8 Length: 30 min Guest: Sharon Garlough Brown

Welcome to the Season 2 season finale of Fiction that Forms us!

How do we become more receptive and responsive to the work of the Spirit within our lives? In her first novel, Sensible Shoes, from the series of the same name, Sharon Garlough Brown takes her characters on a journey of practicing various spiritual disciplines. In this episode, I talk to author Sharon Garlough Brown about the spiritual disciplines of lament and confession within the Ignatian Examen. The spiritual practice is one of attentiveness that enables our receptivity by reviewing our day with God in two movements: consolation—where we noticed and responded to God today—and desolation—where we were unaware of, ignored, or rejected God during our day.

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