The Novelist Who Wandered into a Pew

In the autumn of 1953, Frederick Buechner was a twenty-seven-year-old novelist living in Manhattan. He had published two well-received books, moved in literary circles, and had no particular interest in church. But one morning, restless and without a clear reason, he walked into Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church and sat down. George Buttrick was preaching. He spoke about the coronation of Queen Elizabeth and then turned to the crowning of Christ — not in some grand cathedral, but in the hearts of people "among confusion and tears and great laughter."…