Author Taylor Field is demonstrating the kind of leadership he writes about in his books. The service-minded pastor-cum-author has been chosen as a 2013 recipient of Wake Forest University’s Pro Humanitate Award. Named for the university’s motto, the Pro Humanitate award is given to individuals in the Wake Forest community for outstanding dedication to community service.

A 1976 alumni of Wake Forest, Field has served as the pastor-director of Graffiti Community Ministries in New York City for the past 25 years, where he has been recognized for his church and community ministry. Through his church, he provides food, clothing, afterschool programs, legal services and addiction-recovery programs to the poor, homeless and addicted. Graffiti Church serves 10,000 people a year.

“Wake Forest gave me opportunities to ‘first think, then do,’ ” said Field. “I have been particularly drawn to those who live in the shadows in the urban context, the ones that sometimes don’t get included: the unserved, those who have fallen through the cracks, those who live in the shadows.”

“For me, the love of Christ cannot be something theoretical, but needs to be expressed in some tangible way—tutoring a child, giving someone a sandwich, providing a blanket, helping in some practical way,” he added. “That’s what makes my heart sing.”

Field’s “Upside Down” series, published by New Hope, includes Upside-Down Freedom: Inverted Principles for Christian Living and Upside-Down Leadership: Rethinking Influence and Success. His third book, Upside-Down Devotion: Extreme Action for a Remarkable God, will be available in May 2014, and aims to change readers’ perspective on how to define worship.

“Taylor writes that often we think of worship and devotion as attending church, singing, journaling and so on,” said Andrea Mullins, publisher for New Hope. “Yet, unless we stand for those in trouble, we have missed what pleases God.”

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