Celebrating Women in Ministry / Celebrating Women in Ministry

Faith and Feminism brings together leading voices in biblical studies, inter-religious encounters, theology and ethics. Originally delivered as part of the Phyllis Trible Lecture Series at Wake Forest University School of Divinity (2003-2013), these essays demonstrate the breadth of feminist interpretation on compelling topics: interpretation of sacred texts; Judeo-Christian and Islamic perspectives; gender and sexuality; race and cultural identity; and ecology and religion. An international group of writers, both established scholars and new voices, contribute. Readers can explore the impact of feminisms on faiths and faiths on feminisms.

Joy A. Schroeder offers the first in-depth exploration of the biblical story of Deborah, an authoritative judge, prophet, and war leader. For centuries, Deborah's story has challenged readers' traditional assumptions about the place of women in society. Schroeder shows how Deborah's story has fueled gender debates throughout history. An examination of the prophetess's journey through nearly two thousand years of Jewish and Christian interpretation reveals how the biblical account of Deborah was deployed against women, for women, and by women who aspired to leadership roles in religious communities and society.

Dehumanization has led to serious misinterpretation of the Gospels. On the one hand, Christians have often made Jesus so much more than human that it seemed inappropriate to ask about the influence other human beings had on him, male or female. On the other hand, women have been treated as less than fully human, their names omitted from stories and their voices and influence on Jesus neglected. When we ask the question this book does, what Jesus learned from women, puzzling questions that have frustrated readers of the Gospels throughout history suddenly find solutions. Weaving cutting edge biblical scholarship together with an element of historical fiction and a knack for writing for a general audience, James McGrath makes the stories of women in the New Testament come alive, and sheds fresh light on the figure of Jesus as well. This book is a must read for scholars, students, and anyone else interested in Jesus and/or in the role of ancient women in the context of their times.

Thirty years after the publication of Antoinette Clark Wire's groundbreaking The Corinthian Women Prophets, an interdisciplinary, international, and intergenerational group of scholars reflects upon Wire's impact on New Testament scholarship. Essays pursue historical and theoretical possibilities using methods ranging from rhetorical analysis to feminist and other politically and ethically attuned methods of interpreting Paul's letters and the history of ancient Mediterranean assemblies. Each contributor reconsiders how both the methods and results of Wire's work reveal the possibilities of other approaches and other people who are worth our attention and effort.

Women were involved in every popular philosophy in the first century, and the participation of women reaches back to the Greek origins of these schools. Philosophers often taught their daughters, wives, and other friends the basic tenants of their thinking. The Isthmian games and a tolerance for independent thinking made Corinth an attractive place for philosophers to engage in dialogue and debate, further facilitating the philosophical education of women. The activity of philosophically educated women directly informs our understanding of 1 Corinthians when Paul uses concepts that also appear in popular moral philosophy. This book explores how philosophically educated women would interact with three such concepts: marriage and family, patronage, and self-sufficiency.

Third wave womanism is a new movement within religious studies with deep roots in the tradition of womanist religious thoughtwhile also departing from it in key ways.After a helpful and orienting introduction, this volume gathers essays from established and emerging scholars whose work is among the most lively and innovative scholarship today.The result is a lively conversation in which to question is not to disavow; to depart is not necessarily to reject and where questioning and departing are indications of the productive growth and expansion of an important academic and religious movement.

A New Gospel for Women tells the story of Katharine Bushnell (1855-1946), author of God's Word to Women, one of the most innovative and comprehensive feminist theologies ever written. An internationally-known social reformer and women's rights activist, Bushnell rose to prominence through her highly publicized campaigns against prostitution and the trafficking of women in America, in colonial India, and throughout East Asia. This book restores Bushnell to her rightful place in history. It illuminates the dynamic and often thorny relationship between faith and feminism in modern America by mapping Bushnell's story and her subsequent disappearance from the historical record. Most pointedly, the book reveals the challenges confronting Christian feminists today who wish to construct a sexual ethic that is both Christian and feminist.

We live in a time of great racial strife and global conflict. How do we work toward healing, reconciliation, and justice among all people, regardless of race or gender? In Embracing the Other Grace Ji-Sun Kim argues that it is possible only through God's Spirit.Working from a feminist Asian perspective, Kim develops a new constructive lobal pneumatology that works toward gender and racial-ethnic justice. Drawing on the concept of spiritbreath in Asian and indigenous cultures, she reimagines the divine as "Spirit God" who is restoring shalom in the world. This "Spirit God" concept, Kim says, provides a holistic understanding of both God and humans that extends beyond skin color, culture, religion, or power within society. Through the power of Spirit God our brokenness is healed and we can truly love and embrace the "other."

African women come from a long tradition as practitioners of healing. Drawing on this tradition and on her own pastoral and theological work, Mercy Amba Oduyoye, a distinguished Methodist theologian from Ghana, discusses the spirituality that undergirds Christian healing practices in Africa, with a special focus on diseases that predominantly affect women.Table of Contents1. Background to the Focus on Women2. Key Words3. Main Sources4. Health and Healing5. Spirituality6. Diagnosing the Sources of Diseases: Issues that Destroy Women's Health7. The Trauma of Trokosi8. A Focus on Deliverance9. The Circle and HIV/AIDS10. Women as Healers and Care Givers11. Summary and Reflections+

Throughout the study of trauma theology runs a lineage that is deeply feminist. As traumatic experience is being more frequently acknowledged in public, this book seeks to articulate an explicit understanding of feminist trauma theology for the first time. Bringing together scholars from a range of disciplines, this book explores the relationship between trauma and feminist theologies, highlighting methodological, theological, and practical similarities between the two. The #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements, sexual abuse scandals, gender based violence, pregnancy loss, and the oppression of women in Church spaces are all featured as important topics. With contributions from a diverse team of scholars, this book is an essential resource for all thinkers and practitioners who are trying to navigate the current conversations around theology, suffering, and feminism. With a foreword by Shelly Rambo, author of Resurrecting Wounds

What if some of our greatest theologians wouldn't be considered theologians at all?Kat Armas, a second-generation Cuban American, grew up on the outskirts of Miami's famed Little Havana neighborhood. Her earliest theological formation came from her grandmother, her abuelita, who fled Cuba during the height of political unrest and raised three children alone after her husband passed away. Combining personal storytelling with biblical reflection, Armas shows us how voices on the margins--those often dismissed, isolated, and oppressed because of their gender, socioeconomic status, or lack of education--have more to teach us about following God than we realize.Abuelita Faith tells the story of unnamed and overlooked theologians in society and in the Bible--mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and daughters--whose survival, strength, resistance, and persistence teach us the true power of faith and love. The author's exploration of abuelita theology will help people of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds reflect on the abuelitas in their lives and ministries and on ways they can live out abuelita faith every day.

Inferior. Second-best. Marginalized. Christian women often view themselves negatively and feel that no matter how hard they try, they are never good enough. Reclaiming Eve sets the record straight. Tucked into the pages of Scripture is a blueprint for women that sets them free to serve Christ alongside their brothers, as full partners in building God's Kingdom. Read this book and move beyond your self-image, your, past, and your circumstances to discover who God created you to be: a woman chosen to beautifully reflect Christ.

Women and Religiosity in Orthodox Christianity fills a significant gap in the sociology of religious practice: Studies focused on women's religiosity have overlooked Orthodox populations, while studies of Orthodox practice (operating within the dominant theological, historical and sociological framework) have remained gender-blind. The essays in this collection shed new light on the women who make up a considerable majority of the Orthodox population by engaging women's lifeworlds, practices and experiences in relation to their religion in multiple, varied localities, discussing both contemporary and pre-1989 developments. These contributions critically engage the pluralist and changing character of Orthodox institutional and social life by using feminist epistemologies and drawing on original ethnographic research to account for Orthodox women's previously ignored perspectives, knowledges, and experiences. Combining the depth of ethnographic analysis with geographical breadth and employing a variety research methodologies, this book expands our understanding of Orthodox Christianity by examining Orthodox women of diverse backgrounds in different settings: parishes, monasteries, the secular spaces of everyday life, and under shifting historical conditions and political regimes. In defiance of claims that Orthodox Christianity is immutable and fixed in time, these essays argue that continuity and transformation can be found harmoniously in social practices, demographic trends, and larger material contexts at the intersection between gender, Orthodoxy and locality

"She is a godly woman." "True love waits." Are these phrases and many others about gender truly based in scripture, or based on dusty, outdated stereotypes? And how do these perceptions repress people, especially women, from fully expressing their faith?If Eve Only Knew offers a fresh perspective on gender and the Bible, destroying trumped-up, captive-creating messages with the freeing proclamation grounded in Jesus' ministry and found everywhere in scripture: that we are all created in God's image, and by relying on our gifts and skills--rather than on gender-designed roles--we become all God means for us to be.

Should women who preach, preach as women? Preaching Women argues that far from being a gender-neutral space, the pulpit is a critical place in which a gender imbalance can begin to be redressed. There is a vital need for women preachers to speak out of their experience of living as women in today's culture and church Filling a glaring gap in the literature around homiletics, Filling a glaring gap in the literature around homiletics, Preaching Women considers reasons why women preachers should preach from their experiences as women, what women bring to preaching that is missing without us, and how women preachers can go about the task of biblical preaching. With a foreword by Libby Lane.

Ingenuity introduces a theology and practice of preaching that emerges from the faith and wisdom of black women. Preaching has been resourced and taught from a narrow field of cultural or gendered experiences, historically. Without much support from established channels, black women are left to "figure it out" on their own, and others discern how to preach from a limiting scope.The best preachers understand their own voices and the voices of others. They stretch and grow, and this enables them to preach more effectively. Ingenuity equips readers to negotiate tradition, life experiences, and theological conviction in the creative work that makes way for sacred speech.With Ingenuity, Lisa Thompson offers deep insights for anyone seeking to enlarge their understanding, their language, and their sense of lived experiences, and offers practical help through "In Practice" segments for those who preach."Written from the deep well of the spirituality of Black women, Thompson has given us a remarkable guide for what preaching should be and must be for the times we are in. Accessible, thoughtful, probing, pastoral, prophetic--all come together in this text. A must read for anyone committed to faithful excellence in proclaiming the word." -Emilie M. Townes, Dean and E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society, Vanderbilt University Divinity School

Women were made to lead. Even in church. Jesus affirmed women as leaders-many contend Mary Magdalene was the first female minister. Yet women in ministry face challenges and obstacles, both from churches and from their own self-doubts. Both men and women miss out when women don't lead. Made to Lead empowers you to live out your calling boldly and confidently. Draw closer to God with relevant biblical examples and heart-felt prayers. Break down stereotypes of women in leadership. And create your own successful reality in which you are a key part of God's holy community.

What is it like to be a woman in ministry in Ireland? Why do they do it and what are the joys, challenges, and everyday realities of this way of life? For the first time, female pastors, chaplains, spiritual guides, priests, religious sisters, youth ministers, and many more have been asked to tell their stories. These are brought together in the words of women across the Christian denominations and from the four corners of Ireland; in the voices of anonymous participants and those who have been ministry pioneers and leaders: Dr. Ruth Patterson, Dr. Heather Morris, Sr. Margaret Kiely, Ms. Soline Humbert, and Bishop Pat Storey. The result is an account of lives and ministries that are truly extraordinary and that present both a blessing and a prophetic challenge to the churches and communities in which they serve.

Throughout Scripture and church history, women have been central to the mission of God. But all too often women have lacked opportunities to minister fully. Many churches lack visible examples of women in ministry and leadership. Pastor Tara Beth Leach issues a stirring call for a new generation of women in ministry: to teach, to preach, to shepherd, and to lead. God not only permits women to minister--he emboldens, empowers, and unleashes women to lead out of the fullness of who they are. The church cannot reach its full potential without women using their God-given gifts. Leach provides practical expertise for how women can find their place at the table, escape impostor syndrome, face opposition, mentor others, and much more. When women teach, preach, lead, evangelize, pastor, and disciple, and when men partner to embolden the women in their lives, the church's imagination expands to better reflect God's story and hope for the world.

Offering a comprehensive biblical theology of justice drawn from the whole story of Scripture, this book invites us to know more intimately the God who loves justice and calls us to give our lives to seek the flourishing of others. The authors explore stories of injustice around the globe today and spur Christians to root their passion for justice in the persevering hope of Christ. They also offer practices that can further form us into people who join God's work of setting things right in the world.

Bold, faithful, challenging - this volume uncovers the social and political implications of the gospel message by looking at Anabaptist theology and practice from a female perspective. The contributors approach the gospel from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds, liberating the radical political ethic of Jesus Christ from patriarchal distortions and demonstrating that gender justice and peace theology are inseparable.Beautifully illustrated with pen drawings, Liberating the Politics of Jesus recognizes the authority of women to interpret and reconstruct the peace church tradition on issues such as subordination, suffering, atonement, the nature of church, leadership, and discipleship. The contributors confront difficult topics head-on, such as the power structures in South Africa, armed conflict in Colombia, and the sexual violence of John Howard Yoder. The result is a renewed Anabaptist peace theology with the potential to transform the work of theology and ministry in all Christian traditions.

Ursic (Mesa Community College) offers a fascinating study of feminist theology and the way Christians have worked to implement rituals that incorporate an image of God as female. Throughout this important work combining ritual studies, feminist theology, and ethnography, Ursic constructs an understanding of what she calls "strategic emplacement." She argues that it is not enough for individuals (usually women but by no means exclusively) to have personal experiences; there must also be institutional reforms. Ursic develops ethnographies of four Christian communities-Methodist, Catholic, Lutheran, and Presbyterian-to describe the ways communities work around patriarchy, develop readings of Sophia, and adapt various views of gender theory.

Women have been central to the work of Christian ministry from the time of Jesus to the twenty-first century. Yet the story of Christianity is too often told as a story of men. This accessibly written book tells the story of women throughout church history, demonstrating their integral participation in the church's mission. It highlights the legacies of a wide variety of women, showing how they have overcome obstacles to their ministries and have transformed cultural constraints to spread the gospel and build the church.

Most women in the church don't aspire to "lord it" over men, nor do they want to scramble for position. Instead, they want to be accepted as full participants in God's work, sharing in kingdom tasks in ways that use their gifts appropriately. In Gender Roles and the People of God, author, radio host, and professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Alice Mathews surveys the roles women have played in the Bible and throughout church history, demonstrating both the inspiring contributions of women and the many hurdles that have been placed in their path. Along the way, she investigates the difficult passages often used to preclude women from certain areas of service, pointing to better and more faithful understandings of those verses. Encouraging and hopeful, Mathews aims for an "egalitarian complementarity" in which men and women use all of their gifts in the church together, in partnership, for the glory of God.

Meet the women who followed Jesus even when the Twelve failed.     To be a disciple is to follow Jesus. And that requires action. But in the gospels, the disciples often falter. The Twelve even abandon Jesus at his crucifixion in many of the narratives. Yet it is female disciples who remain faithful to Jesus to the end. What do we make of this?   In Women Who Do, Holly J. Carey examines what it means to be a disciple--and contends that it's the women who best embody discipleship in the gospels. Carey describes the expectations and social roles for women in first-century Greco-Roman and Jewish contexts. Then she offers a close reading of each of the four gospels, as well as Acts of the Apostles. What emerges is a cohesive narrative-critical case that the Twelve are not an equivalent group to the disciples. In fact, the Twelve are set as foils against the faithful, active, and often nameless disciples who populate the narratives--many of whom are women.   Women Who Do is essential reading for students and scholars seeking a fuller understanding of women's roles in Jesus's ministry. Carey's argument not only clarifies the narrative of the gospels but also raises questions about how the church conceives of women's leadership today.

This authoritative collection brings together the latest thinking on women's leadership in early Christianity. Patterns of Women's Leadership in Early Christianity considers the evidence for ways in which women exercised leadership in churches from the 1st to the 9th centuries CE. This rich and diverse volume breaks new ground in the study of women in early Christianity. This is not about working with one method, based on one type of feminist theory, but overall there is nevertheless a feminist or egalitarian agenda in considering the full equality of women with men in religious spheres a positive goal, with the assumption that this full equality has yet to be attained. The chapters revisit both older studies and offers new and unpublished research, exploring the many ways in which ancient Christian women's leadership could function.