New Feminist Christianity: Many Voices, Many Views

Powerful insights from ministers, theologians, activists, leaders, artists and liturgists who are shaping the future.

"Christianity has been a source of the oppression of women, as well as a resource for unleashing women's full humanity. Feminist analysis and practice have recognized this. Feminist Christianity is reshaping religious institutions and religious life in more holistic, inclusive, and justice-focused ways."
--from the Introduction

Feminism has brought many changes to Christian religious practice. From inclusive language and imagery about the Divine to an increase in the number of women ministers, Christian worship will never be the same. Yet, even now, there is a lack of substantive structural change in many churches and complacency within denominations.

The contributors to this book are the thought leaders who are shaping, and being shaped by, the emerging directions of feminist Christianity. They speak from across the denominational spectrum, and from the many diverse groups that make up the Christian community as it finds its place in a religiously pluralistic world. Taken together, their voices offer a starting point for building new models of religious life and worship.

Topics covered include feminist:

• Theological Visions
• Scriptural Insights
• Ethical Agendas
• Liturgical and Artistic Frontiers
• Ministerial Challenges

Contributors include:

María Pilar Aquino - Rachel A. R. Bundang - Wanda Deifelt - Marie M. Fortune - Mary E. Hunt - W. Anne Joh - Eunjoo Mary Kim - Kwok Pui-lan - Cynthia Lapp - Shelly Matthews - Virginia Ramey Mollenkott - Eleanor Moody-Shepherd - Surekha Nelavala - Diann L. Neu - Kate M. Ott - Nancy Pineda-Madrid - Marjorie Procter-Smith - Meg A. Riley - Victoria Rue - Rosemary Radford Ruether - Letha Dawson Scanzoni - Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza - Deborah Sokolove - Jeanette Stokes - Janet Walton - Traci C. West - Gale A. Yee - Barbara Brown Zikmund

María Pilar Aquino is professor of theology and religious studies at the University
of San Diego. Dr. Aquino was a visiting professor of theology at Harvard
Divinity School. She is the author of Our Cry for Life: Feminist Theology
from Latin America; La teología, la iglesia y la mujer en América Latina (Theology,
the Church and Women in Latin America); and Teología feminista Latinoamericana
(Latin American Feminist Theology). She organizes and convenes
Latina feminist scholars and activists in religion.

Rachel A. R. Bundang is on the religious studies faculty at the Marymount
School in New York. Dr. Bundang earned her doctorate in constructive theologies,
praxis, and ethics from Union Theological Seminary. She was a Bannan
Fellow at Santa Clara University. Rooted in feminist ethics and Catholic
theology, Rachel's work takes her from the academy to the parish and beyond.

Wanda Deifelt is associate professor of religion at Luther College in Decorah,
Iowa. She is an ordained pastor of the Lutheran Church in Brazil (IECLB).
Dr.Deifelt taught at Escola Superior de Teologia in São Leopoldo, Brazil, from
1991-2004, where she held the Chair of Feminist Theology. She writes and
lectures widely on liberation topics.

Marie M. Fortune is founder and senior analyst at the FaithTrust Institute, where
she addresses sexual and domestic violence in faith communities. The Rev. Dr.
Fortune is ordained in the United Church of Christ. She is a pastor, an educator,
an author, and a practicing theologian and ethicist. Her books include Keeping
the Faith: Guidance for Christian Women Facing Abuse; Is Nothing Sacred? When
Sex Invades the Pastoral Relationship; and Sexual Violence: The Sin Revisited.

Mary E. Hunt is a Catholic feminist theologian active in the women-church movement. Dr. Hunt lectures and writes on theology and ethics with particular attention to liberation issues. She is editor of A Guide for Women in Religion: Making Your Way from A to Z (Palgrave), among many other publications.

Hunt and Neu are cofounders and codirectors of the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER), a feminist educational center dedicated to creating and sustaining inclusive communities in society and religion, in Silver Spring, Maryland.