Women and the Church

Despite their Church's ambivalent attitude toward them over the centuries, women continue to be essential to the spiritual backbone and transformed mind of faithful communities, even those in which their leadership roles are circumscribed by their gender.

If we are to properly value women as well as men as capable of bearing the image of God in this world, Kristina LaCelle-Peterson suggests, we must allow the rich feminine metaphors for God in Scripture to inform our prayer and worship.

Catherine Brekus recalls the itinerant women preachers who led Second Great Awakening revivals across America. These biblical feminists, she explains, "were caught between two worlds. They were too radical to be accepted by evangelicals, but too conservative to be accepted by women's rights activists." Michael Sciretti commends the insights of Anne Dutton, the eighteenth-century British Baptist whose writings were enthusiastically read for spiritual direction.

Heidi Hornik describes Giotto's remarkable program of frescoes in Padua's Arena Chapel that explore the role of the Virgin Mary in the life of Christ. And in the Orthodox icons that are unafraid to depict Mary with "signs of her suffering," Ralph Wood discovers a spiritual vision of feminine beauty. "Creased with the care of both love and sorrow," he observes, "it is a beauty that can finally behold even God face to face."

The study guides and lesson plans integrate Bible study, prayer, and worship to explore women's discipleship. The study guides can be used in a series or individually. You may download and reproduce them for personal or group use.

Download the entire Women and the Church issue and the set of five Study Guides. Or, download individual pieces by clicking the titles below.

Articles

• "Recovering Discarded Images," by Kristina LaCelle-Peterson
• "Female Preaching in Early Nineteenth-Century America," by Catherine A. Brekus
• "Anne Dutton as a Spiritual Director," by Michael Sciretti
• "The Triumph of the Eye," by Ralph C. Wood

Art

• "Mary and the Women from Galilee," by Heidi J. Hornik, on Giotto's Lamentation and Flight into Egypt in the Arena Chapel, Padua, Italy

Hymn and Worship Service

• "The Sacred Now," by Julie Merritt Lee
• Worship Service, by Julie Merritt Lee

Inspirational Pieces

• "Serving God, Not Men or Women," by Emily Row Prevost
• "All Are One in Christ Jesus," by Robbie Fox Castleman
• Other Voices, Quotations on Christian Wisdom

Book Reviews

• "Women in Ministry: Beyond the Impasse," by Gretchen Ziegenhals
  • James R. Beck, ed., Two Views on Women in Ministry
  • Mark Husbands and Timothy Larson, eds., Women, Ministry and the Gospel: Exploring New Paradigms
  • Sarah Sumner, Men and Women in the Church: Building Consensus on Christian Leadership
• "What Should We Say about Mary?" by Carole L. Baker
  • Scot McKnight, The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus
  • Beverly Roberts Gaventa and Cynthia L. Rigby, eds., Blessed One: Protestant Perspectives on Mary
  • Tim Perry, Mary for Evangelicals: Toward an Understanding of the Mother of Our Lord

Study Guides and Lesson Plans (Download the set of five Study Guides)

• "Recovering Discarded Images"
• "Female Preaching in Early Nineteenth-Century America"
• "Anne Dutton as a Spiritual Director"
• "The Triumph of the Eye"
• "What Should We Say about Mary?"