Women Clergy

Feminization is said to occur when women enter any given occupation in substantial numbers, and ostensibly leads to such dynamics as sex-segregation, reduced opportunities for men, and depressed wages and diminished prestige for the occupation as a whole. Spanning more than 70 years, Paula Nesbitt's study of feminization concentrates on the Episcopal Church and the Unitarian Universalist Association, utilizing both statistical results and interviews to compare occupational patterns prior and subsequent to the large influx of women clergy. Among her findings, the author discovers that a decline in men's opportunities is evident before the 1970s, preceding the great influx of women over the last two decades. She also finds that increases in the number of women ordained reduced occupational prospects for other women, but enhanced those for men, thus contradicting the popular myth that women in the workplace are responsible for occupational decline.

This insightful volume provides an in-depth study of the backgrounds, professional role formation, worldviews, and ministerial leadership styles of 17 clergywomen. Clergywomen and Their Worldviews offers both group insights and metaphors helpful in understanding the actualities and ideals of institutional change. Employing sociological theory, such topics as gender orientations, establishing authority, stratification, and cultural belief systems are also discussed. As women increasingly emerge as a force in religious institutions, students of women's studies, religion, anthropology, and sociology will welcome this timely investigation of clergywomen.

While numerous provocative works have sought to justify why women should be ordained as Catholic priests, When Women Become Priests is the first sustained reflection on the differences that would obtain with women at the altar. In the face of a centuries-old tradition of a male priesthood, what are the implications for the Catholic church of ordaining women? Would women priests become co-opted into the male clerical caste, particularly in relation to celebrating the sacraments? In an analysis that deftly unites feminist criticism, psychoanalysis, and Catholic theology, Kelley A. Raab explores the symbolic implications of women at the altar, providing rich insight into issues of gender, symbolism, and power. When Women Become Priests addresses critical issues about the effect of a female priest on the parishioners she would serve, on the sacrament of communion, and on the significance of the symbolism of Jesus that priest maintain during certain ceremonies. Rooted in her firm belief in the place of women within the Catholic priesthood, Raab's work is one that -- rather than reducing religious convictions to psychological construct -- seeks to re-invigorate these convictions for the contemporary world. Supported by interviews with women in the Episcopal priesthood (which has ordained women since 1977), Raab draws upon object-relations theory, Freudian concepts of the unconscious, and French feminist thinkers Julia Kristeva and Luce Irigaray to show how the celebration of mass by women priests would require a constructive reenvisioning of core dimensions of Catholic theology.

Transgressing traditions to make a rhetorical space for women preachers In this feminist investigation into the art of preaching--one of the oldest and least studied rhetorical traditions--Roxanne Mountford explores the relationship between bodies, space, race, and gender in rhetorical performance and American Protestant culture. The Gendered Pulpit: Preaching in American Protestant Spaces examines the strategies of three contemporary women preachers who have transgressed traditions, rearranged rhetorical space, and conquered gender bias to establish greater intimacy with their congregations. Mountford's examinations of the rhetoric inherent in preaching manuals from 1850 to the present provide insight into how "manliness" has remained a central concept in American preaching since the mid-nineteenth century. The manuals illustrate that the character, style, method of delivery, and theological purpose of preachers focused on white men and their cultural standing, leaving contemporary women preachers searching for ways to accommodate themselves to the physicality of preaching. Case studies of three women preachers who have succeeded or failed in rearranging rhetorical space provide the foundation for the volume. Mountford explores the geographies of St. John's Lutheran Church and the preaching of Rev. Patricia O'Connor who reformed rhetorical space through the delivery of her sermons. At Eastside United Church of Christ, Mountford shows, Rev. Barbara Hill employed narrative style and prophetic utterance in the tradition of black preaching to address gender bias and institute change in her congregation. The final case study details the experiences of Pastor Janet Moore and her struggles atVictory Hills United Methodist Church, where the fractured congregation could not be united even with Pastor Moore's focus on theological purpose and invention strategies.

Rogers explores the current and historical status and roles of women as providers and recipients of Christian ministries. The burgeoning needs of women in society are examined along with the obstacles and opportuniites for women as vocational ministers of the Gospel.

Simon explores the diverse and changing roles of women over twenty-five years. Part I includes several chapters that examine the experiences and performances of women in various traditionally male-dominated professional roles: as scholars, attorneys, corrections officers, rabbis and ministers. Part II deals with immigrants and their roles as new American women. In Part III, Simon discusses the types of crimes women commit, how they are treated in the criminal justice system, women as political terrorists, and how the public regards famous women offenders. In conclusion, Simon looks at how women's changing social roles affect their personal lives and political views.

This book represents the cartography of my feminist theological struggles, the mapping of my attempts over the years to reclaim and rename women's spiritual powers.