My copy of this wonderful new book by prolific writer Jann Aldredge- Clanton just arrived in the mail this week. I am delighted to be one of the women leaders described by Jann as "driving foundational Christian theological change and restoring awareness of the sacred value of women and girls. " It is available on amazon and barnes&noble online. See links below. She tells my story in the chapter entitled: "Leading not leaving the Church" Bridget Mary Meehan, www.arcwp.org
My new book, She Lives! Sophia Wisdom Works in the World, will come out at the end of September. This book presents inspiring stories of clergy and laypeople bringing transformation through restoring the power of Divine Wisdom and other biblical female divine images to Christian theology and worship. These stories reveal the connection between including multicultural female divine images in worship and justice in human relationships. This book also provides creative inclusive worship resources and locations of feminist emancipatory faith communities.
One of the chapters in the book is titled “Wisdom’s Works of Interfaith Collaboration.” In the introduction to the book I state my religious tradition and my commitment to collaborating with other traditions:
This book comes from my location within the Christian tradition with the hope that people in other religious traditions will write stories of transformation through Divine Wisdom. More specifically, I am an ordained Anglo minister within the Baptist tradition, growing up in Louisiana and working in Texas. I have served mainly in ecumenical and interfaith settings as a chaplain, interfaith conference director, pastoral counselor, teacher, and speaker. While interfaith collaboration is an important part of my ministry and a common thread in the stories in this book, I have featured people from the Christian tradition because I can best work for change within my own tradition. When it comes to overcoming patriarchy and transforming society through Divine Wisdom, there is enough work for people in all religious traditions. I am a Christian feminist, trying to do my part from my tradition while collaborating with other traditions.
Thus I was delighted to learn that Rabbi Rami Shapiro shares my passion for working together to transform all faith traditions and the world through changing God-language to include Lady Wisdom and other female names. Rabbi Rami wrote this endorsement of She Lives! Wisdom Works in the World:
Words are maps that shape the territory they claim to represent. The more common a word becomes the more natural the bias it carries becomes. Just reciting “Our Mother who art in Heaven” shows you how entrenched “Our Father” has become. Change the words and you change the world…and yourself. In her new book She Lives!, Rev. Jann Aldredge-Clanton shares the power of changing Godspeak, of speaking of God as Mother, as Lady Wisdom, and the Divine Feminine by sharing the stories of women and men who have dared to do so. This is a revolution within Christianity that has wonderful ramifications for all faiths trapped in the idolatry of gendered Godtalk. She Lives! is an important book chronicling a revolution in Christianity—the reclaiming of the Divine Feminine; a revolution that must be duplicated in other faiths as well. Read the book. Join the revolution.
Rabbi Rami Shapiro is an award-winning author of over two dozen books on religion and spirituality, including The Divine Feminine in Biblical Wisdom Literature, Embracing the Divine Feminine: Song of Songs Annotated and Explained, The Sacred Art of Lovingkindness, and Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent. Rabbi Rami received rabbinical ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and holds a PhD from Union Graduate School. A congregational rabbi for 20 years, he currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies at Middle Tennessee State University, co-directs One River Wisdom School, writes a blog, and writes a regular column for Spirituality and Health magazine called “Roadside Assistance for the Spiritual Traveler.” See Rabbi Rami’s website.
To Pre-Order She Lives! Wisdom Works in the World:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.