A Church Of Her Own: What Happens When A Woman Takes The Pulpit

Book Summary

Thirty years after the first group of women was ordained by the Episcopal Church, women are among some of the most vital and successful ministers in all Protestant denominations, even as churches struggle to hold on to their members. Sarah Sentilles enters the lives of female ministers--women of various ages and races, in a range of churches--to paint the first real portrait of what it's like to serve as a woman of faith today. Sometimes triumphant, sometimes hilarious, sometimes painful, their stories take us from their calls to the pulpit through their ordinations and service in congregations. These women show us how the church can be more welcoming to the women who are its lifeblood. And in their inspiring determination to perform the ministry to which they are called, no matter what the obstacles, we might well see the future of the church itself. Women have been among the most dynamic and successful ministers in all Protestant denominations; but in divinity school, Sarah Sentilles discovered that some of the best and brightest were having trouble and even leaving the church altogether. What was happening? To find out, she entered the lives of female ministers - women of various ages, races, and denominations - and emerged with the first real portrait of what it's like to lead as a woman of faith today. Filled with humor, heartbreak, and triumph, the women's stories take us from calls to the pulpit through ordinations and service. Despite many churches' resistance - conscious or not - to re-imagining what it means to be a minister, many of these women are achieving remarkable transformations in their congregations. In their inspiring determination to perform the creative, life-giving work to which they are called, these women illuminate a way that the church can revitalize itself. What's at stake is nothing less than the future of the church itself.

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