Episcopal Women: Gender, Spirituality, And Commitment In An American Mainline Denomination

Book Summary

Episcopal Women is an unprecedented exploration of the historical and present "lived experience" of women in one mainline-Protestant American church. It probes the realities of women who count themselves members of a contemporary Protestant church - one that is changing, though not as rapidly as the world in which it is set. As women become increasingly visible in religious organizations previously administered entirely by men, congregations, church agencies, educational institutions, and volunteer organizations are all being affected by the "gender shift". Focused on the Episcopal church as a representative case study, these essays offer a careful historical and sociological examination of the impact of these gender changes. Personal narratives are combined with intergenerational studies of women in several congregations to illustrate how women - always the majority in Sunday morning congregations - continue to find and create their own spiritual realities within a traditional institution. The authors highlight the centrality of women in today's church from a variety of perspectives - feminist, historical, biographical, and theoretical. Included are essays on Episcopal women's theology and spirituality, women as mainstays of the urban church, aging as a metaphor for the institutional church, women's organizations, the impact of women in the clerical profession, and black women's experience in the Episcopal Church. Challenging the church's dominantly masculine self-image, this book presents a convincing view of today's religious reality for women in a mainline church. The opening of the ordained ministry to women, in the larger context of the women's movement in America, has created an unprecedented situation within Protestant denominations. Women are now increasingly visible in religious organizations previously administered solely by men. Congregations, church agencies, educational institutions, and volunteer organizations are all affected by the "gender shift" within mainstream Protestantism. Episcopal Women is the first careful historical and sociological study of the impact of these gender changes on a particular religious institution. This groundbreaking volume includes essays on Episcopal theology and women's spirituality, the urban church, aging and the church, women's organizations, women donors, clerical leadership, and black women's experience in the Episcopal Church.

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