Throughout the 20th century lay women in the Episcopal Church, often acting in isolation and without institutional support, offered a powerful witness of leadership, vocation, and theological resilience. "Deeper Joy" studies groups of women with similar callings yet located in diverse settings throughout church and society such as schools, hospitals, and other civic institutions. The topics presented here reflect new historical perspectives and unexplored primary materials, including interviews that bear on all women's ministries, hence addressing neglected and important aspects of life in the American church.

After an introductory chapter on women and vocation, five major sections will explore lay women's vocations through the lenses of community life, education, mission, civic life, and working for change from within the Episcopal Church. Topics include Anglican sisterhoods, the Companions of the Holy Cross, the deaconess movement, women of the New Deal, women in foreign missions, the settlement house movement, and women in education. The views of African-American, Asian, Hispanic, and Native American women are all represented. A concluding chapter addresses future directions for leadership and service.

Fredrica Harris Thompsett, a scholar of the English Reformation, introduces us to the role that history has played in creating and shaping the Episcopal Church as we know it today. In giving us the broad lessons of Anglican history, she explores in detail both the historian's task and Anglicanism's distinctive history, from its roots in Scripture and the English language Bible and prayerbook to its seventeenth century flowering in poetry and prose and the different forms it has assumed in the American landscape from the time of the Revolution right through to the late 20th century. Thompsett begins by discussing the relationship between history, tradition, and change, and goes on to outline ten key "touchstones" or milestones in Christian history that are of particular interest to Anglicans. Since it is the historian's task to write the "unwritten" as well as the official story of the church, chapter three is a history of ministry in the church, especially of lay ministry. Chapter four looks at three ways that Anglicans have handled conflict and controversy throughout its history, concentrating on the Elizabethan Settlement, the American Civil War, and the impact of Darwin and the new science. Chapter five discusses how theological insight can be "recycled" to shed new light on the problems of today, focusing on Anglican theology of creation and how it helps us address ecology as a spiritual crisis. Finally, chapter six focuses on how a living historical tradition affects the life and mission of the church today, and how we are a part of that history.

All of us are natural theologians, willing and able to think through questions of belief and relate the insights of theologians to our public and personal lives. In this clear and engaging introduction, Thompsett gives us the tools to think theologically by grounding us in the history, theology, spirituality, and biblical foundations of Anglican belief, particularly that of the Episcopal church. Beginning with the Bible and what it reveals to us about the distinct calling of the People of God, Thompsett goes on to consider the insights of the Reformation regarding the importance of the laity and the contribution of lay people, particularly women, to the expansive mission of the nineteenth century in education and social work. She then explores different aspects of Anglican identity, and lay movements of liberation in the global South. Aimed primarily at a lay and non-specialist audience, this book introduces key facets of Anglicanism and aspects of contemporary theology. It is an excellent parish educational resource, especially for adult forums and group study.

A wide-ranging exploration of the past, present, and future effects of women s ordination on the church Edited by a well-respected theologian and featuring a diversity of voices from across the Anglican Communion This new book gauges the current and futureimpact and implications of women s ordination on the church, preaching, pastoral care, the episcopate, and onlay women across the Anglican Communion. The editor draws upon a rich variety of writers and thinkers for this new book."