Powerful insights from ministers, theologians, activists, leaders, artists and liturgists who are shaping the future.

"Christianity has been a source of the oppression of women, as well as a resource for unleashing women's full humanity. Feminist analysis and practice have recognized this. Feminist Christianity is reshaping religious institutions and religious life in more holistic, inclusive, and justice-focused ways." from the Introduction

Feminism has brought many changes to Christian religious practice. From inclusive language and imagery about the Divine to an increase in the number of women ministers, Christian worship will never be the same. Yet, even now, there is a lack of substantive structural change in many churches and complacency within denominations.

The contributors to this book are the thought leaders who are shaping, and being shaped by, the emerging directions of feminist Christianity. They speak from across the denominational spectrum, and from the many diverse groups that make up the Christian community as it finds its place in a religiously pluralistic world. Taken together, their voices offer a starting point for building new models of religious life and worship.

Topics covered include feminist: Theological Visions Scriptural Insights Ethical Agendas Liturgical and Artistic Frontiers Ministerial Challenges"

Can Christian preaching and worship in multicultural contexts be more faithful to the Christian gospel and more meaningful and memorable to worshipers? In this book, Eunjoo Mary Kim explores this theological and liturgical concern and proposes a paradigm shift from monocultural to multicultural worship. This volume will help preachers and worship leaders, as well as homiletics and liturgics scholars, seek theological and biblical wisdom for the practice of Christian preaching and worship in multicultural contexts. Kim also provides homiletical and liturgical insights into this practice. By integrating this paradigm shift, ministers and worshipers can participate in a life worthy of living together in our multicultural world.

Synopsis: This book is about leadership, a scholarly and pastoral response to the urgent demand for the renewal of the contemporary Christian church. It challenges readers to articulate the identity and vision of the church in new ways, and encourages them to revitalize their ministry with fresh insight and passion from women's perspectives. The eight essays written by female scholars in relation to various areas of theological study and the nine pastoral responses to the essays written by ministers from seven different denominations, based on their experiences of actual ministerial settings, provide new paradigms of church leadership--theologically profound, practically relevant, and historically timely. This volume, a product of a collaborative process between academia and church, promises to be a most useful resource to renew the leadership of the church and its vocational commitment to the transformation of the church and society. Endorsements: "This is a book befitting the pioneering scholar and leader it honors. These essays advance the essential conversations required for contemporary church leadership with scholarly integrity and pastoral sensitivity." --Lovett H. Weems Jr. Professor of Church Leadership and Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC "In anxious and disorienting times, these essays provide refreshing and bold paradigms for the future leadership of the church. As befits the honoring of Jean Miller Schmidt, this is a clarion call that pulls us deeply into the leadership of God, that honors the fruit of our heritage, that focuses on the edifying experience of women and others whose witness has been marginalized as a way to the future. This volume is filled with grace, confidence, and vibrant hope." --Rev. Dr. Mark A. Fowler Murray H. Leiffer Associate Professor of Congregational Leadership Executive Director of the Institute for Transformative Leaders & Communities Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois "This volume is a welcome and much-needed addition to our discussion of church leadership, which is too often dominated by a single perspective. Eunjoo Mary Kim and Deborah Beth Creamer have collected a rich variety of voices who examine new experiences and paths of leadership, yet at the same time keep us grounded in faith and tradition. This book will be widely used and discussed in classrooms, churches, and denominational offices." --Deborah J. Kapp Edward F. and Phyllis K. Campbell Associate Professor of Urban Ministry McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois Editor Biographies: Eunjoo Mary Kim is Professor of Homiletics at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. She is the author of Preaching the Presence of God (1999), Women Preaching (2004), and Preaching in an Age of Globalization (2010). Deborah Beth Creamer is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of Library and Information Services at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. She is the author of Disability and Christian Theology: Embodied Limits and Constructive Possibilities (2009).

There are many books on the market that address how culture, race, gender, or economic status affect the way preachers preach and congregations hear sermons. This is the first book to address preaching that promotes solidarity across these differences. Preaching needs to be targeted to specific contexts. But how can a preacher handle specific contexts when we live in a globalized world? What does local context mean and who defines it? Kim develops the concept of "trans-contextual preaching" to show how preachers can respect diversity and global connections. She develops a new theology of preaching, examines the modes of biblical interpretation appropriate for trans-contextual preaching, and explores designs for sermons. Sample sermons from the author provide excellent illustrations.

Considering the lack of resources that exists in the study of women's preaching, this book makes a very significant contribution to the development of homiletics because it joins together the history of women preachers with theological reflection. It is the author's hope that this book will provide a broader and deeper basis for the theology of preaching as well as practical ways in which preachers can improve their own preaching by looking at a woman's perspective. Kim gives a detailed account of women preachers from ancient times until the present--from women of the Western and Eastern churches to women of Asian and Latin American churches--showing the perspectives and insights that increase and enhance out understanding of who God is and what God is doing as well as the implications for preaching now and in the future. Women Preaching is a call to the church to accept women preachers as a matter of justice and a theological necessity.