A Church of Her Own: What Happens When a Woman Takes the Pulpit
Harcourt, April 2008
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 of them 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 and races, in a range of churches --
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 ministry as
a role for anyone but a man, 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 change
itself to embrace what they offer. What's at stake is nothing less than
the future of the church itself.
hardcover | ISBN: 9780151013920 | Publication Date: April 2008
Reviews:
"What does it mean to be a woman with a religious vocation? Sentilles frank talk gives permission for the honesty that
trembles and makes all things possible. A must read for any woman --
anyone -- who cares about women in the church today."
--Karen L. King, author of The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle
"This courageous, deeply moving, and beautifully written book should be
required reading for all clergy and members of Christian churches.
Sentilles's ear is finely tuned to women's experiences in seeking
ordination and serving in churches, and she writes with an open heart
of both the damages and the delights."
--Margaret R. Miles, author of The World Made Flesh: A History of Christian Thought
