Womens Faith Development

Presenting a rich account of women's faith lives and, mapping women's meanings in their own right, this book offers an alternative to dominant accounts of faith development which failed to account for women's experience. Drawing on Fowler's faith development theory, feminist models of women's faith and social science methodology, the text explores the patterns and processes of women's faith development and spirituality in a group of thirty women belonging to, or on the edges of, Christian tradition. Integrating practical theological concern with Christian education and pastoral practice, this book will be of interest to all concerned with women's faith development, spirituality, education and formation, and those working in the fields of practical theology, pastoral care, adult theological education, spiritual direction and counselling.

'Women's Spirituality' is an enlarged and revised edition of the widely used anthology that looks at the spiritual and psychological dimensions of women's lives. Using classical and contemporary texts, the present volume illuminates the way feminist issues find grounding in great spiritual teachers such as Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Ignatius Loyola, and Jane de Chantal. Four sections develop the central theme. The first considers contemporary issues: women in ministry, different forms of feminist spirituality, and sexism in the church. The second provides contemporary resources for psychological development. The third gives examples of spiritual development in the biblical, Ignatian, Carmelite, and Salesian traditions. The final section considers new visions of women's spirituality in the present day. Contributors to this volume include Anne Carr, Joann Wolski Conn, Kathleen Fischer, Constance FitzGerald, James Fowler, Carol Gilligan, Rosemary Haughton, Elizabeth A. Johnson, Robert Kegan, John McDargh, Jean Baker Miller, Sandra M. Schneiders, Elisabeth Schÿssler Fiorenza, Mary Jo Weaver, Rowan Williams, and Wendy M. Wright.

Identifying, illuminating and enhancing understanding of key aspects of women and girls' faith lives, The Faith Lives of Women and Girls represents a significant body of original qualitative research from practitioners and researchers across the UK. Contributors include new and upcoming researchers as well as more established feminist practical theologians. Chapters provide perspectives on different ages and stages of faith across the life cycle, from a range of different cultural and religious contexts. Diverse spiritual practices, beliefs and attachments are explored, including a variety of experiences of liminality in women’s faith lives. A range of approaches - ethnographic, oral history, action research, interview studies, case studies and documentary analysis - combine to offer a deeper understanding of women’s and girls' faith lives. As well as being of interest to researchers, this book presents resources to enhance ministry to and with women and girls in a variety of settings.

Exploration of religious attachment from a psychodynamic perspective, this book provides a coherent and convincing account of the roots and characteristics of Christian women’s faith experience which will complement and, in some respects correct, existing accounts. Drawing on attachment theory as a conceptual framework, this book employs a qualitative methodological approach, focusing analysis on linguistic meanings, and using autobiographical narrative in-depth interviews with a group of ten Korean Christian women. Examining the patterns of religious attachment in relation to human attachments, the key characteristics in women’s faithing are explored: the language, means and context, and the relational and affective accounts of faith with or in which women practice their faith. Three major patterns of religious attachment are identified in which the women’s faithing strategies and their representations of self and God are presented: these are Distance/Avoidance, Anxiety/Ambivalence and Security/Interdependence. Integrating theoretical and practical implications of religious attachment for Christian education and pastoral practice, this book will be a good use to all concerned with women’s religious attachment, faith development, spirituality and education, and those working in the field of practical theology, pastoral care, Christian education, counselling and psychotherapy.

Many churches, even those that are well-intentioned, are often girl-denying places. Weaving together theological, psychological, and biblical sources. Hess examines how theologies of self-sacrifice thwart both the spiritual and the psychological development of women by subverting their necessary self-assertion. The importance of self-differentiation and cognitive autonomy and of caring and connection are discussed, using as illustrations biblical stories, excerpts from novels, and an in-depth look at eating disorders.