Bible Sisters Book Review & Give-Away

I have a book to give away!! If you would like to win a copy of Bible Sisters, please comment on my FB thread about this review. On May 21, I will draw one of the comments out of a hat and send you the book!

This is a 365 day book of devotions. Each day features a different woman of the Bible, named and unnamed. Each devotion begins with the chapter and verse from where that woman is mentioned. The devotional writing is less then a half page, bringing the concerns of contemporary women into conversation with the woman mentioned in the Scripture. After the devotion, a simple prayer closes the daily practice.

I believe this book would be especially fruitful to use alongside my CEB Women's Bible. It would be edifying to look up the scripture each day and read a bit more of the story surrounding each woman. Also, the index in the back of Bible Sisters could be a great resource for locating the different women in scripture.

I finally dog-eared the pages at the end of each month to keep my daily spot more obvious. I really wish it had dates, since there is no reason to start in a particular place (unless I missed an over-arching reading plan, which is possible). My mom has laid claim to my copy, so I know the dog ears will drive her bananas - score!

If you don't win, or are too impatient to wait to see if you win, you can order the book through Amazon, or other sellers.

This is the official information on the author: The Rev. Dr. Gennifer Benjamin Brooks—the author—is the Ernest and Bernice Styberg Professor of Preaching and the director of the Styberg Preaching Institute at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. In both her teaching and her pastorate as an ordained elder in the New York Conference of The United Methodist Church, she is committed to supporting women and speaking out in support of their rightful place in the realm of God and in the church.

Women Rising

The Episcopal Women’s Caucus has long been an advocate for justice and a change agent in the Episcopal Church, standing firmly at the nexus of sexism, misogyny, racism, ageism, and heterosexism in the church. It formed in 1971 as a caucus, not a committee or task force, making explicit its founders’ intention to be a politically potent agent in the polity of the church.

The Caucus’ advocacy initially focused on advocating for women’s ordination and the full inclusion of women in the governance and ministries of Church life. The Caucus’ focus on gender equality not only raised the Church’s awareness of adverse practices that enable sexism and other power inequities, it also worked with other social justice advocacy groups to help the church understand the interlocking nature of oppressions. The Caucus works under the umbrella of The Consultation, which also includes Associated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission, Episcopal Asiamerica Ministry Advocates, Episcopalians on Baptismal Mission, Episcopal Network for Economic Justice, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, Episcopal Urban Caucus, Integrity, TransEpiscopal, and the Union of Black Episcopalians. These groups joined forces to advance an agenda of social justice based in the baptismal imperatives of seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves, striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being. 

The Caucus understands that politics is simply the way humans organize to get things done. From its beginning it has helped members learn how to be effective workers within the polity of the Church. From helping members be effective deputies to General Convention by understanding convention protocol and Robert’s Rules of Order to initiating resolutions and organizing people to testify effectively before committees and on the floor of the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops, the Caucus has worked to shape people and policies in the church. The Caucus effectively organized and helped pass the resolution granting women ordination to all orders in The Episcopal Church. In the decades that have followed the Caucus has worked on justice issues from racism to the rights of the LGBTQI community.

On June 22-23 the Caucus is convening “Women Rising” in Dallas, Texas to honor our history and to plan our future. The gathering will consider the deep seated ways sexism and misogyny are being revealed in our world today, how we can become more aware of how these reside in each of us, and how we can work within the Church and society to overcome this. We will develop tools that invite us to deeper awareness of ourselves and increase our capacity to be supportive of others. We will create plans of action and ways to implement those plans, both at General Convention 2018 and in our home dioceses and parishes.

For more information and to register to attend please go to the Episcopal Women’s Caucus website:

http://www.ewc-ecusa.com