John Wesley promoted the ministry of women in early Methodism. Amazing women like Phoebe Palmer, Catherine Booth, and Frances Willard—founding figures in the holiness movement, the Salvation Army, and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union—claimed biblical precedent for their groundbreaking ministries. They withstood the onslaught of criticism and hostility from those who thought they had stepped out of their proper sphere. Methodists have championed the cause of women and developed biblical, spiritual, and practical arguments for their ministry for two and a half centuries. More than fifty documents from the history of Methodism chronicle the tortuous journey leading to biblical equality in this family of churches. At a time when the ministry of women is under serious attack in a number of quarters, yet again, we all have much to learn from the witness of Wesleyan Christians who argued for women’s ministry. This story illustrates how faithful women, when they knew they had the Lord’s approval, stood “like the beaten anvil to the stroke.” Courage. Defiance. Perseverance. Faithfulness. These qualities define the Methodist defense of women in ministry.

Revivalism was one of the main causes of division in nineteenth century British Methodism, but the role of revivalist theology in these splits has received scant scholarly attention. In this book, James E. Pedlar demonstrates how the revivalist variant of Methodist spirituality and theology empowered its adherents and helped foster new movements, even as it undermined the Spirit’s work through the structures of the church. Beginning with an examination of unresolved issues in John Wesley’s ecclesiology, Pedlar identifies a trend of increasing marginalization of the church among revivalists, via an examination of three key figures: Hugh Bourne (1772-1852), James Caughey (1810-1891), and William Booth (1860-1932). He concludes by examining the more catholic and irenic theology of Samuel Chadwick (1860-1932), the leading Methodist revivalist of the early twentieth century who became a strong advocate of Methodist Union. Pedlar shows that these theological differences must be considered, alongside social and political factors, in any well-rounded assessment of the division and eventual reunification of British Methodism.

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.

Rich in historical events and colorfully written, this fascinating account of women in the church spans nearly two thousand years of church history. It tells of events and aspirations, determination and disappointment, patience and achievement that mark the history of daughters of the church from the time of Jesus to the present. The authors have endeavored to present an objective story. The very fact that readers may find themselves surprised now and again by the prominent role of women in certain events and movements proves an inequality that historical narrative has often been guilty of. This is a book about women. It is a setting straight off the record -- a restoring of balance to history that has repeatedly played down the significance of the contributions of women to the theology, the witness, the movements, and the growth of the church. An exegetical study of relevant Scripture passages offers stimulating thought for discussion and for serious reevaluation of historical givens. This volume is enriched by pictures, appendixes, bibliography, and indexes. Like many of the women whose stories it tells, this book has a subdued strength that should not be underestimated.

The continued importance of Christian rhetorics in political, social, pedagogical, and civic affairs suggests that such rhetorics not only belong on the map of rhetorical studies, but are indeed essential to the geography of rhetorical studies in the twenty-first century. This collection argues that concerning ourselves with religious rhetorics in general and Christian rhetorics in particular tells us something about rhetoric itself—its boundaries, its characteristics, its functionings. In assembling original research on the intersections of rhetoric and Christianity from prominent and emerging scholars, Mapping Christian Rhetorics seeks to locate religion more centrally within the geography of rhetorical studies in the twenty-first century. It does so by acknowledging work on Christian rhetorics that has been overlooked or ignored; connecting domains of knowledge and research areas pertaining to Christian rhetorics that may remain disconnected or under connected; and charting new avenues of inquiry about Christian rhetorics that might invigorate theory-building, teaching, research, and civic engagement. In dividing the terrain of Christian rhetorics into four categories—theory, education, methodology, and civic engagement—Mapping Christian Rhetorics aims to foster connections among these areas of inquiry and spur future future collaboration between scholars of religious rhetoric in a range of research areas.

Ten percent of book profits will go to the Susan Angeline Collins Scholarship at Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa. Get ready to delve into a world of hardship, challenge, and fulfillment. Explore the life of African American Susan Angeline Collins and be inspired by her faith, pioneering attitude, missionary successes, unfailing courage, and belief in everyone’s right to an education. As Miss Collins’ life unfolds before you, relevant social issues affecting people of color are intertwined. Issues examined include economics, education, gender, race, religion, and Africa’s colonization from her 1851 birth in Illinois until her 1940 death in Iowa. Her resourcefulness in overcoming obstacles during her 33-year commitment to missionary service in the Congo Delta Region and Angola is compelling. Miss Collins’ story demonstrates the difference one person can make in the lives of an unknown number of women and children, some orphaned and homeless and others escaping early marriage and subservience. Her leadership is evidenced when starting a girls’ school in the northern Angolan high plateau region years before Mary Jane McLeod Bethune initiated her school for African-American girls in Florida. You will be gratified to discover how this diminutive bundle of energy achieved recognition as a stalwart missionary, leader, teacher, nurse, construction manager, and surrogate mother to “her girls.”

Poetic imagination, intertextuality, and life in a symbolic world / Roy F. Melugin -- Persistent vegetative states: people as plants and plants as people -- In Isaiah / Patricia K. Tull -- Like a mother I have comforted you: the function of figurative -- Language in Isaiah 1:7-26 and 66:7-14 / Chris A. Franke -- A bitter memory: Isaiah's commission in Isaiah 6:1-13 / A. Joseph Everson -- Poetic vision in Isaiah 7:18-25 / H.G.M. Williamson -- YHWH's sovereign rule and his adoration on Mount Zion: a -- Comparison of poetic visions in Isaiah 24-27, 52, and 66 / Willem A.M. Beuken -- The legacy of Josiah in Isaiah 40-55 / Marvin A. Sweeney -- Spectrality in the prologue to Deutero-Isaiah / Francis Landy -- The spider-poet: signs and symbols in Isaiah 41 / Hyun Chul Paul Kim -- Consider the source: a reading of the servant's identity and task in Isaiah 42:1-9 / James M. Kennedy -- "They all gather, they come to you": history, utopia, and the reading of Isaiah 49:18-26 and 60:4-16" / Roy D. Wells -- From desolation to delight: the transformative vision of Isaiah 60-62 / Carol J. Dempsey -- The nations' journey to Zion: pilgrimage and tribute as metaphor in the book of Isaiah / Gary Stansell.