FLWG Book Launch - May She Speak in the Name of the Father by Liz Shercliff

Liz will introduce the book and will be interviewed by Professor Hannah Bacon (University of Chester). There will also be a response from Professor Lisa Isherwood (University of Wales, Trinity Saint David).

If you would like to attend online, you can

Hollybank CHB002 (ground floor, room off the entrance foyer)

About the book:

Is the process of ‘formation’ or ministerial education in the Church of England, UK Baptist churches and other mainstream Christian denominations in the UK an exercise in power that needs to be resisted if marginalised voices are to be heard? May She Speak in the Name of the Father examines how women’s voices and experiences can be silenced and discredited during training, particularly in relation to preaching, examining first the context and culture of formation, particularly in the Church of England, then approaches to homiletics and show how widely accepted approaches act to silence women’s voices. Liz Shercliff goes well beyond a critique of institutions and practices by offering practical suggestions for inclusive pedagogical approaches. Based on years of experience and conversation with women training for Anglican ministry, and a lively commitment to embodied preaching Shercliff has produced a grounded and inspiring piece of work that is essential reading for all involved in preaching and ministerial education. This volume is an important contribution to homiletics, theological education and ministerial training.

About the author:

Rev’d Dr Liz Shercliff is a feminist theologian. She established Women’s Voices conferences over ten years ago as a way of women hearing each other to speech. She is on the academic staff of Luther King Theological College and the author of several books, including Straw for the Bricks, Preaching Women, The Present Preacher and Out of the Shadows volumes 1 and 2.

Other scholars involved:

Professor Hannah Bacon supervised Liz’s Professional Doctorate. She is Professor of Feminist Theology at the University of Chester, UK and has particular interest in constructive contextual theologies that engage women’s lived experiences to transform Christian belief and practice. Her recent work focuses on the interface between Christian theologies of embodiment and contemporary cultural discourses about fatness and weight. Among her publications are her more recent Feminist Theology and Contemporary Dieting Culture: Sin, Salvation and Women’s Weight Loss Narratives (T & T Clark/Bloomsbury, 2019) and What’s Right with the Trinity (Ashgate/Routledge, 2009). She is also co-editor (with W. Dossett and S. Knowles) of Alternative Salvations: Engaging the Sacred and the Secular (Bloomsbury, 2015) and (with W. Morris and S. Knowles) of Transforming Exclusion: Engaging Faith Perspectives (T & T Clark, 2011).

Professor Lisa Isherwood is a liberation theologian who believes theology to be a communal project fuelled by notions of radical equality and empowered by divine companionship. Her work explores the nature of incarnation within a contemporary context and includes such areas as the body, gender, sexuality and eco-theology.

She is extensively published, has lectured across Europe, India, USA, Australia and Canada. She has a wide range of experience with the media from being interviewed to collaborating with producers and directors to create research-based programmes.

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