Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion [2 volumes]


Book Description

This two-volume set examines women's contributions to religious and moral development in America, covering individual women, their faith-related organizations, and women's roles and experiences in the broader social and cultural contexts of their times. This second edition of Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion provides updated and expanded information from historians and other scholars of religion, covering new issues in religion to better describe and document women's roles within religious groups. For instance, the term "evangelical feminism" is one newly defined aspect of women's involvement in religious activism. Changes are constantly occurring within the many religious faiths and denominations in America, particularly as women strive to gain positions within religious hierarchies that previously were exclusive to men and rise within their denominations to become theologians, church leaders, and bishops. The entries examine the roles that American women have played in mainstream religious denominations, small religious sects, and non-traditional practices such as witchcraft, as well as in groups that question religious beliefs, including agnostics and atheists. A section containing primary documents gives readers a firsthand look at matters of concern to religious women and their organizations. Many of these documents are the writings of women who merit entries within the encyclopedia. Readers will gain an awareness of women's contributions to religious culture in America, from the colonial era to the present day, and better understand the many challenges that women have faced to achieve success in their religion-related endeavors.




52 Ways to Ignite Your Congregation


Book Description

"52 Ways to Ignite Your Congregation: Practical Hospitality," the first volume in the "52 Ways To Ignite Your Congregation" series, is a practical and timely resource for clergy and laity. Randy Hammer offers fifty-two short practical pointers to assist congregations in extending hospitality to newcomers, making them feel welcome, and taking positive steps to ensure they look forward to returning. The book includes: clever pull-quotes for use in bulletins and newsletters; an appendix of illustrations; questions for discussion and action; an annotated bibliography; and several copy-ready bulletin inserts on various facets of hospitality.




Buffalo County Biographical History


Book Description




Congressional Record


Book Description

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)




A Just Peace Church


Book Description

The classical just war criteria were helpful in a world of soldiers in uniforms with negotiated holidays. But just war no longer proves helpful in a world where small bands of terrorists with modest bundles of cash can do unspeakable terror to unarmed civilians. In this new world, war itself has become dysfunctional. What are the theological, political, and programmatic bases needed to become a peacemaking church? A Just Peace Church seeks to locate a position between pacifism and just war.




Chelsea's First 150 Years


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The Presbytery of Seattle 1858-2005


Book Description

The Presbytery of Seattle 1858-2005 is a chronological narrative concerning Seattle Presbytery, its churches and its predecessors, the Presbyteries of Puget Sound and Oregon. The book briefly summarizes the church and Presbyterian history in Europe and in the American Colonies. It describes the history leading to the missionary beginnings of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Old Oregon with Rev. Henry H. Spalding and Dr. Marcus Whitman from 1836-1847. Rev. George F. Whitworth, the next Presbyterian minister who arrived in Washington Territory in 1854, planted the first churches and organized the Presbytery of Puget Sound in 1858 with two fellow ministers. Much of the early history of the Presbyterian churches in Washington Territory was related to the Presbyterian church in Oregon and early California. The pioneer ministers of Oregon and Washington are discussed. The earliest Presbyterian churches of Washington Territory were organized near Olympia. As a frontier presbytery only three ministers were necessary for organization, yet even that number could not be sustained and the Presbytery of Puget Sound lapsed in 1865 and was re-organized in 1876. Gradually the presbytery expanded and organized additional churches throughout the whole territory. Currently the Presbytery of Seattle encompasses two counties, King and Kitsap, which surround urban Seattle. In 1883 the Sumner Academy of Sumner, Washington began through the efforts of Rev. Whitworth and became Whitworth College in 1890. For over thirty years, beginning in 1909, the Seattle First Presbyterian Church was the largest Presbyterian Church in the nation. At its peak in 1939 it reported 8,818 members and eleven assistant pastors with 26 branches and a session of 110 elders. From its branches and support 24 Presbyterian churches were organized in the Seattle area. The place and accomplishments of women within the church are explored. The first woman to preach in a Seattle Presbyterian church was evangelist Mrs. Louisa M. Woosley in 1894. Largely because of her efforts the Third Cumberland Presbyterian Church (CPC) was organized in 1895. She was the first woman ordained by the Cumberland Presbyterians in 1889, however in 1894 her ordination was voided by the CPC. She was reordained a minister in 1913. The Third CPC became the Cherry Street Presbyterian Church in 1909 with the Cumberland PCUSA merger. Nine women at the Seattle First Presbyterian Church were the first officially ordained deaconesses in the nation in 1915. The slow acceptance of women as elders after 1930 and subsequently women ordained to Word and Sacrament after 1974 within the presbytery is discussed. Anyone interested in the Presbyterian church in early Oregon, Washington Territory and Washington State will find facts and stories of the 196 historic churches of the Puget Sound and Seattle Presbyteries. All Presbyterian ministers, elders and members will gain new insights into the vision, hopes, successes and failures of the church. The book is unique as it is the first extensive history of the Presbyterian Church in Washington since the publication of The History of the Synod of Washington of the PCUSA in 1908.




Households of Faith


Book Description

Annotation An examination of the intersection of religious and familial discourse over the course of two centuries. Households of Faith examines a variety of religious traditions with a particular focus on the way in which religious communities define gender identities. The authors explore the boundaries drawn in religious discourse between the private and public, offering a revisionist perspective on the theoretical framework of separate spheres. By analysing gender relations within the matrix of the family, they explore both the conflicts and interdependency of gender roles.