1. Sharon Baker: Her new book, Razing Hell, will put her on the front line of Christian thinkers asking important questions and responding to them in helpful ways.
2. Phyllis Tickle: I’m one of many who has found in Phyllis a wise big sister and mentor. (The Great Emergence)
3. Joan Chittister: She is a force of nature. Her books have enriched me for decades. (The Gift of Years)
4. Rita Nakashima Brock: Rita’s book Saving Paradise is a masterpiece.
5. Cynthia Bourgeault: Cynthia reminds me of Thomas Merton — she is a mystic with a brilliant mind who deserves far wider readership. (Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening)
6. Sallie McFague: Sallie explores the boundaries of theology and feminism, ecology, and humanness. I find her ideas stimulating and challenging, page after page. (The Body of God)
7. Nancey Murphy: Fuller Theological Seminary is fortunate to have this thought leader in postmodernism, science and faith, theological anthropology, and related issues. Her books have influenced me a great deal. (Beyond Liberalism and Fundamentalism)
8. Jo-Ann Badley: Though she hasn’t published yet, this professor from Mars Hill Graduate School is one of the best Bible expositors I’ve ever been exposed to.
9. Diana Butler Bass: Diana radiates balance and insight as she writes on church history, ethics, and politics. (A People’s History of Christianity)
10. Sharon Watkins: She hasn’t published either, but her leadership of the Disciples of Christ denomination is exemplary, and her theological instincts are superb.
11. Ruth Padilla DeBorst and Elisa Shannon Padilla: These two sisters, daughters of Rene Padilla, are formidable theological thinkers who deserve a far wider audience — not just as Latin American theologians, but as theologians of an emerging, holistic world Christianity. Both contributed to The Justice Project, which I helped edit.

I’ve read a number of these women and just added a few more to my to read list. Obviously, I think it is important that the voices of the whole church – men and women – get heard. All too often we only end up hearing from the male voices, so I appreciate the suggestions of women who are speaking important and transformative ideas into the church today. To that end I would love to hear your suggestions of women we should be reading. Please add your recommendations in the comments!

By Tisha Brown

One of my favorite scripture passages is the story of Jesus’ baptism in Mark 1:9-11. I particularly love the words that come from the voice in heaven as Jesus emerges from the Jordan “You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” When I read this scripture I imagine God’s voice speaking these words to me at the moment of my baptism; “You are my daughter, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Recently, these words have begun to take on new meaning for me as I realize that not only do I claim them for myself as a disciple of Jesus Christ who needs to be reminded from time to time of her beloved-ness but I claim them also as a pastor. I claim them for all of the people in the congregation I serve and most especially for every infant, child or adult I have the privilege of baptizing.

The new meaning of these words has come about through conversations I’ve been having with two teenage boys in my congregation who are considering baptism. I have become aware through these conversations that not only am I their pastor because I work at their church but I am their pastor because they accept me and see me in that role. They have granted me authority in their lives. They listen to what I say, they watch what I do, and they respect me because I’ve been there for them in their lives for the past 6 years for better and for worse.

Claiming the authority and the power that comes with the title of pastor has been a struggle for me since my ordination. I believe that all people, by virtue of their baptism, are called by God to serve and follow Jesus Christ and that no one person’s calling is necessarily more important or authoritative. I have also been intimidated by the level of responsibility that comes along with the role that a pastor plays in the lives of congregations and in the lives of the people who make up those congregations. Clergy are responsible to carry their power and authority ethically, humbly and with integrity in every aspect of their lives. I take this responsibility very seriously and it scares me.

But what I have come to realize through talking with two teenage boys in my congregation is that the power and authority of my role as pastor of this congregation isn’t mine alone. It is a gift from God and a call that I have humbly heard and accepted. In this call I am never alone for the Holy Spirit is always there reminding me of who I am and whose I am.

In addition, this community has grown to trust me and to see me as their pastor and they call this power and this authority out in me. I am their pastor not only because they pay me to fulfill that role but because we have been together through the many ups and downs of life. We have grieved the deaths of significant people in the community, walked together through divorces, job losses and the death of a teenage boy and we have struggled to forgive and move on. We have sung and prayed and worshiped, shared secrets and longings, confessed shortcomings and accepted grace, baptized babies and adults, celebrated weddings and laughed a lot. We have become intimately connected to one another in Christ. Together through the gift of trust that has developed between us, by the grace of God and with much fear and trembling we have accepted this relationship of pastor and congregation. They affirm the power and authority of the role, I willingly agree to be their pastor and God blesses and keeps us all.

I am so grateful to these two young men for teaching me these things. They couldn’t possibly know that their awkwardly mumbled responses to my questions, their non-committal head nods and the way they seem so interested in whatever is on the tops of their shoes was revealing something that I needed to see. I am a beloved child of God in whom God is well pleased and I am their Pastor. And God willing, I will stand on holy and sacred ground in the midst of the community and say to them “I baptize you in the name of God who created you, Christ who redeemed you and the Holy Spirit who sustains you. May the Holy Spirit be upon you, child of God, disciple of Christ, member of the church.

Rev. Tisha Brown is the pastor of Community of Hope, UCC in Madison, WI. Community of Hope and Advent Lutheran, ELCA form the Madison Christian Community, a unique, 40-year partnership of two congregations sharing a building and engaging in mutual ministry. Tisha is new to the world of the emerging church and is happy to say it is saving her faith. In her free time she loves to run, dance and sing. She blogs at Thoughts and Reflections

Pray the Devil Back to Hell chronicles the remarkable story of the courageous Liberian women who came together to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country. Thousands of women — ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim — came together to pray for peace and then staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they demanded a resolution to the country’s civil war. Their actions were a critical element in bringing about a agreement during the stalled peace talks. A story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence, Pray the Devil Back to Hell honors the strength and perseverance of the women of Liberia. Inspiring, uplifting, and most of all motivating, it is a compelling testimony of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations.

Theirs was a courageous and hope-filled story that gives testimony to the fact that grassroots activism does affect change, but it was also much more complex than that. It is also a story of terror, greed, and oppression. Liberia’s Civil War tore apart the nation. The President, Charles Taylor, in his greed for money and power, ruled through his roaming military bands with no regard for human rights. The opposing warlords cared little for saving the country, and made use of the same injustices to secure power and wealth for themselves. The women were tired of seeing their husbands and sons caught up in (and dying in) the pissing contest for power, of watching their children starve, of having to flee their homes, and of witnessing the rape and murder of family members. But instead of simply despairing, they decided to take a stand for peace. Taking their cue from Esther in the Bible, they wore simple clothes and began protests for peace hoping to gain the attention of the President and the warlords. They held signs, sang songs, and persuaded their priests and imans to join their cause. They withheld sex from their husbands to get them to listen to reason. And when the eventual peace talks stalled and became a joke, they staged a sit-in trapping dignitaries in the conference hall until a decision was reached. And even when the chance of democratic elections was won, they campaigned still – guiding the disarmament process, getting women out to vote, and electing for Liberia the first woman President of any African nation. Courage, passion, and intensity can barely begin to describe the commitment these women had to peace. As they got into the cause and started to see that peace might actually be realized, they were emboldened and forgot to fear. As one women put it, “we forgot we could be raped.”

The power of women to change their world was profoundly demonstrated in this film. I loved how these women were presented as always being for peace rather than against the atrocities. This perspective kept them on the path to achieving their goals. It also help them help rehabilitate the child soldiers after the war ended. The images of young boys with limbs blown off playing schoolyard games is heartbreaking – and it was even harder knowing that those women were helping their former rapists and torturers. I’ve heard similar stories of women in Nigeria and Kenya peacefully banding together to stand up to injustices. It takes vision, commitment, and more hope in a better world than there is fear of what repercussions may ensue.  But it also takes a commitment to mercy and love.

Beyond being emotionally moved by this film, I was struck by the need for a couple of things in response to the film. First is the need for stories like this to be told. All of this was unfolding in Liberia during 2003-2005 and I never heard a thing about it on the news. Granted here in the USA, we were busy at the time bombing the crap out of Iraq and to even say the word “peace” much less talk about a movement of all of a nation’s women for peace was considered highly “unpatriotic.” But the world needs to know about the injustices as well as these stories of hope. Knowing that ordinary mothers and grandmothers can completely alter the path of a nation, is inspiring to say the least.

The second thing I was struck by was the need to educate children on conceptions of masculinity and femininity that affirm love and not hatred. When men are taught that they must be strong and powerful to be a good man, it is not hard to end up where the men and boys of Liberia did. Killing, raping, and pillaging in order to gain wealth and power shouldn’t be the definition of a man. Churches though are supporting these lies in encouraging the “fighter Jesus” images and hierarchical concepts that place men above women. The women of Liberia finally stood up and took charge, challenging those inane conceptions of masculinity. Others of us, especially in the church, can learn from them the importance of promoting respect, reconciliation, and love as opposed to strength, power, and dominance as core values.

To see the ability of women to change the world, to see the hope to be found in peace, and to know that even the most horrible of hells can be redeemed through peace and love, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, is a must see film. This is the sort of film that should be encouraging our churches to similar action and the sort of story that I want my children to learn as they grow older.  Our schools should be teaching our children less of the stories of who killed the most people to win wars, and more of those that saved their country by ending war without violence. If we want to raise peacemakers that respect the dignity of women, choose love over hate, compassion over greed, and life over death these women are the heroes they need to be presented with from a young age. So go see this film – spread the word, tell the story of hope, and take a stand for peace. To find a screening of this film near where you live click here