Women Bishops and Rhetorics of Shalom

A Whole Peace

By (author) Leland G. Spencer

Publication date:

26 April 2017

Length of book:

136 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498543699

Women Bishops and Rhetorics of Shalom: A Whole Peace argues that the theological concept of shalom offers a way forward for progressive Christians who want to advocate for social justice based on their faith in an increasingly globalizing world characterized by many faiths. To do so, the book considers the rhetorical leadership of three women bishops who are all “firsts” in important ways: Marjorie Matthews, the first woman bishop in any mainline Post-Reformation church, Leontine Kelly, the first woman bishop of color in any mainline church, and Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman to lead a national church in the Anglican Communion. This book is recommended for scholars interested in communications, religious studies, and gender studies.

Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Exploring Shalom
Chapter 2: Bishop Marjorie Swank Matthews: Liberal Ideological Warrants and the Unrealized Potential of Shalom
Chapter 3: Bishop Leontine Turpeau Current Kelly: Toward an Ironic Prophetic Rhetoric
Chapter 4: Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Possibilities for a Progressive Civility
Chapter 5: The United Methodist Church and Human Sexuality: An Eschatological Horizon?
Conclusion: Multiple Paths to Shalom
References
About the Author

Spencer’s compelling, nuanced analysis of women bishops’ rhetoric offers keen and timely insights about intersections of gender, power, religion, and politics. Yet it is his articulation of shalom as a model for peaceful community that takes my breath away—Spencer’s vision offers hope, guidance, and a call for social and political transformation based on the eloquent words of trailblazing women of God. A must-read for scholars and students in rhetoric, women’s and gender studies, and social change!