God Speaks to Us, Too

by Shaw, Susan M.

• ISBN13: 9780813124766
• ISBN10: 081312476X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-04-18
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kentucky

Summary

Raised as a Southern Baptist in Rome, Georgia, Susan M. Shaw earned graduate degrees from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, was ordained a Southern Baptist minister, and prepared herself to lead a life of leadership and service among Southern Baptists. However, dramatic changes in both the makeup and the message of the Southern Baptist Convention during the 1980s and 1990s (a period known among Southern Baptists as "the Controversy") caused Shaw and many other Southern Baptists, especially women, to reconsider their allegiances. InGod Speaks to Us, Too: Southern Baptist Women on Church, Home, and Society, Shaw presents her own experiences, as well as those of over 150 other current and former Southern Baptist women, in order to examine the role, identity, and culture of women in the largest Protestant denomination in the country. The Southern Baptist Convention was established in the United States in 1845 after a schism between Northern and Southern brethren over the question of slavery. Shaw sketches the history of the Southern Baptist faith from its formation, through its dramatic expansion following World War II, to the Controversy and its aftermath. The Controversy began as a successful attempt by fundamentalists within the denomination to pack the leadership and membership of the Southern Baptist Convention (the denomination's guiding body) with conservative and fundamentalist believers. Although no official strictures prohibit a Southern Baptist woman from occupying the primary leadership role within her congregationor her own familyrhetoric emanating from the Southern Baptist Convention during the Controversy strongly discouraged such roles for its women, and church leadership remains overwhelmingly male as a result. Despite the vast difference between the denomination's radical beginnings and its current position among the most conservative American denominations, freedom of conscience is still prized. Shaw identifies "soul competency," or the notion of a free soul that is responsible for its own decisions, as the principle by which many Southern Baptist women reconcile their personal attitudes with conservative doctrine. These women are often perceived from without as submissive secondary citizens, but they are actually powerful actors within their families and churches. God Speaks to Us, Tooreveals that Southern Baptist women understand themselves as agents of their own lives, even though they locate their faith within the framework of a highly patriarchal institution. Shaw presents these women through their own words, and concludes that they believe strongly in their ability to discern the voice of God for themselves.

Author Biography

Susan M. Shaw is associate professor of women’s studies at Oregon State University. She is the author or coauthor of several books, including Girls Rock! Fifty Years of Women Making Music.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction: Raised Right-The Making of Southern Baptist Identity	p. 1
Just as I Am: Southern Baptist Women's Experiences of Salvation and Baptism	p. 37
The B-I-B-L-E: Southern Baptist Women and the Bible	p. 63
Casseroles and Covered Dishes: Southern Baptist Women, Hospitality, and Friendship	p. 87
Red and Yellow, Black and White: The Dynamics of Race in the Lives of Southern Baptist Women	p. 116
We've a Story to Tell: Southern Baptist Women and Ministry	p. 138
Gracious Submission: Southern Baptist Women and the Family	p. 184
I Am Woman: Southern Baptist Women and Feminism	p. 223
Competent before God: Southern Baptist Women and Soul Competency	p. 246
Cast of Characters	p. 269
Notes	p. 277
Index	p. 291
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