Engendering church : women, power, and the AME Church / Jualynne E. Dodson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dodson, Jualynne E.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Methodist Episcopal Church--History.

African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Women in church work--African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Women in church work.

African American women--Religious life--History.

African American women.

Methodist women--United States--History.

Methodist women.

African American Methodists--History.

African American Methodists.

History.

African American women--Religious life.

United States.

Physical Description:

vii, 147 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield, [2002]

Summary:

Engendering Church explores the power, processes, and circumstances that brought about new gender relations in the African Methodist Episcopal Church -- one of the largest African American denominations in the United States. Jualynne Dodson tells the heroic stories of women like Sara Hatcher Duncan, who emerged from behind the scenes to confront the hierarchy of male clergy. Dodson's historical account of the AME Church and its many changes shows that unless women hold church positions, they are overlooked as proactive agents of organizational power. She also links women in the Church to broader social change. When women began to function in key leadership roles in African American churches, they also contributed toward more rapid improvement in living conditions for blacks in the United States.

Contents:

Introduction: Past Is Prologue 1

Chapter 1 Formation of a Religious Organization 7

Chapter 2 Building a Critical Mass 23

Chapter 3 Organizing for Effectiveness 41

Chapter 4 Indispensable Resources 63

Chapter 5 Using Power: Keeping Church 83

Chapter 6 Gendered Spaces: The Intentionality of Power 99

Chapter 7 A Pinnacle of Power to Close the Century: Sara Hatcher Duncan 111.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 119-139) and index.

ISBN:

0847693805

0847693813

OCLC:

46937526