I am very excited to introduce this set of resources. I am particularly excited because lots of friends will contribute, so I will have the privilege of introducing you to some great women who have been doing some excellent thinking about other great women!
Each week (more or less), on Tuesdays, we will meet one woman from the Bible, get to know her a little and get to know God a little better through her role in God’s story. We will, of course, pray with her for ourselves, the Church and the world - all of which she has helped to form.
I have been meaning to develop this series since a year ago when I spoke about eight of these women at a fabulous day on women’s ministry at St Francis College, Brisbane. (The other speakers were fabulous, that is!) The material I developed for that day became the beginning of this series, and then I will keep going for as long as it takes! Some friends have generously contributed and I hope this will expand to be a collection of resources about a broad range of women by a broad range of women.
Since it will take a few of years to get to know them all, I expect to interrupt this series regularly with more seasonal offerings like Extending Hope (Lent), Advent of Peace, and Stations of the Cross. I will also continue to send my sermons to you on most Saturdays.
I will introduce the women in a (pretty much) completely random order, but I will update this post each week with a list of their links in canonical order (ie the order in which they appear in the Christian Bible). You can click on the links to find a reflection (or two) on each of these women.
Abigail: Wisdom and Foolishness
Bathsheba: Power and the Male Gaze by Ven Dr Lucy Morris
Rizpah: Grief and Non-Violent Protest by Ven Dr Lucy Morris
Huldah: The First Textual Critic
Susanna: Cry of the Innocent by Rev Gillian Moses SSA
Mary: The Woman who said Yes by Rev Melissa Clark
The Samaritan: The First Evangelist
Mary and Martha: Sisters and Co-Workers
Others we are looking forward to in the near future include:
Lot’s Wife Rev Dr Marian Free
Shifrah and Puah Rev Gillian Moses SSA
Miriam Rev Katherine Bower
Deborah Rev Dr Marian Free & Rev Bronwyn Pagram
Canaanite Woman Rev Colleen O’Reiley
Esther Rev Bronwyn Pagram
Rizpah (2 Sam 21) Rev Rosemary Gardiner
Faith of our Mothers will be a significant and (hopefully!) inspiring journey through the Bible. I am delighted to be able to offer these resources for free, so please invite your friends to join in.
Would you like to contribute? Please message me and I’ll give you more details. I edit only lightly, and do not necessarily agree with everything written by the other authors. I do not want all the authors to speak in one voice. That would defeat the purpose. My vision is for many women’s voices to be employed to bring us the many lives of women in Scripture.
I am very happy for there to be multiple reflections on some of the women in the Bible. Their complex characterisation is brought to life best by considering multiple perspectives.
Please make this resource more widely accessible by sharing it with your friends:
Ooh! Can’t wait! I’m looking forward to learning about and being enriched by the faith of these women. How exciting!!!