The wide variety of biblical divine names and images in Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians will contribute to belief in the sacredness of all people and all creation. Peace and justice flow from this belief. These hymns draw from the prophetic, liberating tradition in Scripture. Biblical themes, phrases, and images form the foundation for all the hymns. Predominant themes of the hymns are peace, justice, resurrection, abundant life, liberation, new creation, and partnership in relationships. This collection includes hymns that celebrate the seasons of the church year and other special occasions.
Balancing feminine and masculine divine names, Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians will lead to deeper understanding and experience of the Creator of all. Some of the hymns resurrect feminine divine images, like Wisdom and Ruah, that have long been buried in Scripture and Christian tradition. Bringing feminine sacred names into worship encourages the revaluing of the feminine so that the Gospel values of liberation and equality are realized.
Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians also supports the sacred value of people of color by changing the traditional negative symbolism of darkness. These hymns symbolize darkness as creative bounty and beauty. Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians will help churches and individuals in their journey toward freedom from racism, sexism, and other injustices.
For many of these hymns Jann Aldredge-Clanton draws from the rich tradition of hymn tunes, giving new expression to familiar music. This hymn collection also includes original tunes and arrangements by composer Larry E. Schultz. This new, vibrant music enhances the meaning of the texts.
The hymns recorded on this CD are selected from Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians. These hymns inspire justice and peacemaking. They empower women, men, and children of all races to become all they are created to be in the divine image. The wide variety of biblical divine names and images in Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians will contribute to belief in the sacredness of all people and all creation. Peace and justice flow from this belief. These hymns draw from the prophetic, liberating tradition in Scripture. Predominant themes of the hymns are peace, justice, resurrection, abundant life, liberation, new creation, and partnership in relationships.
[ Purchase: Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble ]Jann Aldredge-Clanton didn't start out as a reformer. When she was a pre-teen, she almost starved herself to death trying to fit into the culture's feminine mold. In high school she felt inadequate because she never won a beauty crown, even though she graduated at the top of her class. Slowly, she began waking up to her own voice, and became one of the first women ever to be ordained as a Baptist minister in the South.
It has not been an easy road. She almost lost her job as a professor at a Baptist university because she refused to sign a fundamentalist statement of beliefs. She was labeled a "heretic" for calling God "She" and "Mother." Others said she couldn't be an ordained minister because it would be "unbiblical." The controversy over women's roles in religion is just another example of the glass ceiling women too often face in American society.
Called "Waco's Give 'Em Hell Minister" for her outspoken opinions and action on social issues, Jann tells in Breaking Free how she discovered her mission of freeing people, including herself, from sexism and other injustices. Breaking Free is a remarkable memoir that shows the liberating power of faith combined with feminism. It will inspire readers of all ages to find the freedom to become all God created them to be.
[ Purchase: Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble ]Few topics within Christianity have generated as much controversy and debate as the topic of the gender language used to speak of God. In Whose Image? God and Gender is a clear and accessible summary of theological, biblical, ecclesiastical, and anthropological issues. The author gives biblical, theological, and historical support for the inclusion of feminine images of God. She demonstrates how reclaiming biblical divine feminine images, and including them along with masculine and non-gender images in worship, contributes to healing women, men, children, and the earth.
Aldredge-Clanton calls for a fuller reading of the Bible and Christian tradition, and she effectively demonstrates ways to do this. She also points out ways that the sexism of the Christian tradition has explicitly contradicted the revealed word of God and suggests ways to bring change. This book also looks at how an exclusively male imaging of God is not only limiting for women, but for men as well. When there is a retrenchment on the part of some to belittle these matters as mere "word games," this book clarifies the fact that these are central and vital issues for the Christian church.
[ Purchase: Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble ]This book presents powerful biblical and theological support for a Divine Feminine image buried in Christianity. In Search of the Christ-Sophia resurrects Sophia (Wisdom) and connects Her to Jesus Christ. This book presents an inclusive christology based on the biblical parallel between Christ and Sophia (Wisdom) that will help Christians expand their horizons and rethink traditional beliefs.
In Search of the Christ-Sophia combines theological scholarship with pastoral sensitivity to demonstrate that a christology inclusive of both female and male is vital to liberation and equality. Aldredge-Clanton uncovers the New Testament links between Christ and Wisdom (Sophia), a feminine symbol of deity in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). She applies the theology of Christ-Sophia to contemporary spirituality, social justice ministry, and the restructuring of the Christian community. The final chapter contains more than a dozen services, prayers, litanies, reflections, and songs that can be used for personal prayer or communal worship. It also explains how an inclusive worship community can focus on the liberating image of Christ-Sophia.
With a clear and concise style accessible to general readers as well as to theology students, In Search of the Christ-Sophia creates a challenging new agenda for all Christians and their churches.
[ Purchase: Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble ]This book offers a collection of worship services to bring healing and renewal to both individuals and faith communities. The services focus on Christ-Sophia, a symbol drawn from Judeo-Christian scripture and tradition that embraces new possibilities for wholeness and shared responsibility. This symbol is built on the foundation of the inclusive christology the author developed in her book In Search of the Christ-Sophia, and is intended to overcome dualisms and make equal connections between female and male.
The rituals in Praying with Christ-Sophia focus on such themes as justice, relationship, peace, freedom, and healing to address the concerns of contemporary women and men. The inclusive language and images seek to convert the imagination to view God and humanity in a balanced, holistic perspective, one that benefits all people. These rituals contribute to justice by giving equal value to women and men of all races, sexual orientation, and abilities.
Over 35 original texts set to standard Christian hymn tunes are featured. These songs offer participants an opportunity to express their spirituality and human needs through egalitarian words sung to familiar tunes.
This book provides inclusive materials for the religious education of children in the church and in the home. The stories, pictures, songs, prayers, and other resources in this collection teach children to apply a theology of inclusiveness to their everyday experiences. Illustrations and language are inclusive in gender and race.
The stories, pictures, songs, prayers, and activities in this collection will help teachers and parents instill in children the theological truth that girls and boys of all races are created in the image of God and thus have equal value. Through a balance of masculine, feminine, and non-gender-specific pictures and references to God, the resources in this book teach that God includes and transcends female and male. All language for people is inclusive as well. Stories highlight girls as well as boys, female as well as male role models of different races. Biblical examples include as many women as men. These materials tell and show children that God is for girls as much as for boys and that God is for children of all races. The hope is that this truth will become deeply ingrained in the minds and emotions of children.
The resources in God, a Word for Girls and Boys can be used in Sunday School classes, in Bible school classes, in day-care centers, in separate services for children (children?s church), or as part of Sunday morning worship services. Given prominence in worship services, they can be powerful teaching tools for children and adults alike. Focusing on children in a worship service gives them a feeling of importance as a vital part of the church community. The children's sermon thus becomes a "teachable moment" with great potential for permanent influence on thought and behavior.
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This musical offers children a multi-sensory approach to expressing numerous images of God as revealed in the Bible, the natural world, each individual, and relationships with others. Imagine God! teaches children that God is much greater than everything and everyone they know. Through a variety of feminine, masculine, and non-gender images of God, this musical invites children and adults to imagine a God who is both transcendent and immanent and to believe that the great Creator of the universe lives within them.
This musical includes feminine along with masculine divine names to instill the belief that girls as well as boys are created in the image of God, and that girls and boys are equally valued by God. Imagine God! contributes to an expansive theology of God and an ethic of equality and justice in human relationships.
Along with the music and narration in the score, the companion Imagine God! Production Guide provides ideas for creative art projects, dance and body movement, multi-generational participation, Bible exploration, and ministry activities that will enhance the learning and presentation of Imagine God! This musical works perfectly in any worship setting, music camp, or Vacation Bible School format. A demonstration CD is also available.
Purchase: Choristers Guild ]This anthem of praise and thanksgiving invites all people to celebrate the gift of pets and animals. Ideal for use in animal blessing services or any service centered around God’s creation, this charming anthem reminds us that “all living creatures, large or small, are gifts from the Spirit, Maker of all!”
A winsome piano accompaniment and delightful melody creatively mirror the animated text that gives children a unique opportunity to thank God for their animal friends.
[ Purchase: Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble ]Few moments are as devastating as hearing a diagnosis of cancer. Unfortunately, one out of three Americans will hear this diagnosis at some point in their lives. In Counseling People with Cancer Jann Aldredge-Clanton brings a perspective from a theology of hope to people struggling with cancer. Aldredge-Clanton believes that in the midst of a frightening illness, our spiritual task is to reunderstand our life story in light of the sacred story of God's love in the world. She explores the images of God held by cancer patients and finds ways to connect their stories to rich and renewing sacred stories.