She Who Prays: A Woman's Interfaith Prayer Book - Softcover

Harris-Watkins, Patricia; Jensen, Jane Richardson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0819221139 ISBN 13: 9780819221131

Publisher: Morehouse Publishing, 2004

Synopsis

A Prayer book designed to be used by individual women, as well as by those who are leading group prayer services.

For nearly two millennia, Christian women have learned to pray in the language of other people's souls. From worshiping God as father to envisioning a holy life as a military campaign, they've been taught to approach the Divine with the hearts and minds of men.

She Who Prays: A Woman's Interfaith Prayer Book offers women a new way to pray. It draws on feminine images of God, as well as the language and experience of women, to help women tap into their own rich and unique spirituality. With material from new translations of ancient Christian hymns and prayers, as well as original prayers in the Christian and other faith traditions, She Who Prays will help women speak to God in their own voices.

Arranged in roughly the same format as the Book of Common Prayer, She Who Prays contains a seven-day cycle of daily prayer services, prayers for special occasions, and a woman-oriented liturgical calendar that honors the lives of women of all faiths. The book also contains four rituals marking such themes as healing, reconciliation, and new beginnings, and a prayer to be used while walking a labyrinth.

An appendix provides information on world religions and instructions for group services.

About this title

About the Author

Jane Richardson Jensen, an author, translator, and scholar specializing in early Christian literature, is co-chaplain of Clare's Place, a women's spirituality center in College Station, Texas.

Patricia Harris-Watkins, chaplain of Clare's Place, is a scholar specializing in English as a second language. She has taught workshops in dream interpretation and vision quests, and integrates her Native American spirituality with her Christian faith.

From Publishers Weekly

Although feminists of many Christian traditions are likely to find this book helpful, its most appreciative audience will likely be liturgical Christians who already follow a similar format in their daily prayers. The book is arranged in roughly the same manner as the Anglican/Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, but with female-friendly twists: The scripture readings, for example, don’t typically come from the Bible because of what the authors call its "male-oriented and militaristic nature." Jensen and Harris-Watkins substitute readings from the Apocrypha and various other sources, including hymns of the early Church (nimbly translated from Syriac, Greek and Hebrew by Jensen). Also, the authors borrow readings from many different faith traditions, which are helpfully introduced in a special table at the end of the book. The book even includes a few craft suggestions for women to make items that are related to the prayer rites. In Anglican fashion, there are prayers for morning, noon and evening, and for specific seasons, occasions and rituals.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Morehouse Publishing
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0819221139
• ISBN 13: 9780819221131
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 212