Faith in a Dress: Call for Women Writers

So hey, check this out: I was reading this site called The Porpoise Diving Life, an obvious tongue-in-cheek response to the hugely populat Purpose Driven Life phenomena, when I stumbled onto the site's list of upcoming guest editors. It took about five seconds to note that it was all Men. Where were the Women?

Being the persnickety woman that I am, I dropped the editor and creator of PDL an email with my observation. Next thing I know, my friend Lily and I are signed up to be guest editors. For the June issue. The June-2007-less-than-two-weeks-away issue. Um, yeah.

Lily and I are good friends. We met in the blogosphere at Emerging Grace's place. We figured out we live in the same county and hang out on a regular basis at coffee joints and each other's homes.

We are up for the challenge to bring some feminine perspective to The Conversation on things of faith and spirituality. And being women, we can naturally break our pretty little necks and make the deadline before June 1st.

Below are some thoughts and the theme of what we are looking for as well as some details and guidelines about submissions.

If something rattles your bones, write it up and send it on to me as quick as you can.

Let's rock our corner of the internet universe with some rowdy women of faith who aren't afraid to make some noise. Be heard!!!

Women are emerging from the shadows of ministry, busting through the stained-glass ceiling and taking a sledgehammer to old stereotypes. Here's a chance for you to have a voice - would you like to be heard?

Our theme for this issue: "Progress: Faith in a Dress"

Deadline: This project landed in our laps on Friday, May 18th, and all submissions must reach us by midnight pacific time Monday, May 28 for consideration. A tight deadline, but let's go for it!

What we are looking for: Submissions from emerging and missional Christian WOMEN Free, out-of-the-box thinkers. Alternative expressions of faith. Wild and crazy, postmodern approaches to theology. Church misfits. Women on the edge. Stained-glass-ceiling rule-breakers. Diverse perspectives are entirely welcome! If you identify with any of those statements, we want to hear from you! Poetry, prose, fiction...you name it, we'll read it. We also are looking for book and music reviews, if that is more your style.

Anything you submit must be your own original work: It may have been published elsewhere (like on your blog, for instance) and we will still consider it, as long as it is not under copyright. There are no strict word-count parameters; we are aiming for a maximum of 1000 words. We also ask that all submissions be written by women and in English.

Here are some ideas to start with: these are not meant to be strictly adhered to, only to help get you thinking - any other ideas you have are quite welcome. Also, some of the questions refer to your "ministry". The word "ministry" here is whatever it means to you: your home, your family and friends, your workplace, your neighborhood, your church, the homeless, pagans, minorities, foreigners...however you see it to be in your life.

• Can women lead men?

• Are women effective leaders and thinkers in the body of Christ?

• What is the place for socijkjkal minorities in Christianity?
  

• What does emerging or missional work look like in your life?
  

• How do you see gender equality in matters of faith?

• What do you see as the primary role of the Church?

• What do you think are the biggest misconceptions about women in ministry?
  

• What are the greatest gifts women bring to ministry?

• Who are some of your emerging/missional women heroes?
  

• How do you perceive your mission field and how do you reach it?
• What have some of your struggles been as a woman of faith?

• How do you see women in ministry changing over the next 25 years?

• How has your expression of or role in the church changed or grown in the last 5 years?

• How has your theology changed in the last 5 years?

Please include with each submission: the title of your submission as you would like it to appear, your full name, e-mail address, and blog or website url (if applicable). Please also indicate to us if you would like your e-mail address and/or url to be published with your submission. This is an opt-in only: if you don't specifically tell us to include your e-mail or url in the publication, we won't.

One more thing: we are compiling a list of books, blogs and resources which support the concept of gender equality and in support of women in all levels of Christian leadership and ministry. If you have any ideas, be sure to pass them along!

Send submissions or submission ideas to my email ASAP!!!