Cakes for the Queen of Heaven explores the relationship between women's religious history and the personal issues that arise in women living in this patriarchal society. Women struggle with issues of body image, troubled mother-daughter relationships, sexual freedom and access to power. We need to know that there was a time when the female body was sacred; that there once was a long-lasting religion in which the chief divine actors were a mother and her daughter; that in very ancient times women had significant power in their societies; that although patriarchal societies have oppressed women for centuries, there have always been strong and talented women. Our female history has been erased and trivialized for too long. In this book we meet ancient goddesses and their stories from around the world, real women in ancient Sumer, in Greece, in Judaism and in Christianity. In Cakes for the Queen of Heaven the past is before us, the women are there, and they help us change our lives.

The definitive history of abortion in the United States, with a new preface that equips readers for what’s to come. When Abortion Was a Crime is the must-read book on abortion history. Originally published ahead of the thirtieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, this award-winning study was the first to examine the entire period during which abortion was illegal in the United States, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century and ending with that monumental case in 1973. When Abortion Was a Crime is filled with intimate stories and nuanced analysis, demonstrating how abortion was criminalized and policed—and how millions of women sought abortions regardless of the law. With this edition, Leslie J. Reagan provides a new preface that addresses the dangerous and ongoing threats to abortion access across the country, and the precarity of our current moment. While abortions have typically been portrayed as grim "back alley" operations, this deeply researched history confirms that many abortion providers—including physicians—practiced openly and safely, despite prohibitions by the state and the American Medical Association. Women could find cooperative and reliable practitioners; but prosecution, public humiliation, loss of privacy, and inferior medical care were a constant threat. Reagan's analysis of previously untapped sources, including inquest records and trial transcripts, shows the fragility of patient rights and raises provocative questions about the relationship between medicine and law. With the right to abortion increasingly under attack, this book remains the definitive history of abortion in the United States, offering vital lessons for every American concerned with health care, civil liberties, and personal and sexual freedom.

A collection of essays and addresses, some of which were previously published.

This volume provides an important resource for those wishing to gain an overview of significant issues in contemporary missiology whilst understanding how they are applied in particular contexts. Contributors from across the globe and from different Christian traditions explore foundations for mission. The chapters examine in what ways experience, the Bible, and theology are foundational for mission and how they together inform the missional thought of different traditions. The book also raises questions about the continued use of foundations as a helpful metaphor mission reflection and impetus. Graduate students and scholars surveying the field will find this a useful and accessible way to understand changing trends within mission studies.

Publisher's description: Quickly changing concepts on gender roles are a pivotal issue in after-colonial African societies. Many women (and men) are calling for a radical change as they feel traditional gender concepts as being oppressive, inhuman and un-Christian. Gender equality, gender fairness is on their agenda. On the other hand, for many men (and women) these societal changes are painful "gender troubles" and seem to be dangerous for gender-based identity, threatening traditional African values. Volume 22 of the BiAS series deals with this central topic by asking what gender troubles have to do with the Bible. Are biblical texts an obstacle for women's liberation? Is the Bible a divine guaranty for male supremacy or rather an advocate for gender equality? What are "redemptive masculinities" and how do they relate to a new, truly Christian understanding of the role of women in church, society and state? - Scholars from different disciplines and several countries are dealing with these urgent questions to help scholars, students, pastors, politicians and members of Christian churches to find a way to more gender fairness and "gender joy."

A consideration of the evolution of American spirituality over the past fifty years.

Sea Change is an intimate exploration of a young life lived on the edge of radical hope, change, and possibility in the 1960s in California. It rekindles the spirit of the Summer of Love when anything was possible, and idealism was the air we breathed. The health of our society continues to demand en- gagement with issues of social justice, cultural diversity, and environmental responsibility. This memoir is a call to action to succeeding generations to keep the dream alive. There is still much to be done. http: //matrikapress.com/dorothy-may-emerson/ - - - Dorothy May Emerson is a semi-retired Unitarian Universalist minister and writer, currently living in Massachusetts with her spouse, Donna Clifford. A native Californian, her experiences in the Sixties helped shape the rest of her work and life. She has served for 30 years as a parish and community minister in New England, and currently offers talks and workshops on the Sixties; Spirit, Money, and Justice; and Class Awareness and Action. www.rainbowsolutions.us - - - Endorsements: The vision of the Sixties as articulated in Sea Change has the capacity to transform our collective future. Dorothy's personal stories reinforce the possibility of love, hope, and peace. This beautiful, intimate offering is a gift of resilience. - Rashani Réa, author of Beyond Brokenness and The Threshold Between Loss and Revelation - - - Sea Change is rich in accounts of personal relationships and the work of ministry and teaching during the Fifties and Sixties. They personalize the era in a special way. Each person's life is different, of course, even if they live at the same time and place. Only by adding them all up can we truly understand a period, and this work offers a very rich and illuminating contribution to that library. Robert Ellswood, author of The Sixties Spiritual Awakening and The Fifties Spiritual Marketplace - - - About the Publisher Matrika Press is an independent publishing house dedicated to publishing works in alignment with Unitarian Universalist Values and principles. Its fiscal sponsor is UU Women and Religion, a 501c3 organization. Matrika Press publishes anthologies, memoirs, poetry, prayer and ritual manuscripts, and other books to bring meaning and transformation to the world. A primary goal of Matrika Press is to publish stories and works that would otherwise remain untold. We also resurrect out-of-print manuscripts to ensure our historical works remain accessible. Matrika Press titles are automatically made available to tens of thousands of retailers, libraries, schools, and other distribution and fulfillment partners, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo (Canada), and other well-known book retailers and wholesalers across North America, and in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and other Global partners. For more information, visit: www.MatrikaPress.com