A “Subversive Sister-Saint” Post-Easter Reading List

Post Author: Rev. Katharine L. Steele

For my Doctor of Ministry program in Faith, Health & Social Equity I was afforded the opportunity to choose any elective I wanted last spring. I chose to take a course titled, “Women’s Religious Leadership as Subversion” taught by Rev. Dr. Angela Yarber at Drew Theological School. Although the class was crafted and mandatory for our sister cohort focusing on Women’s Religious Leadership, I decided that, as a clergywoman myself, the content would be applicable to me as well. What a gift that class turned out to be!

Throughout the semester, we read several spiritual memoirs from women in religious leadership. There was a plethora of memoirs to choose from, so  those memoirs we did not read personally we heard presentations and reports about from fellow students. I have kept  the syllabus, stored forever at the ready in my OneDrive. It waits for me to pick up the next book on the list and find encouragement, solidarity, laughter, pain, joy and inspiration from these “Subversive Sister Saints” who have lead the way and blazed the trails upon which I now tread and those who are currently with me on the trail.

Whether you are clergy yourself or simply a woman of faith striving to find voices which help you feel seen, heard and included  in the church today, I offer  these short book reviews I compiled for that class.  Happy reading!

God is a Black Woman by Christina Cleveland

In her tertiary novel, God is a Black Woman, Christena Cleveland, PhD, takes readers on an eye-opening journey to confront the ways in which patriarchy, toxic masculinity and white supremacy have infected modern Christianity for ages. Cleveland calls out the stubborn insistence on there being one god, that is “whitemalegod,” and draws a sharp distinction between this “whitemalegod” and the Sacred Black Feminine. Early in the book, Cleveland breaks down in harrowing detail how damaging the “whitemalegod” view and understanding of God has been in her own life. Courageously, she shares throughout the following pages how she began and continues to extricate herself from this abusive system of holy oppression and find peace, solace, hope and belonging with the Sacred Black Feminine. Join Christena Cleveland on her 400-mile pilgrimage across Central France to meet “Our Lady of the Side Eye,” and many other Black Madonnas on the way. You will laugh, cry and experience the kind of profound transformation that only the Sacred Black Feminine can inspire.

Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd

Sue Monk Kidd paves the way for women of all ages to begin the journey toward self and spiritual awakening. For centuries, if not millennia, women’s spirituality has been all but erased by the cis-het-normative-patriarchy that is pervasive in most, if not all, of the world’s major religions. Inviting women to rediscover the Divine Feminine, Kidd transparently shares her own journey of awakening. For women who are no longer sure if there is room for them in institutional religion or even in spirituality more broadly, Kidd reassures all that not only is there room but need and abundant space for all parts of us, perhaps especially those feminine parts that too often are suggested we leave at the door upon entering religious spaces. This work is truly a balm to the weary spirits of women and a catalyst for a reimagining of what the sacred community might look like when all are truly not only welcomed but celebrated.

Red Lip Theology by Candice Marie Benbow

In a stunning display of vulnerability, Candice Marie Benbow shares with readers moments of great joy and unbearable sorrow in Red Lip Theology. Losing her mother unexpectedly and working through the grief and shock of that loss ground Benbow’s essay collection while also providing a launching point for examining the moments in her life that have molded her theology and understanding of life and faith.

Pairing critical personal moments and existential musings to each step of her morning skin care and make-up routine, Benbow creatively claims and grants permission for women of all walks of life to claim their place both in the church and in the world. Readers will laugh and cry alongside Benbow as they hear the sorrow of a daughter who has had to say goodbye to a beloved parent and work through giving herself the grace and forgiveness needed to move on after incredible heartbreak. This book is a manifesto in claiming one’s power and ability to work through the hardest of life’s experiences to come through on the other side as a braver, stronger and more liberated woman than one could ever imagine themself to be. So, grab your favorite shade of lipstick, a box of tissues and get ready to SLAY.

The Religious Experience and Journal of Mrs. Jarena Lee by Jarena Lee

This is a detailed, first-hand account of the life and ministry of Mrs. Jarena Lee, the first woman commissioned to preach in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Laying aside the societal norms and expectations for women of the mid-1800s, Jarena Lee traveled thousands of miles and preached hundreds of sermons over the course of her ministry. Despite the many obvious ways Jarena Lee subverted the expectations of women, of black persons, and of clergy as a black preacher woman in America’s  pre-Civil War era, her story and narrative can still be challenging for the modern reader. She is of a “fire and brimstone” theology and preaching style that can grate on the sensibilities and theologies of some modern faith leaders. However, if one can resolutely remember to read her journal keeping her historical and social context in mind, , there is a wealth of wisdom waiting to be gleaned. Jarena’s story covers everything from her sense of call and ministry exploits to her struggles with mental health and time spent in the depths of grief. Her fortitude, tenacity and resilience are a testament to what is possible when God calls even those the world might deem unfit or unqualified to carry the good news of the gospel.

Queering the American Dream by Angela Yarber

For anyone feeling cooped up and at odds with any- and everything around them these days, Rev. Dr. Angela Yarber’s newest book and first memoir, Queering the American Dream, is a must-read this summer. Join Yarber and her family on a cross-country road trip, guided by both historical and mythical “subversive sister saints” who prepare the way for a new way of living. If Christianity is feeling a little too snug for you these days, Yarber will encourage you to grow beyond the bounds of institutionalized religion. She will introduce you to the Divine anew. Joining a long lineage of subversive women, Yarber adds her voice to the chorus of saints breaking free from the status quo. Beckoning all women to discover and embrace their own voice and power, Yarber shares the joys and travails of life in a camper with a toddler, the unimaginable grief of losing her younger brother to an overdose, and all the while  the humor of the antics in between. She invites you  into deep contemplation of the Divine, the world and your place therein. Do not hesitate to run to your nearest bookstore to acquire this must-have book.

Cover image of Queering the American Dream by Angela Yarber, professor of the course “Women’s Religious Leadership as Subversion,” taught at Drew Theological School Spring 2022.

Reading List

• Queering the American Dream, Angela Yarber
• God is a Black Woman, Christena Cleveland
• Dance of the Dissident Daughter, Sue Monk Kidd
• Song in a Weary Throat, Pauli Murray
• Leaving Church, Barbara Brown Taylor
• Religious Experience and Journal of Mrs. Jarena Lee, Jarena Lee
• The Long Loneliness, Dorothy Day
• Pastrix, Nadia Boltz-Webber
• Bamboozled by Jesus, Yvonne Origi
• Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved, Kate Bowler
• The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom
• Faith Unraveled, Rachel Held Evans
• This is My Body, Cameron Hammon
• Where the Edge Gathers, Yvette Flunder
• Light in the Dark, Gloria Anzaldúa
• A Voice from the South, Anna Julia Cooper
• Fierce Love, Jacqui Lewis
• Bruhas: The Magic and Power of Witches of Color, Lorraine Monteagut
• From Here to Eternity, Caitlin Doughty

Interested in purchasing any of these books and supporting Young Clergy Women International at the same time? We’ve collected each book into this list on our bookshop.org storefront. A purchase made following our affiliate links will result in a portion of the sale being shared with YCWI.