Church Women

Female habit carries with it a twofold idea - dress and ornament. By “dress” we mean what they call “womanly gracing”; by “ornament”, what it is suitable should be called “womanly disgracing”. The former is accounted (to consist) in gold, and silver, and gems, and garments; the latter in care of the hair, and of the skin, and of those parts of the body which attract the eye.

Celebrated romance author Catherine Swift has topped the bestseller lists for decades, though her personal story hasn’t been quite so successful. Three failed marriages have left her relationship with her daughters strained, but that’s about to be rectified. Engaged yet again, Catherine is counting on this wedding to be what finally brings them together as a family, and she’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

This radical book examines the historical formation of Catholic theology from the perspective of the spiritual abuse of women. Debra Flint defines spiritual and political power abuse before considering female influence in the Church from New Testament times to date. She clearly demonstrates how women, who were respected by Jesus and authoritative in the early Church, were gradually eliminated from positions of influence by patriarchy and the growing development of misogyny.

Many new believers have questions about what it means to live as a Christian in the context of a local church, and pastors are looking for resources to pass along to their congregations to help them think biblically about the Christian life. Church Questions is a series by 9Marks that seeks to provide Christians with sound and accessible biblical teaching by answering common questions about church life. Each booklet offers biblical answers and practical applications with the goal of nurturing healthy church practice and commitment.

Sharon Osbourne's life has always been an extreme rollercoaster ride. And despite her best efforts, the last few years have been the most dramatic and turbulent of all. In her gripping new autobiography Sharon reveals the truth behind the headlines. There have been times of huge joy and pleasure - becoming a grandmother for the first time and seeing both Jack and Kelly come through testing times to find happiness and contentment at last.

It’s a crisp spring day in Dulwich Village when Beth arrives at the intricate iron gates of Wyatt’s School for her new job as the historian’s assistant. But on a lunchtime stroll admiring the pristine grounds of this 500-year-old institution, Beth is shocked to stumble over the body of her new boss, Alan Jenkins, spectacles askew, his mustard-yellow tweed jacket covered in blood. Gossip about outsider Beth spreads like wildfire. The parents in the playground are all whispering: Did she bump him off to get her hands on his job?

Best friends Lily and Inga do everything together—they even meet their future loves at the same bar. After one serendipitous night, it seems like it’s going to be Lily and Alex and Inga and Matt forever. But life gets more complicated. A job offer moves Inga and Matt from Norwich to London. Lily, who craves stability after a traumatic childhood, is already struggling with the change when Inga confides in her a secret that could tear the group apart for good. At the same time, Lily’s friendship with Matt deepens, and she wonders if she was always meant to be with him instead of Alex.

London, 1765. Lady Isabella Gerard, a respectable member of Georgian society, orders her maid to take her new golden gown and destroy it, its shimmering beauty tainted by the actions of her brutal husband the night before. Three months later, Lord Gerard stands at the shoreline of the lake, looking down at a woman wearing the golden gown. As the body slowly rolls over to reveal her face, it’s clear this was not his intended victim…

Anne Willan, multi-award-winning culinary historian, cookbook writer, teacher, and founder of La Varenne Cooking School in Paris, explores the lives and work of women cookbook authors whose essential books have defined cooking over the past 300 years. Beginning with the first published cookbook by Hannah Woolley in 1661 to the early colonial days to the transformative popular works by Fannie Farmer, Irma Rombauer, Julia Child, Edna Lewis, Marcella Hazan, and up to Alice Waters working today.

Jesse O’Hara is unemployed. “A million dollar brain and a ten-cent personality,” her last employer said. With nothing better to do, Jesse accepts a request to go to Ireland to help a relative find his missing daughter. She expects to find the young woman quickly, and is looking forward to spending her trip touring and drinking, not necessarily in that order. Once in Ireland, it’s clear to Jesse that the missing woman has met with foul play.

In Women of Hope, Terry Polakovic introduces these amazing women and describes the troubled times in which they lived and persevered. These women remind us that God can work through anyone to bring about his purpose. They prove to us that, as Christians, we can live in confident hope, no matter the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Too often our friendships with other women can be marked by drama, competition, betrayal, and unforgiveness. As women, we can cause one another deep pain, creating wounds in need of healing. But we were made for connection and healthy friendships with other women to cheer each other on and fulfill our God-breathed purpose - together.

Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. If you look carefully, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels she loves most tattooed on her skin. But there are some things Loveday will never, ever show you. Into her hiding place - the bookstore where she works - come a poet, a lover, and three suspicious deliveries. Someone has found out about her mysterious past. Will Loveday survive her own heartbreaking secrets?

Jesse O'Hara is profane, introverted, and not frequently sober—and has just lost another job: “a million-dollar brain and a ten-cent personality,” her last employer said. With nothing better to do, Jesse reluctantly accepts the gift of a luxury cruise around the Iberian Peninsula. She’s not sure she can drink enough to keep her boredom at bay, but that's the least of her problems. From the very first moment of the cruise, it's clear to Jesse that something is very wrong.

It was unimaginable. When she was eight years old, Lily Decker somehow survived the auto accident that killed her parents and sister, but neither her emotionally distant aunt nor her all-too-attentive uncle could ease her grief. Dancing proves to be Lily's only solace, and eventually she receives a "scholarship" to a local dance academy - courtesy of a mysterious benefactor.

For Meridian Wallace - and many other smart, driven women of the 1940s - being ambitious meant being an outlier. Ever since she was a young girl, Meridian had been obsessed with birds, and she was determined to get her PhD, become an ornithologist, and make her mother's sacrifices to send her to college pay off. But she didn't expect to fall in love with her brilliant physics professor, Alden Whetstone. When he's recruited to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to take part in a mysterious wartime project, she reluctantly defers her own plans and joins him.

Pia Soto is the sexy and glamorous prima ballerina, the Brazilian bombshell who's shaking up the ballet world with her outrageous behaviour. She's wild and precocious, and she's a survivor. But ruthless financier Will Silk has Pia in his sights, and has other ideas...Sophie O'Farrell is Pia's hapless, gawky assistant, the girl-next-door to Pia's Prima Donna. When a devastating accident threatens to cut short Pia's illustrious career, Sophie has to step out of the shadows and face up to the demons in her own life.

Cultural Christians in the Early Church, which aims to be both historical and practical, argues that cultural Christians were the rule, rather than the exception, in the early church. Using different categories of sins as its organizing principle, the book considers the challenge of culture to the earliest converts to Christianity, as they struggled to live on mission in the Greco-Roman cultural milieu of the Roman Empire.

She provides women with a fresh and unique perspective on many of the hot issues women face today. Twenty-something single recording artist Rebecca St. James teams up with 40-something radio talk show host and mother of three Lynda Hunter Bjorklund to present a multigenerational look at why women feel out of control and vulnerable. She helps women understand how they can be safe, healthy, and empowered as they find their identity and security in God.

The role of women in the Christian Church is the subject of heated debate. In this powerful book Julia Ogilvy interviews twelve of the most notable Christian women of our time, providing a telling and at times shocking analysis of the situation today. The women – from the Dean of York and the Presiding Bishop in America to Helena Kennedy QC and Dr Elaine Storkey – share some of the pain, disappointment and hurt they have experienced and reflect on the impact of a patriarchal Church on the suffering of women across the world.