Overview
Stained Glass Ceilings speaks to the intersection of gender and power within American evangelicalism by examining the formation of evangelical leaders in two seminary communities.Southern Baptist Theological Seminary inspires a vision of human flourishing through gender differentiation and male headship. Men practice “Godly Manhood,"" and are taught to act as the ""head"" of a family, while their wives are socialized into codes of “Godly Womanhood"" that prioritize prescribed gender roles. This power structure privileges men yet offers agency to their wives in women-centered spaces and through marital relationships. Meanwhile, Asbury Theological Seminary promises freedom from gendered hierarchies. Appealing to a story of gender-blind equality, Asbury welcomes women into classrooms, administrative offices, and pulpits. But the institution’s construction of egalitarianism obscures the fact that women are rewarded for adapting to an existing male-centered status quo rather than for developing their own voices as women. Featuring high-profile evangelicals such as Al Mohler and Owen Strachan, along with young seminarians poised to lead the movement in the coming decades, Stained Glass Ceilings illustrates the liabilities of white evangelical toolkits and argues that evangelical culture upholds male-centered structures of power even as it facilitates meaning and identity.
Full Product Details
Author: Lisa Weaver Swartz
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Imprint: Rutgers University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.064kg
ISBN: 9781978820005
ISBN 10: 1978820003
Pages: 190
Publication Date: 14 October 2022
Recommended Age: From 18 to 99 years
Audience:
College/higher education
,
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
In this remarkably perceptive study, Lisa Weaver Swartz shows us precisely how male power is perpetuated and embodied in white evangelical institutions. She describes this process in captivating detail, both at the complementarian stronghold of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and at egalitarian Asbury Seminary, and the result is an altogether fresh, sometimes surprising, and always deeply illuminating examination of gender, power, and American evangelicalism.--Kristin Kobez Du Mez author of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation
"In this remarkably perceptive study, Lisa Weaver Swartz shows us precisely how male power is perpetuated and embodied in white evangelical institutions. She describes this process in captivating detail, both at the complementarian stronghold of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and at egalitarian Asbury Seminary, and the result is an altogether fresh, sometimes surprising, and always deeply illuminating examination of gender, power, and American evangelicalism. -- Kristin Kobes Du Mez * author of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation * ""Meticulously researched and beautifully written, this book takes readers into the hallways and classrooms of places that shape – through what is said and what is practiced – the lives of evangelical pastors. Both the differences between the seminaries and their similarities may surprise you. How they create gendered religious worlds is worth knowing about."" -- Nancy Ammerman * author of Baptist Battles: Social Change and Religious Conflict in the Southern Baptist Convention * ""In a brilliant and compelling narrative, Lisa Weaver-Swartz shows how patriarchy persists and adapts even in spaces supportive of women in ministry. Her research explains why women defend complementarianism as well as why the gender-blindness of egalitarianism fails. Regardless of your theology, you should read this book. I promise it will help you better understand the plight of evangelical women."" -- Beth Allison Barr * author of The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth * In this remarkably perceptive study, Lisa Weaver Swartz shows us precisely how male power is perpetuated and embodied in white evangelical institutions. She describes this process in captivating detail, both at the complementarian stronghold of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and at egalitarian Asbury Seminary, and the result is an altogether fresh, sometimes surprising, and always deeply illuminating examination of gender, power, and American evangelicalism. -- Kristin Kobes Du Mez * author of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation * ""Meticulously researched and beautifully written, this book takes readers into the hallways and classrooms of places that shape – through what is said and what is practiced – the lives of evangelical pastors. Both the differences between the seminaries and their similarities may surprise you. How they create gendered religious worlds is worth knowing about."" -- Nancy Ammerman * author of Baptist Battles: Social Change and Religious Conflict in the Southern Baptist Convention * ""In a brilliant and compelling narrative, Lisa Weaver-Swartz shows how patriarchy persists and adapts even in spaces supportive of women in ministry. Her research explains why women defend complementarianism as well as why the gender-blindness of egalitarianism fails. Regardless of your theology, you should read this book. I promise it will help you better understand the plight of evangelical women."" -- Beth Allison Barr * author of The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth *"
Author Information
LISA WEAVER SWARTZ holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame. She lives in the bluegrass region of Kentucky where she teaches sociology and writes about gender and religion.
