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Why a book collecting the sermons of women who come from a variety of cultural backgrounds? One reason is expressed in the words of Anne- Marie Jeffrey, a preacher originally from the West Indies, "I owe many thanks to my small group...they and other great women preachers got this sermon started and gave me a new confidence in my preaching" (p. 114). Women raised in a patriarchal culture need encouragement and role models to inspire them to preach. They have…

My niece and I were collecting acorns in the driveway last week, scouring the area around the big oak tree in my brother's yard trying to find as many of the little brown "wocks" as we could, then depositing them in the bright plastic pail we'd fished out of the sandbox. This was a task to which nineteen- month-old Adrianna was fully committed, clearly, so I left her to her work, occasionally offering my support by pointing out an as-yet-undiscovered…

I had the opportunity to meet with a congressman a week ago. Sitting near me at that meeting was a woman who had taken the morning off work in order to be there. She had carefully prepared to tell her life story in only three minutes, in hopes of convincing the congressman to support immigration reform that would improve the lives of the more than 13 million undocumented immigrants who live in the United States today. She explained that she…

It is the longing I first remember. I desperately wanted to be good. Of course, I tested the boundaries tightly drawn around parental definitions of good and bad, approved, condemned, and censored. It was usually clear that I was not lining up with these oft-voiced thoughts of the good. Yet somehow this didn't seem to enter into my childhood account of the virtue. I wanted to be good. Good in a manner far beyond parents and teachers (though I seemed…

It started with the farmers market, where I grew addicted to the beauty of the summer rainbow of vegetables and fruits available here in Michigan. My friends and I started walking there together weekly. When my husband and I bought our first house, I decided to try my hand at gardening, enchanted by the idea that I might actually be able to grow some of those colorful vegetables myself! I started with two tomato plants, then my neighbor gave me…

What confuses me is how to label myself. Although I was raised and confirmed in the Reformed Church in America, at twenty-two, I'm not sure the label fits as well as it once did. In high school, I went to parachurch summer camps, and my best friends were Baptist and Catholic. When it came time to choose a college, I attended an Evangelical Covenant university in Chicago, where I worshiped in Ukranian Orthodox and Mennonite congregations. I studied abroad in…

For the past year, this has been my neighborhood: the Aldi grocery store two minutes from my door, the Korean families having picnics on the grass, the Christian Reformed Church headquarters at the intersection of Kalamazoo and 28th Street. I live with one of my best friends, who currently attends Calvin Seminary, the institution that shapes and makes ministers of the Christian Reformed Church. We joke that I am an "honorary" seminarian because I live in seminary housing, paying cheap…

Catching up with a few friends recently, I mentioned that I planned to attend Redeemer Presbyterian Church within the coming weeks. "Oh, I love Redeemer," one said. "The sermons are like a really good college lecture." Another added: "Is that the church with all the really attractive people?" One way or another, Redeemer Presbyterian Church's reputation precedes it. Indeed, Redeemer has become nationally known as a booming, solidly evangelical church that understands the needs of urban professionals. Founded in 1989,…