MACMILLAN Parenting as Spiritual Practice and Source for Theology: Mothering Matters

This volume investigates how mothers can understand parenting as spiritual practice, and what this practice means for theological scholarship. An intergenerational and intercultural group of mother-scholars explores these questions that arise at the intersection of motherhood studies, religious practice, pastoral care, and theology through engaging and accessible essays.  Essays include both narrative and theological elements, as authors draw on personal reflection, interviews, and/or sociological studies to write about the theological implications of parenting practice, rethink key concepts in theology, and contribute to a more robust account of parenting as spiritual practice from various theological perspectives. The volume both challenges oppressive, religious images of self-sacrificing motherhood and considers the spiritual dimensions of mothering that contribute to women’s empowerment and well-being.  It also deepens practical and systematic theologies to include concern for the embodied and everyday challenges and joys of motherhood as it is experienced and practiced in diverse contexts of privilege and marginalization.  Review “In addition to being of interest to scholars in feminist theology and ethics, childhood and family studies, and related fields, essays from this accessibly written volume would serve as excellent teaching tools in undergraduate or seminary classrooms. … This volume offers a symphony of voices on important issues in maternal theology and practice; its vibrancy invites others to continue its work.” (Cara Curtis, Religious Studies Review, Vol. 45 (3), September, 2019) Review “This is the book every theology class needs! Blending personal narrative with history, sociology, scripture and doctrine, this volume reveals the complexity of the divine call of creation and nurture. The authors give voice to experiences that are usually only whispered – the difficult conversations, anxieties, fears, quiet joys, and shifting spiritualities that compose the various modes in which mothering occurs.  This book invokes courage, grace, community and salvation in a way that will change not just how we understand mothering, but that will forever alter how we understand our faith.” (Monica A. Coleman, Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religions at Claremont School of Theology, author of Making a Way Out of No Way: a Womanist Theology and Bipolar Faith: a Black Woman’s Journey with Depression and Faith) “Motherhood disrupts our lives and turns our worlds upside down and inside out. As it does, we experience the most powerful love, patience, kindness and goodness imaginable. And we come to realize that grace lies at the heart of the disruptions of mothering. The theological reflections on motherhood shared in this extraordinary book, Parenting as Spiritual Practice and Source for Theology, shows us how grace enters into the midst of our lives and moves us into profound spaces that challenge, awaken and empower us.  This is a beautiful and important book which belongs in everyone’s library.” (Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Associate Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion, author of many books, most recently, Mother Daughter Speak and Embracing the Other)  “Many of us are deeply aware of the complexity and richness of mothering. However being a mother has rarely been publicly acknowledged and understood in the wonderful ways this book does.  Without stereotyping or romanticizing motherhood,  Parenting as Spiritual Practice and Source for Theology: Mothering Matters  offers multiple deeply insightful accounts of   the sacred, fallible, and sometimes tragic realities of being a mother.  Racial difference, mental health struggles, and varying sexual orientations, among other factors, are all explored with the underlying assumption that all mothers are created in the image of God. This book is wonderfully accessible and a crucial read for theology.” (M