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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
"No One's Gonna Say That At Church:" Women's Experiences With Infertility In Christian Faith Communities, Donna Paulsen
"No One's Gonna Say That At Church:" Women's Experiences With Infertility In Christian Faith Communities, Donna Paulsen
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This study explores women’s experiences with infertility in Christian faith communities. Drawing from nine one-on-one interviews, the author argues that the presence of particular religious ideologies, social interactions, and rituals within faith communities contributed to the stigmatization and marginalization of study participants. Employing Muted Group Theory, the author uncovers the communicative strategies infertile women employ to resist these oppressive practices. A qualitative analysis of participants’ narratives presents two principal categories, containing a total of four findings relating to the harmful beliefs and practices of these women’s faith communities. The author argues that the veneration of motherhood and children suggests that …
The Struggle For Acceptance: Continued Resistance To Female Ministers In Rural Holston Conference., Thelma June Neal
The Struggle For Acceptance: Continued Resistance To Female Ministers In Rural Holston Conference., Thelma June Neal
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This study was conducted to determine if ordained women clergy experience resistance or lack of receptivity to their appointments. If so, does the resistance more readily occur with churches in a rural area? The focus of the study was women clergy of the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. My study reveals there are Methodist women clergy who continue to have churches outright refuse their projected appointments. My study also reveals that this problem is more often found with churches in rural areas where the culture is connected to long-standing scriptural interpretations and traditions that do not theologically and …