Engendering Church

Engendering Church explores the power, processes, and circumstances that brought about the new gender relations in the African Methodist Church—one of the largest African American denominations in the U.S. Dodson tells the heroic stories of women like Sara Hatcher who rose from behind the scenes to confront the hierarchy of male clergy. Dodson's historical account of the church and its many changes show that unless women hold church positions, they are overlooked as proactive agents of organizational power. She also links the church to broader social change. When women began to function in key leadership roles in African American churches, they also contributed to more rapid improvement in the living conditions for blacks in the United States.

Engendering Church explores the power, processes, and circumstances that brought about the new gender relations in the African Methodist Church—one of the largest African American denominations in the U.S. Dodson's historical account of the church and its many changes shows that unless women hold church positions, they are overlooked as proactive agents of organizational power. She also links the church to broader social change. When women began to function in key leadership roles in African American churches, they also contributed to more rapid improvement in the living conditions for blacks in the United States.

Jualynne E. Dodson is associate professor of African-American studies in the Departments of Ethnic Studies and Religion Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder.