Hope Deferred: Heart-Healing Reflections on Reproductive Loss

by Nadine Pence Frantz (Editor), Mary T. Stimming, Serene Jones

""This theological engagement is a valuable addition to the literature on reproductive losses."" --Warren Carter, Saint Paul School of Theology, Kansas City ""The women who share their stories here inscribe new ways of doing theology that are at once both faith-filled and personal, and yet wonderfully catholic."" --Mary Hess, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota ""This compact volume fills a void with its theological attention to the experience of reproductive loss. Its hard-won insights are wrought in and from the authors' personal stories of loss, wide-ranging scholarship, and pastoral sensibilities."" --David McCurdy, Senior Ethics Consultant and Director of Organizational Ethics at the Park Ridge Center for the Study of Health, Faith, and Ethics ""Hope Deferred fills a huge gap in the available literature addressing the theological issues in reproductive loss . . . A volume that gets beyond the simplistic platitudes about God and faith in the midst of such a loss."" --Joyce Ann Mercer, San Francisco Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union ""Compelling, even riveting, vividly honest, courageous, eloquent and profound. What a welcome antidote to a culture obsessed with biological motherhood and a church largely silent on reproductive loss!"" --Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Pastoral Theology at Vanderbilt University Divinity School and author of Let the Children Come and Also a Mother ""With honesty, insight, and grace, the collaborators in this project weave the many colored threads of their individual experiences of loss into a rich tapestry of hope."" --Barbara Pitkin, Stanford University ""Theology never gets more honest, brave, passionate, compassionate, or insightful than this."" --William C. Placher, Charles D. and Elizabeth S. LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities, Wabash College Nadine Pence Frantz is Associate Professor of Theological Studies at Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Indiana. Mary T. Stimming is Adjunct Professor of Theology at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.

144 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2010

Reviews

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides a much needed theological reflection on reproductive loss, addressing issues such as infertility, miscarriage, infant death as well as the process of building a family through adoption. In five essays this books presents the life, experiences and theological reflections of five different female professors of theology and religion who have personal experiences with reproductive loss. Some essays are more personal and focus on the experiences of loss and struggle with God and others are more detached and focused on theology. All are gripping and they bring to light a topic oft missed in churches and seminaries - when reproduction does not proceed as planned. I highly recommend this book for anyone.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am grateful for this book, since there are not a lot of theological resources on this topic. But I have a clear bias in this: Nadine Pence Frantz was a professor of mine for whom I have a lot of respect!

[Sadie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five women, with theological backgrounds share reflections on their journey with reproductive loss. Infertility, miscarriage, and stillbirth. They rightly note that the Christian tradition has not done a good job at providing a space and a dialogue for such topics, and these 5 women offer beautiful, relevant, theological perspectives from their personal stories.