Second Isaiah's Daughters: Religious Sisters of Mercy and Presbyterian Clergywomen as Companions in Ministry

by Bebb Wheeler Stone

Hearing a woman's voice speaking from the pages of the Hebrew Bible in the book known as Second Isaiah, author Bebb Wheeler Stone asks what other prophetic words might we be missing? This study employs anthropological methods of qualitative analysis to gather data from two cohorts of women in ministry: members of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and Presbyterian women clergy. These two historically separated groups of women in ministry have generated both thought and action that may be interpreted as prophetic. Knowledge gleaned from in-depth interviews and contextualized within institutionalized structures of power and authority suggest that both Protestant and Catholic women 'ministers' bear an unacknowledged but nonetheless prophetic witness to their respective institutions and beyond.

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2004