cover image New Faith

New Faith

Sheron C. Patterson. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, $14 (172pp) ISBN 978-0-8006-3158-1

Addressing a woman's relationship with God, herself, other women and men, this book takes readers to the brink of a cliff and dares them to jump. Patterson is senior pastor of Jubilee United Methodist Church in Duncanville, Tex., and author of Single Principles: The Single Woman's 10-Step Guide to Power. She suggests that male interpretations of some Scripture passages have caused qualified women in the black church to defer leadership roles to men, letting their own talents lie dormant. Patterson believes these women have willingly subjected themselves to lesser roles in the church because they have been taught that it's the man's job to lead. Drawing on womanist theology, she argues for ""a new way of understanding and relating to the same faithful, flawless God who has been our bridge over troubled water and our rock in the weary land."" Declaring that men and women are equal, Patterson cries out to women to choose marriages with mutual submission. ""Why can't we see that the submission of women is equally an antiquated offensive institution as slavery?"" she asks. Patterson has crafted a book that, like a roller coaster approaching its peak, will invoke the reader's anticipation of what is coming. The end of the ride will bring either exhilaration or fear, because the reader will have to make a choice--to accept the challenge to change or to remain the same. (June)