"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.' Frederick Buechner's words describe a calling to ministry that has been the commitment of JoAnn and Larry Shade as they've served as active Salvation Army officers. This collections of essays, songs and poetry provides a glimpse into that minitry as they prepare for retirement from the Ashland Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center.

WomenVoices: Speaking from the Gospels with Power provides a platform for female voices from the pages of the gospels to speak to contemporary women. From Elizabeth's greeting to the newly pregnant Mary, to the awe-filled exclamations at the vacated tomb, women were present and involved in the life of Jesus. As eyewitnesses to the nativity, ministry, passion and resurrection of Christ, these 25 gospel women have much to say. WomenVoices expands the biblical narrative by giving a voice to these women as they reflect on what they have seen and experienced in their interactions with Christ, and...

A veteran of 35 years in congregational ministry, JoAnn Streeter Shade walks alongside clergywomen from the seminary to retirement, with stops in between at the challenges of marriage, child-rearing, midlife, and difficult days. Throughout its pages, the images of spirals, seasons and song are interwoven with biblical accounts of women of faith and the stories of actual ministry experiences. Its chapters articulate the themes that challenge faith and life decisions, validate the tensions inherent in the desire of clergywomen to face these issues in healthy and holy ways, and extend hope for...

On the pages of the nativity narratives, we encounter the faces of people and angels who were participants in the story of the ages, the birth of Jesus Christ. Some, like Mary and Joseph, were main characters whose faces glow with beatific serenity and ferocious protection in portraits created through the centuries. Others, such as the innkeeper and the midwife are bit players whose kindness and integrity shine forth through a careful reading of the nativity narrative. This collection of readings for Advent allows us to peer through a looking glass to see the faces of those whose lives were a...

Young and female, their stories are tucked away in the pages of scripture. Rhoda and Hagar; slaves. Bilhah and Zilpah; concubines. Rebekah and Aksah, young brides. Named and unnamed daughters of the wicked and of the faithful. Sisters connected by justice, by tragic vows, and by prophecy. Ezer Strong: Teen Women of the Bible searches for their presence and listens for their voices in the grand narrative of the Bible. As their stories unfold, their warrior strength will both surprise and encourage the contemporary reader who desires to hear the voice of God as spoken from the margins and the...