I finished my first draft of “Jesus Feminist” this weekend!!!!!
Yes, on Sunday afternoon, I sent approximately imperfect 55,000 words to the print shop and had it printed (our old printer can’t hold up to that sort of output). I brought my little manuscript home in a cardboard box, nearly 200 pages of neatly typed sentences, and it suddenly looked very, very real to me, like this might actually be a book.
I showed my mum and she immediately noticed that all of the pages were missing numbers, and I shrugged it off, too late, I said, it doesn’t matter.
The next day, I dropped the box and, of course, all of the pages went scattering, willy-nilly, pell-mell, across the floor.
You either laugh or you cry.
That morning was spent on my knees in the kitchen, laughing hysterically, in the painful reorganization and neat hand-numbering of each page. I think that’s the kind of mistake you only make once.
I have some Big Feelings and Big Thoughts about this process, and about the book itself right now. It’s developed in such a different direction. But I’ll hang onto those for a bit longer. I hope you understand. Some of it is to guard content, absolutely, but it’s also because I’m still in the thick of it and it feels too precious right now.
So I’m now spending the Christmas season in editing and rewrites! I’m filling in the gaping holes, organizing, reworking, expanding some sections. I feel like I could use a bit of help, or a few more “on the ground” anecdotes and stories.
That’s where you come in. You’ve been a big part of this project getting to this point, and I’d love to include your wisdom inside the pages.
So, I have two questions for you.
First, I want to know your hard stories of being a woman. How have you experienced sexism or marginalization or grief because of your womanhood in the church? It can be in systemic and clear, or the opaque and implied. It can be in regards to your sexuality, your marriage, your vocation. It can originate from the pulpit or a podcast, or in your own home or a classroom.
Second, I’d like to hear some concrete examples of how we really go about modelling or pursuing mutuality in our churches. So tell me about a church or a community that is purposefully welcoming and affirming the voices and experiences of women. Tell me about what they are doing and why they’re doing it. If you have a link or a contact for research purposes, all the better.
You can email me privately if you prefer at sarah@sarahbessey.com. Don’t over-think it, just share from your heart. I may use it in the book, but not necessarily directly.
Thanks for your help. I appreciate it more than you could know.
