Snorton, eds., Teresa

Stevenson-Moessner, Jeanne

English

Reflective Practice - Formation and Supervision in Ministry (E-Journal)

281Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner and Teresa Snorton, eds., Women Out of Order: Risking Change and Creating Care in a Multicultural World (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2010), 352 pp.This volume is a timely contribution to pastoral care and to church lead-ers navigating the multi-racial and intercultural landscape of our society as it pertains to women and pastoral care. Contributors are scholars, pas-tors, and chaplains representing feminists, womanist, mujeristas, and Na-tive Americans.The title of the book, Women Out of Order, references how “women can be perceived as being ‘out-of-order’ or out-of-sync with the stereotypes, or simply too complex to understand” (p. 5). Each chapter then points out, in narrative form, how patriarchy’s power constructs gender and race to its bene!t and makes it central to the discussion of women living in a multi-racial world. This allows for the complexities of identity, culture, and be-longing to be discussed within the context of the inequities of power and class. It avoids the illusion that celebrating diversity is the sum of our work and looks behind the veil.The chapter, “Are There Limits to Multicultural Inclusion?” replaces the idea of “multicultural” with Emmanuel Lartey’s de!nition of “inter-cultural“ as the corrective lens by which to understand our society and re-late to each other. “Intercultural” is “aimed at giving many different voices from different backgrounds a chance to express their views” (p. 323). This chapter discusses the dangers that come when a dominant culture tries to establish universal norms and set these as standards for all cultures, and relates this to pastoral care and religion. The chapter ends with a set of questions for self-re"ection. One example is essential, “Can we hone pasto-ral skills (such as empathy, attentive listening and mediation), allow one’s own authority to be de-centered when within another culture, and learn to study the context closely before speaking or acting?” This question brings the reader immediately to the realization that their self-identity is also un-der the construct of power, economics, and race.In the !nal section of the book, “Challenges Ahead,” each contribu-tor offers her identi!cation of challenges and solutions for pastoral care in a multi-racial society. The variety of perspectives offered underscores that pastoral care in a multi-racial context will always be "uid. If there is one common factor among the contributors, it is the call for ongoing, commit-BOOK REVIEWS282ted work for justice and respect for the other as the !rst step to authentic relationships across cultures and race.Practitioners in congregations, community hospitals, and in academ-ic circles will !nd this volume an invaluable resource at many different levels.Isabel N. DocampoPerkins School of TheologyDallas, TXMatthew Floding, ed., Welcome to Theological Field Education! (Hern-don, VA: The Alban Institute, 2011), 206 pp.As one who has been immersed in the practice and teaching of !eld edu-cation for many years, my “ah ha” moment in reading Matthew Floding’s book was when I said: “I didn’t realize we needed it, but now that it’s here how did we get along without it?” Welcome to Theological Field Education! comes to us at just the right time, as our discipline is more needed than ever, but is also faced with the challenges of changing landscapes in theo-logical education. Floding is director of formation for ministry and associ-ate professor of Christian ministry at Western Theological Seminary in Hol-land, Michigan, and is also currently serving as chair of the Association for Theological Field Education.Floding’s statement at the beginning, directed to students, provides a simple and elegant de!nition of our work: “Field education offers you a place to practice ministry and spaces to re"ect on it so that you can grow toward competency in ministry.” Chapter 1 entitled, “What is Theological Field Education?” gives an informative overview, not only for students but for all who are connected to a seminary !eld education program. Floding’s “A Word to Supervisor-Mentors” is particularly valuable, lifting up the im-portant role played by our ministry partners who directly oversee the stu-dents’ !eld work. Floding refers to this as a “holy responsibility.” Several of the contributors include in their chapters re"ections that are speci!cally addressed to supervisors and mentors.BOOK REVIEWS

Women Out of Order: Risking Change and Creating Care in a Multicultural World (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2010)

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Women Out of Order: Risking Change and Creating Care in a Multicultural World (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2010)

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Reflective Practice - Formation and Supervision in Ministry (E-Journal)