The Faith of Girls

Over the summer my colleague, Anne Phillips' book, the Faith of Girls has been published.  Based on her recently completed PhD it is a unique and very valuable piece of work on a much neglected area.  Here's some of the blurb from publishers, Ashgate.

• Exploring the spirituality and faith of girls on the verge of adolescence, this book presents fresh insights into children's spirituality and their transition to adulthood. Phillips has listened to girls' voices speaking in depth on the themes of self, God, church, and world, and reflected on their experiences and understandings in the light of current psychological, philosophical and sociological thinking, all placed into dialogue with a feminist approach to contemporary theology and bible. Phillips offers 'wombing' as a metaphor for their transition to young adulthood, and suggests strategies faith communities might adopt to companion girls more effectively through the fragility of puberty. This book will appeal to all those exploring areas of youth ministry, pastoral care, Christian education, nurture and childhood studies, psychology and theology.
  
• Contents: Preface; Introduction; Breaking the silence around girls in transition; Methods for learning from girls; Girls in transitional space; Theological reflection 1: Lucy; Girls in Godspace; Theological reflection 2: Rosie; Girls in nurturing space; Affirming girls through transition; Bibliography; Indexes.
  
• Reviews: ‘This is a landmark text which breaks new ground in the study of the faith of girls. It deserves to be widely read and reflected upon. Grounded in nuanced biblical readings of neglected texts about girls, an impressive range of diverse theoretical perspectives from theology, gender studies, psychology and sociology, and offering original qualitative field work, Anne Phillips skilfully works all this together into a powerful text which will excite feminist scholars and practical theologians alike, while being of immense value to practitioners. Both church and academy should welcome and honour this text.’
  Nicola Slee, The Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education, Birmingham, UK
  
  'In this work, Anne Phillips makes a significant practical theological contribution to recent feminist scholarship on adolescent girls. She addresses a gap in the current literature by focusing on the religious lives of younger adolescent girls and offers fresh constructions of their narratives, with scholarly insights spanning the gamut from traditional developmentalists to feminist philosopher Luce Irigaray.
  Based on interviews with girls, the book is grounded in engagement with girls' narratives of their experiences of girlhood and faith. This book is an exciting new resource.'
  Joyce Ann Mercer, Virginia Theological Seminary, USA
  
  Here's the link to the Ashgate site.