Midwives of an Unnamed Future: Spirituality for Women in Times of Unprecedented Change [Hardcover]

Mary Ruth Broz (Author), Barbara Flynn (Author), Jean Clough (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2006

This is a book for women who are passionate about exploring their role in shaping the "unnamed future." Using the image of the midwife, spiritual directors Mary Ruth Broz and Barbara Flynn have developed a series of reflections and rituals that can be used by individuals or groups of women coming together to deepen their own spirituality and uncover new life in age-old spiritual truths. Black-and-white photographs by noted photographer Jean Clough help capture the mystery and spirit of that quest. Each chapter includes suggestions for creating an environment helpful to contemplation, a reflection on the particular theme, questions to connect the topic with lived experience, and closing readings or songs to conclude a session and bring readers back into daily life. At the end of each chapter are ways of using the material in a group setting.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mary Ruth Broz is a Sister of Mercy from the Regional Community of Chicago. She is a co-founder of Wellstreams, a Center of Feminine Spirituality, and brings to her writing an extensive background as a spiritual director and facilitator of workshops and retreats.

Barbara Flynn is a co-founder of Wellstreams, a Center of Feminine Spirituality. Her combined backgrounds in spirituality and art history inform her work both as a spiritual director and a retreat facilitator.

Jean Clough is a photojournalist specializing in on-location photographs of people at work.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 206 pages
• Publisher: ACTA Publications (January 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879462930
• ISBN-13: 978-0879462932
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,100,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for women on the edge, January 19, 2006

By 

Heidi L. Schlumpf "heidischlumpf.com" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midwives of an Unnamed Future: Spirituality for Women in Times of Unprecedented Change (Hardcover)

For women frustrated with institutional religion but desiring a a deeper, more spiritual life, this book could become your "portable pastor." Even if you haven't had any experience with "feminine spirituality," you'll find all the basics here: attention to finding the divine in the everyday, the need for a community of women, and spiritual messages that take into account care for the earth.

This is a beautiful book, with striking photography and classy layout of the prayers, rituals, and reflections. The prose essays by the two authors are meaty with information and inspiration. Each chapter stands alone as a mini-retreat. Try it for Lent, or read a chapter a day on the bus or train. Or better yet, call some girlfriends and invite them over for coffee, tea and some discussion of this book. You'll be glad you did.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect retreat accompaniment!, February 10, 2006

By 

Erika Peterson (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midwives of an Unnamed Future: Spirituality for Women in Times of Unprecedented Change (Hardcover)

This book provides simple rituals to help create a retreat space. Whether you're looking to "escape" for a personal retreat at home, or if you're attending a retreat with others, this book offers the framework for you to create a sacred space in easy-to-understand steps.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Women's Spirituality: Reflections and Rituals, March 15, 2006

By 

Carol Blank (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Midwives of an Unnamed Future: Spirituality for Women in Times of Unprecedented Change (Hardcover)

The authors are co-founders of Wellstreams, a center for women's spirituality that in its first 12 years hosted more than 400 circles of women eager to deepen their own spirituality and find kindred spirits, "as they contemplated the changes needed in our church and our world." Wellstreams participants, like potential readers of "Midwives," are diverse in age, career, family responsibilities, spiritual tradition, and their relationship to formal religion.

The fifteen chapters comprising the main body of "Midwives" are divided into five parts: Tending the Holy, Opening to Mystery, Knowing When to Push, Surrendering to the Seasons, and Welcoming the Watershed Moments. Each opens with a full-page black and white photo to set the tone. The text contains brief ideas for creating sacred space, a reading designed for "slowing down," lyrics to a song for "going deeper," and a reflection on the theme. To close, the authors suggest methods for honoring the experience, such as journaling; a simple ritual; and a prayer and song for "moving back into daily life."

Any one of the chapters could be used, as is, by an individual, small group, or larger gathering of those interested in women's spirituality.