FutureChurch

Thanks to the painstaking work of contemporary scholars, we now have compelling evidence that women held leadership and ministerial roles in the early church similar to those held by men. Inscriptions and images found on papyri, tombstones, frescos and mosaics show early Christian women served as apostles, prophets, teachers of theology, priests, deacons, stewards, enrolled widows and even bishops.

Women Officeholders in the Early Church Monograph (Cost: $3)

This short monograph was written by FutureChurch’s Sr. Christine Schenk. It is an introduction to the work of two scholars: Ute Eisen and Dorothy Irvin.

Eisen's book: Women Officeholders in Early Christianity (Liturgical Press, 2000) is an exhaustive study of the literary and epigraphical evidence for women officeholders from the ancient Church to the Middle Ages. Her shows that women led and served communities Asia Minor, Greece, Spain, Egypt, Sicily, Italy, Palestine and Yugoslavia.

Dorothy Irvin holds a pontifical doctorate in Catholic Theology from the University of Tubingen, Germany with specialization in bible, ancient near eastern studies and archeology. For the last twenty years she has been an active field archeologist. Her calendars: The Archeology of Women's Traditional Ministries in the Church have made recent discoveries more widely accessible to the general public.(email: irvincalendar@hotmail.com)

Attractively presented, the 5000 word monograph includes a map of the Mediterranean world showing where archeologic data about women priests, deacons and bishops was found as well as line drawings of ancient inscriptions produced by archeologist Dorothy Irvin.

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New! Women Leaders in Early Christianity CD and Presenter’s Guide (Cost: $20)

Includes 43 images from catacomb frescos, newly available sarcophagi friezes, original art, paintings and mosaics of early Christian women leaders from the first to the 9th centuries. A sixteen-page presenter’s guide includes carefully researched summaries of what experts can tell us about these artifacts. Ideal for personal or group study as well as high school or college religious studies courses. CD includes Powerpoint and PDF formats.

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