Streams Run Uphill: Conversations with Young Clergywomen of Color

Pastor and writer Kim-Kort (Making Paper Cranes: Toward an Asian American Feminist Theology) gathers, edits, and contributes to these essays addressing challenges faced by young women clergy serving congregations in which they represent an ethnic minority. A range of voices and perspectives, including several anonymous contributions, enlivens this collection, as women examine their own journeys "ministering across divides of race, culture, ideology, sexual orientation, or family structure," writes Laura Mariko Cheifetz. Some themes resonate throughout the book: difficulties: "I find myself having to fight against my own colonized mind every day," writes Ruth-Aimee Belonni-Rosario; accomplishments, such as "[l]earning how to honor myself and how I show up in the world," writes Felicia Deas; and questions. When faced with her congregation's resistance to engaging the local Hispanic community (" %E2%80%98Don't they have their own churches?' ") Cheni Khonje wonders, " %E2%80%98Then why did you bring me here?' " These passionate reflections on pastoral identity offer fruitful insight to clergy and to anyone seeking to live faithfully in a multi-cultural context. (Feb.)