Beth Allison Barr

2 weeks ago | bethallisonbarr.substack.com | Aimee Byrd |Beth Allison Barr |Peter Enns

I will never stop crying about the final story I tell in Becoming the Pastor’s Wife. It is the story we used to frame our All The Buried Women podcast miniseries, too. It encapsulates why I am doing this work. It is for the women like Maria who have been forgotten by the history of our churches; the women whose voices have been taken away by our theologies and practices that privilege male power at the cost of women. Thank you, Savannah Locke, for helping me tell these stories.

3 weeks ago | bethallisonbarr.substack.com | Beth Allison Barr |Katelyn Beaty |Skye Jethani |Sheila Wray Gregoire

I’m still in shock that Becoming the Pastor’s Wife hit the New York Times’ Bestseller list the first week it was out! I had planned this behind-the-scenes post before it became a bestseller as I wanted people to meet the graduate students who worked on the project. Katie worked with me the first year of the project when I was mostly researching and Brooke worked with me during the second year while I was actively writing.

1 month ago | bethallisonbarr.substack.com | Beth Allison Barr

“I thought I was invisible.” Kathy Hoppe, a woman I met first through angry letters written about her ordination by SBC [Southern Baptist Convention] pastors in the early 1980s, had just entered our recording room. I had met Kathy online after posting about my initial findings in 2023, and she had agreed to come and talk with us for our new miniseries podcast. Marginalia with Beth Allison Barr is a reader-supported publication.

1 month ago | bethallisonbarr.substack.com | Beth Allison Barr |Angela Denker

I am so honored to host an excerpt from Angela Denker’s new book, Disciples of White Jesus: The Radicalization of American Boyhood. It is powerfully argued and beautifully written. it is also a perfect complement to my new book, Becoming the Pastor’s Wife which released last week. You will definitely want to read it. And today is the last day to preorder as it releases tomorrow!Also, I will be joining Angela for a conversation at 2:30 this afternoon on her substack .

1 month ago | saintsandstones.substack.com | SL Sourwine |Beth Allison Barr

Researching and thinking about a woman’s voice in the 6th Century in a church I no longer participate in feels a bit overwhelming sometimes. Growing up Roman Catholic I had my own encounters with the nonsensical role designation of women and girls—I just wanted to ring the bells as an alter boy. What on earth did that have to do with my genitals? And if one more person blames Eve I will explode… but we know that our modern versions of things aren’t as they always were.