The Power of Mourning: Creating a Space of Vulnerability for African-American Clergywomen to Lament and Holler Open Access

Abstract

“The Power of Mourning: Creating a Space of Vulnerability for Black Clergywomen to Lament and Holler” is a project that delves into the psychological effects of grief, the sociological causes of grief for clergy specifically, the anthropological causes of grief on African-American clergywomen, as well as exploring how lament when looked at through the womanist lens transforms into holler. It is a project that explores the necessity of Black Clergywomen of The Texas Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church to have a space to mourn the expectations of what they thought ministry would be, as well as to take off their Superwoman cape and name that there are times when they are not ok. These women during a small group experience via Zoom (a videoconferencing site) were able to explore the power of community, the importance of vulnerability, and were able to give grief a sound (a holler) by connecting their stories to the Biblical story of Jephthah’s daughter and her girlfriends in Judges 11:30-40 and the weeping widows in Acts 9:36-43. Thus, the women in this group were able to both mourn with each other and praise God with expectation that trouble does not last always. 

Table of Contents

Introduction...........................................................................................................................................1

The Necessity of Lamenting and Hollering: A Glance at the Statistics..................................................4

We All Experience Loss: The Psychological Effects of Grief...................................................................6

Unfair Expectations: Sociological Causes of Grief for Clergy..................................................................9

We Are Not Superwomen: Anthropological Causes of Grief on African-American Clergywomen..........11

Learning How to Holler: A Biblical and Theological Approach to Grief and Wholeness.........................18

The Project..............................................................................................................................................29

Results.....................................................................................................................................................32

Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................40

Work Cited................................................................................................................................................43

Appendix

About this Dissertation

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School	Candler School of Theology
Department	Ministry
Degree	DMin
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	African American Studies Anthropology, Cultural Theology
Keyword	Superwoman Lament Mourning Women Strong Black Woman Grief African American Clergywomen Jephthah's Daughter Resurrection of Tabitha
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Jennifer Ayres, Emory University
Committee Members	Khalia Williams, Emory University

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