Building Bridges: Letha Dawson Scanzoni and Friends

Letha Dawson Scanzoni changed the landscape of American evangelicalism through her groundbreaking work on the gospel-based intersection of gender and LGBTQ justice. She coauthored two of the first books that support womens equality and LGBTQ rights with the Bible: All Were Meant to Be and Is the Homosexual My Neighbor? In all her work Scanzoni applies the liberating message of Jesus to women and to people who have been marginalized by church and society because of sexual orientation. Building Bridges combines an exploration of the life and work of Letha Dawson Scanzoni with stories of people she continues to empower through her writing and the Evangelical & Ecumenical Womens Caucus - Christian Feminism Today an organization she cofounded. This book illustrates her growing influence as she continues her prophetic collaboration with new generations. In addition it provides resources for churches as they build bridges for their ministries of liberation justice and peace. This book lifts up one of the most important feminists in the last fifty years. Through it we can trace how Letha Dawson Scanzoni challenged evangelicals established and theologically legitimated roles for women and perspectives on LGBTQ persons and then helped foster significant social change. Its not only the biography of a long neglected history changer but a description of how one biblically literate scholar helped the church to think in new ways. --Tony Campolo author of Red Letter Christians: ACitizens Guide to Faith and Politics Building Bridges displays biography at its best fully encompassing one life yet written larger than life. The authors deftly set the narrative of Letha Dawson Scanzoni and her pioneering writings on sex and gender to showcase her pivotal challenge to the reigning contours of American evangelicalism. Scanzoni stands tall and courageous in this book a prophet calling the American church to the biblical stance of justice for all. --Priscilla Pope-Levison Associate Dean and Professor at Perkins School of Theology Southern Methodist University Many think of Letha Dawson Scanzoni above all as a feminist and that is no doubt legitimate. But I think of her first and foremost as a courageous biblical interpreter because when I was a young evangelical I watched her take the same biblical texts that the (white male) evangelical gatekeepers used to oppress others and instead use them to liberate. I admired her courage to differ from the gatekeepers having no idea that I would eventually walk that same path. This book tells Lethas story and celebrates her impact. I highly recommend it. --Brian D. McLaren author of The Great Spiritual Migration Jann and Kendra have produced a fitting homage to Letha and an excellent review and analysis of the Christian feminist movement. As a church historian I value their insight into and accurateinterpretation of the pilgrimage of Christian women toward equality. I encourage anyone interested in the story of the intertwining of Letha Dawson Scanzonis life with the development of twentieth-century Christian feminism to read this book. It is a fine addition to Christian feminist scholarship. --Rosalie Beck Associate Professor at Baylor University If time travel were possible Id set the dial back two thousand years and place this book in the hands of the early church. Then I would roll the dial forward stopping every decade to make sure its lessons were remembered. Alas now I can only hope its prophetic witness is not too late. --Philip Gulley Author of If the Church Were Christian Kendra Weddle and Jann Aldredge-Clantons book Building Bridges provides an informative and inspirational story of the life and work of Letha Dawson Scanzoni. Lethas life paves a pathway for a new generation of feminist theologians. This thoughtful biography will stimulate future generations of feminist thinkers in their work and witness. --Grace Ji-Sun Kim Author of Embracin