Womanists Wading in the Word™
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The Rev. Wil Gafney, Ph.D.
The Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney, Ph.D. is a biblical scholar whose work focuses on translation of the scriptures for congregations and lay readers, womanist and feminist biblical interpretation and, women who prophesied in ancient Israel and the ancient Afro-Asiatic world and, their reception in rabbinic literature. She is the Right Rev. Sam B. Hulsey Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. She is the author of A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church Years A, B and C and a novel Year W (a stand-alone volume) and, translator of its biblical selections. She is the author of Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to Women of the Torah and of the Throne and its sequel, Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to Women of Joshua Judges, Samuel and Kings along with a commentary on Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah in the Wisdom series and, Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel. She co-edited The Peoples’ Bible and The Peoples’ Companion to the Bible.
Dr. Gafney is an Episcopal priest canonically resident in the Diocese of Pennsylvania and licensed in the Diocese of Texas and, a former Army chaplain and congregational pastor in the AME Zion Church. A former member of the Dorshei Derekh Reconstructionist Minyan of the Germantown Jewish Center in Philadelphia, she has co-taught courses with and for the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Seminary in Wyncote, PA. Her lectures and sermons are widely sought after in academic and Jewish and Christian congregational spaces in the US and in the UK. She is a public facing religious scholar, preacher, teacher, activist and, an amateur watercolorist.
Wil’s Latest Post
Wisdom the Mother of Salvation
Wisdom the Mother of Salvation Epiphany V: A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church Year C Proverbs 8:1–4, 10–17; Psalm 111; James 3:13–18 ; Luke 7:18–35 Does not Wisdom call… Holy Fount of Wisdom, I dare suggest that is not the question. The question for our time is not, “is Wisdom calling.” It is, is anybody listening? Wisdom…
Wil’s Latest Books
Womanist Midrash, Volume 2: A Reintroduction to the Women of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings Order now
Womanist Midrash, Volume 2, continues Wilda Gafney’s unique and imaginative work of in-depth explorations of the well- and lesser-known women of the Hebrew Scriptures.
This volume focuses on women and girls in Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. As in her successful and widely read first volume, Gafney uses her own translations and offers midrashic interpretations of the biblical text rooted in the African American preaching and rabbinic traditions to tell the stories of a variety of female characters, many of whom are often overlooked and nameless. Grounded in rigorous scholarship, this volume employs solid womanist and feminist approaches to biblical interpretation and the sociohistorical culture of the ancient Afro-Asiatic world, expanding conversations of and about biblical interpretation.
Order from Amazon Released November 12, 2024 | Westminster John Knox Press
A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church: Year C | Order Now
The final installment in the critically acclaimed lectionary series that focuses on women’s stories.
In this third volume of a three-volume lectionary, widely praised womanist bible scholar and priest Wilda Gafney selects scripture readings that emphasize women’s stories. Focusing especially on the Gospel of Luke, Year C of A Women’s Lectionary features Gafney’s fresh, inclusive, and thought-provoking translations of every reading, alongside commentary on each reading. Designed for liturgical use or scriptural study, this resource offers a new perspective on the Bible and the liturgical year.
“Gafney’s paradigm-shifting scholarship will influence biblical preaching and teaching for generations to come.” —National Catholic Reporter
A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, when completed, will be a three-year lectionary. Order Year C from Amazon. This title was released July 2, 2024.
Follow this link for a complete Lectionary in a single year in a single volume.
A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church: Year A | Order Now
What would it look like if women built a lectionary focusing on women’s stories?
What does it look like to tell the good news through the stories of women who are often on the margins of scripture and often set up to represent bad news? How would a lectionary centering women’s stories, chosen with womanist and feminist commitments in mind, frame the presentation of the scriptures for proclamation and teaching?
The scriptures are androcentric, male-focused, as is the lectionary that is dependent upon them. As a result, many congregants know only the biblical men’s stories told in the Sunday lectionary read in their churches. A more expansive, more inclusive lectionary will remedy that by introducing readers and hearers of scripture to “women’s stories” in the scriptures.
A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, when completed, will be a three-year lectionary. Order Year A from Amazon. This title released August 1, 2021.
Follow this link for a complete Lectionary in a single year in a single volume.
A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church: Year B | Order Now
The second installment in the critically praised lectionary series that focuses on women’s stories.
In this second volume of the three-volume Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, widely praised womanist bible scholar and priest Wil Gafney selects scripture readings that emphasize women’s stories. Focusing especially on the Gospel of Mark, Year B of A Women’s Lectionary features Gafney’s fresh, inclusive, and thought-provoking translations of every reading, alongside commentary on each reading. Designed for liturgical use or scriptural study, this resource offers a new perspective on the Bible and the liturgical year.
“Gafney’s paradigm-shifting scholarship will influence biblical preaching and teaching for generations to come.”
– National Catholic Reporter
A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, when completed, will be a three-year lectionary. Order Year B from Amazon. This title was released July 18, 2023.
Follow this link for a complete Lectionary in a single year in a single volume.
Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne! Details/Order
Dr. Gafney’s commentary on Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah. Details/Order
Select Sermons
Collateral Damage
September 18, 2022
Collateral Damage: A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year A, Princeton
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After Roe: Freedom and Justice for Some
June 26, 2022
Third Sunday after Pentecost, Trinity Episcopal Church Fort Worth
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They Call Us Witches: The Not-A-Witch of Endor
October 3, 2023
Answering the Call for Human Thriving|HBCU Day, Brite Divinity School Chapel
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Saving Joseph and all the Queer Kids
August 13, 2023
Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sunday, Trinity Episcopal Church Fort Worth
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