Anyone growing up in the 1940s and 50s was conditioned to interpret the phrase "God is like a Father" almost solely as "God is a Father!" Today we are living in a time in which the metaphors for God are expanding.

This collection of sermons, preached over a ten-year period, reveals God's self-giving love through the metaphor of a Wise Old Woman. For at least 25,000 years humanity worshiped feminine images of the divine. Then it all changed, and for the past 6,000 to 8,000 years virtually all mainstream religions have conceived of the divine primarily in masculine terms. We now find ourselves at another transformational time in history regarding our understanding of the divine. It is a time in which we are becoming increasingly aware that no one image, and certainly no one gender, can adequately convey the totality of the ultimate divine mystery of the universe. Nancy Bauer-King, in this wonderful collection of sermons, has made an important contribution to this crucial religious task... I celebrate our time in history when stronger voices from people like Nancy Bauer-King are now being heard so that we might learn in fresh ways the breadth and depth and rich diversity of God's word.
L. Robert Keck, author of Sacred Eyes This is a terrific book! WOW! You may be the Garrison Keillor of the Wisconsin pastorate. This will be an insightful book for all the women and men in the churches across the country who struggle for inspiration to write their Sunday sermons, and also for many in congregations who listen to them and seek a meaningful word for their own lives.
Rosemary Ruether
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Nancy L. Bauer-King was born and raised south of Madison, Wisconsin. She married, raised four children, and then returned to school. She earned a BA degree from the University of Wisconsin and her MDiv degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She has served churches in Wisconsin and is currently the Associate Pastor for Spiritual Formation at Trinity United Methodist Church in Racine, Wisconsin.