Carter Heyward

I'm a white Southern feminist Christian liberation theologian in the United States, born in 1945 in Charlotte. I was ordained "irregularly" as an Episcopal priest along with 10 other women prior to the church's opening of the priesthood to women. I taught in a liberal seminary for 30 years, largely in overlapping areas of feminist, liberation, contemporary, and queer theologies.In today's identity-parlance, I'm a cis-gender bisexual lesbian. I adore horses (I have 4 senior equines), dogs (I have a standard poodle; most of my dogs have been rescues). I like cats, animals in general, the out of doors -- hiking, biking, horse back riding, dabbling in the surf, sunsets, and stars. I read mysteries -- Louise Penny is my favorite these days. I enjoy music -- folk, classical, Celtic, country, pop, whatever. I'm politically aware and active -- am Chair of the Religious Affairs Committee of our local NAACP and am a progressive Democrat, dismissed by many as "too radical" because my primary public commitment is to helping build justice -- and in this nation at this time, resisting tides of christofascism -- throughout our common life. I have siblings and nieces and nephews whom I respect and love more than I can say. My family and friends mean the world to me. I have a life-partner; for 14 years, I had two life-partners. Most importantly, I have strong, overlapping communities of colleagues and friends who keep each other honest and grateful and bring each other joy and hope in the midst of loss and stresses of many kinds. I'm a lucky woman! I'm also lucky that writing comes easy to me. Folks ask me, which books of mine do I suggest they start with. I'd say that my five most important books are The Seven Deadly Sins of White Christian Nationalism: A Call to Action (Rowman Littlefield, September 2022); Tears of Christepona: Mystical Musings on Grief, Evil, and Godding (2021), Saving Jesus from Those Who Are Right: Rethinking What it Means to be Christian (1999), Touching Our Strength: The Power of the Erotic and the Love of God (1989) -- and the book that lays the foundations for all the rest: The Redemption of God: A Theology of Mutual Relation (1982/2nd Ed 2010). If you don't know my work, but are interested, you might start with one of these. If you want to know more, please check out my website: revcarterheyward.com