Overlooked by the Spirit-filled: Womanist Pentecostalism and the case of the Hellenistic widows

Selina Stone*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

From its inception until now, Pentecostalism has thrived among Black communities, women and those experiencing socio-economic deprivation. Pentecostal theological ethicists have dealt in some ways with the themes of race, class and gender but often as single issues, meaning that Black women, who exist at the intersections, can be overlooked. Womanist ethics has a particular contribution to make to Pentecostal theology and Pentecostal studies since womanists centre the Spirit, as well as the lived experiences and faith of Black women in a world (and churches) marked indelibly by racism, sexism and classism. Given the centrality of the Bible in Black Pentecostal women’s spirituality, in this article, I examine the case of the Hellenistic widows in Acts 6 which illustrates the importance of Pentecostal womanism for critiquing the problems of race, gender and class, that shape even the Spirit-filled community not only in the early church but also today.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)26-38
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity
Volume44
Issue number1
Early online date4 Apr 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • class
  • gender
  • Pentecostalism
  • race
  • widows
  • Womanism

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Overlooked by the Spirit-filled: Womanist Pentecostalism and the case of the Hellenistic widows'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this