Changing Church: Rev. Marcia C. Fleischman, Co-pastor, Broadway Church, Kansas City, Missouri

This is an excerpt from the concluding poem in Wild Woman Theology: In the Arms of Loving Mother God, by Rev. Marcia C. Fleischman.  On the cover of this book is a picture, created by Rev. Fleischman, of “Holy Mama” holding the world in Her hands.

With artistic grace and power, Rev. Fleischman envisions the Divine Feminine changing the church and the world.

“I think the Divine Feminine would help eliminate abuse,” Marcia says. “If people saw God as feminine, could they abuse women? I think the whole dynamic would change. The beginning of Genesis says that male and female are created in the divine image. To me, that’s just basic. The Divine Feminine is very healing, especially powerful for women. I’m an intelligent, well-educated person, and I struggle with self-esteem and equality issues. I think of the women who aren’t as blessed as I am or as encouraged as I am and the women who are abused and beaten and have such a horrible time. To see that they are made in God’s image is healing and empowering. Like in the Secret Life of Bees, the women find such a deep connection with the Black Madonna whom they worship.”

When Marcia was trying to heal from the abuse she had suffered from her boyfriend’s and her dad’s messages about the second-class status of women, she had a mystical experience of the Divine Feminine. She was questioning whether or not she was really created in the divine image, and she heard Mother God say to her, “Just as your daughter looks like you, you look like me.”

The Divine Feminine for Marcia is a deeply spiritual issue, as well as a social justice issue. “The first time the church sang ‘In the Garden’ with ‘She’ references, the Spirit touched me,” Marcia says. “When we sang ‘She,’ I was bowled over, I started crying, and I couldn’t stop. That image of ‘She’ being in the garden with me reminded me of my mother, who loved raising roses. The Divine Feminine has healing and empowering possibilities for women and for men. For our church the Divine Feminine has been a doorway opening us up to a larger vision, to seeing things in a larger way. She’s a doorway.”

A mystical feminist, Rev. Fleischman talks freely about hearing from the Spirit and seeing visions. Her vision for the future of the Divine Feminine reaches from the church to encompass the whole world. Marcia envisions a Black Madonna, surrounded by rays of light, embracing the earth: “She is affecting all these different situations for women around the world. I see the images of all the abused girls being empowered. You can already see it happening through this whole thing called ‘The Girl Effect.’ And it’s happening through the Central Asia Institute, founded by Greg Mortensen, author of Three Cups of Tea.”

Marcia tells about hearing Mortensen speak, and giving him a picture she had painted of little brown angel girls lined up in a classroom. She said to him, “I’ve had a double lung transplant, and I paint angels. I know this one is for you.” Mortensen appreciated her painting because he’s building schools for girls in Pakistan. Marcia donates a percentage of the profits from her book Wild Woman Theology: In the Arms of Loving Mother God to the building of these schools for girls. “What Mortensen sees is that women who are educated give back to their communities,” she explains. “People are beginning to see how important it is to deal with women’s issues.”

Marcia’s vision of the Black Madonna holding the earth recalls the picture on the cover of Wild Woman Theology: In the Arms of Loving Mother God. In Her love letter at the end of the book, Mother God calls people to “create a co-operative global community.” At the beginning of the book “Mama God” proclaims the vision:

No longer will my child live in defeat,

But always victorious

Always glorious

Coming always closer

To hear my heart beat.

Throbbing with life

And happiness always,

I will dry their tears,

Erase their fears,

For I am always near,

A loving mother,

A holy other,

A Holy Mama,

We know each other,

One another.

 

To read more of Rev. Marcia C. Fleischman’s story, see: https://wipfandstock.com/store/Changing_Church_Stories_of_Liberating_Ministers

I highly recommend Rev. Fleischman’s books: Wild Woman Theology: In the Arms of Loving Mother God : http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Woman-Theology-Loving-Mother/dp/143892822X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328220164&sr=1-2 ; and Angels Everywhere: http://www.amazon.com/Angels-Everywhere-Marcia-C-Fleischman/dp/143892531X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1328220257&sr=8-3