Janet Morley Explained

Janet Morley
Occupation:Feminist author and poet
Known For:All desires known

Janet Morley is a British author, poet, and Christian feminist.

Her books Celebrating Women (1986, co-edited with Hannah Ward) and All Desires Known (1988) established Morley as a campaigner[1] [2] for inclusive 'non-sexist' language in Christian liturgy.[3] [4] [5] Her prayer For the darkness of waiting, written in 1985, "grew out of long years of campaigning for women's vocations to be recognised"[6] by the Church of England: it has been used at national events celebrating women's ministry including the Liturgy of Hope at Canterbury Cathedral on 18 April 1986, and the service Celebrating 25 Years of Women Priests at Lambeth Palace on 1 March 2019 (read by Sally Hitchiner).[7] [8] [9] Her prayer O God who brought us to birth, and in whose arms we die, first published in 1985, appears in Common Worship, part of the official liturgical resource of the Church of England.[10] Critics acclaim her anthologies of poetry:The Heart's Time (2011),[11] Haphazard by Starlight (2013),[12] Our Last Awakening (2016),[13] and Love Set You Going (2019).

Biography

Morley studied English at New Hall, Cambridge (now Murray Edwards College), pursued biblical studies at King's College London, and received a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.[14] [15]

She has worked in adult religious education for Christian Aid and for the Methodist Church of Great Britain, in the Methodist Connexional Team and at Wesley House, as formational tutor and as the founding Commissioning Editor of Holiness, its open access peer-reviewed journal.[15] She edited the volumes of Holiness for 2015 and 2016.[16] [17]

Caring responsibilities for others have included raising children, caring for her six grandchildren, and looking after elderly relatives as they live with dementia.[15] [18]

Like her mother and her father, she has been a church-going member of the Church of England her whole life.[15]

Member of St Hilda Community

Morley was a member of the St Hilda Community,[19] contributing liturgy eventually published in All Desires Known.

The St Hilda Community was a group of women and men who met for worship each Sunday, from February 1987 until at least 1991, first at St Benet's, the chapel of Queen Mary College (now QMUL), and later at Bow Road Methodist Church.[20] [21] Although there was an ongoing campaign, since at least 1975, by the Movement for the Ordination of Women to allow the ordination of women to the priesthood, the General Synod of the Church of England would not vote in favour of women priests until November 1992.[22] A purpose of the St Hilda Community was to offer a 'non-sexist liturgy' that "gave full space and authority to women, without apology, secrecy, or shame".[20] Another purpose was that its members could "receive the broader vision of our Christian heritage and women's spiritual offerings in language which excludes no person and no image of God".The community decided to hold eucharists celebrated by women priests lawfully ordained in other countries, despite this practice being declared "illegal" by Graham Leonard, then Bishop of London.[20] Resident in London for doctoral studies, American priest Suzanne Fageol accepted the invitation to be priest to the community.[20] Fageol used texts by Morley, such as the Eucharistic prayer for Easter, celebrated on Easter Day 1987. Fageol writes:[19]

Watson[23] discusses both the St Hilda Community and Morley's book Celebrating Women with Hannah Ward.

Bibliography

All Desires Known

The first edition, a green paperback jointly published by the Movement for the Ordination of Women and Women in Theology in 1988, divides into three parts: Collects, Formal Prayers, and Psalms and Poems.

Introducing the book, Morley writes:

She also writes, concerning her use of feminine language for God:

There is a collect for each Sunday and major weekday festival of the church's lectionary year, written weekly from Advent 1986 to Advent 1987, guided by the eucharistic lectionary of the 1980 Alternative Service Book.

Items were written for regular use by the Women in Theology liturgy group and the St Hilda Community, and for special occasions including: the Liturgy of Hope, Canterbury Cathedral, 18 April 1986;[24] a communion service for women only at Holy Trinity House, Paddington, on Christmas Eve 1986; the opening of holy orders to women in the Diocese of London on 31 March 1987 at St Mary-le-Bow; and the Greenham vigil, on Maundy Thursday 1987, by Christian women at Blue Gate, Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp.

The second edition is substantially expanded, with forty-two additional pieces of writing. The cover features a painting Red Canna (circa 1923) by Georgia O'Keeffe, from the collection of the University of Arizona Museum of Art, a gift of Oliver James.[25]

EditionPublisherYearISBN
Movement for the Ordination of Women1988
Women in Theology1988
Second revised editionSPCK1992
New editionSPCK2005
Third editionMorehouse Publishing2006

Collections of Prayers

As well as All Desires Known, Morley is author or editor of several collections of prayers and worship material.

TitlePublisherYearISBNNotes
Celebrating WomenWIT/MOW1986(edited by Janet Morley and Hannah Ward)[26]
Bread of Tomorrow: Praying with the World's PoorSPCK1992(edited by Janet Morley)
Companions of God: Praying for Peace in the Holy LandChristian Aid1994(authored by Janet Morley)
Celebrating WomenSPCK1995(edited by Hannah Ward, Jennifer Wild, and Janet Morley; second revised edition)
Bread of Tomorrow: Prayers for the Church YearOrbis Books1996(edited by Janet Morley)
Dear Life: Praying Through the Year with Christian AidChristian Aid1998(edited by Janet Morley, Jennifer Wild, and Hannah Ward)
Bread of Tomorrow: Praying with the World's PoorSPCK2004(edited by Janet Morley, new edition)

Anthologies of Poetry

Starting in 2011, Morley has published a series of poetry anthologies on different themes.

TitlePublisherYearISBN
The Heart's Time: A Poem a Day for Lent and EasterSPCK2011
Haphazard by Starlight: A Poem a Day from Advent to EpiphanySPCK2013
Our Last Awakening: Poems For Living In The Face Of DeathSPCK2016
Love Set You Going: Poems of the HeartSPCK2019

Talks

Reception

Elaine Graham writes that Morley's Collects are "some of the most well-known, and widely-used, feminist prayers".[31]

Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro writes that Morley's Eucharistic Prayer for Christmas Eve "expresses beautifully the connection between Jesus' blood and women's menstruation".[32]

Mary Grey writes, regarding and you held me: "Clearly an erotic experience is being described, yes, of darkness, but also of longing, surrender, akin to aching for God. It highlights...the mystics' use of eros, desire, longing, with definite sexual connotations, which evokes an embodied form of mysticism."[33]

Wilma Jakobsen writes that Morley's O God, the Power of the Powerless "particularly spoke to us as South African women in the complexities of our struggles, and we used it frequently. Morley's images of persistence and power in the midst of powerlessness, and of God as the source of strength for those who are powerless, encouraged us to keep on proclaiming the truth."[34]

Malcolm Doney writes, in his review of Love Set You Going, that Morley is "noted for her excellent magpie collections of poetry, prayers, and rites".[35]

Jenny Daggers describes Morley's "major contribution in writing liturgical material and writing about liturgical language".[36]

Lesley McLean's dissertation analyses the language of the Book of Common Prayer, and its modern revisioning in the works of Morley and also Jim Cotter.[37]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: 1984 . Morley . Janet . Furlong . Monica . SPCK . 978-0281041206 . 56–70 . 'The Faltering Words of Men': Exclusive Language in the Liturgy . Feminine in the Church.
  2. Morley . Janet . I Desire Her with My Whole Heart . The Month . 1988 . 21 . 2 . 541–544 . Some of us began to campaign for more inclusive language in the liturgy: to include women as well as men in reference to worshippers, and to minimize the use of the male pronoun for God..
  3. Book: Loades . Ann . Feminist Theology: A Reader . 1990 . SPCK . 9780664251291.
  4. Book: Avis . Paul D. L. . God and the Creative Imagination: Metaphor, Symbol, and Myth in Religion and Theology . 1999 . Routledge . 978-0415215039 . It is in this tradition that new, non-sexist liturgies pray to God or Christ as 'our beloved', 'our companion', 'our brother', 'our mother', 'our victim', 'our lover', 'our healer' and so on (Morley, 1988).
  5. Book: Watson . Natalie K. . Introducing Feminist Ecclesiology . 17 October 2002 . Sheffield Academic PRess . 0-8264-6254-5.
  6. News: Conway-Jones . Ann . Prayer for the week . 28 December 2020 . Church Times . 20 December 2013 . 25 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210125234321/https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2013/20-december/faith/prayer-for-the-week/prayer-for-the-week . live .
  7. News: Archbishop of Canterbury celebrates 25 years of women's ordination in Church of England . 26 December 2020 . Anglican News . 4 March 2019 . 6 August 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200806123518/https://www.anglicannews.org/news/2019/03/archbishop-of-canterbury-celebrates-25-years-of-womens-ordination-in-church-of-england.aspx . live .
  8. Web site: CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF WOMEN PRIESTS . Archbishop of Canterbury . 26 December 2020 . 1 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211101122037/https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/sites/abc/files/2019-02/1st%20March%20service%20.pdf . live .
  9. Web site: Celebrating 25 years of Women's Ordination . BBC Radio 4 Sunday Worship . BBC . 26 December 2020 . 22 October 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191022090815/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002ybc . live .
  10. Web site: Funeral . Worship Texts and Resources . The Church of England . 30 December 2020 . 22 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201222171531/https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/death-and-dying/funeral . live .
  11. News: Wilbourne . David . A Good Friday people . 28 December 2020 . Church Times . 23 January 2012 . 1 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211101122041/https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2012/27-january/news/uk/a-good-friday-people . live .
  12. News: Welsh . Philip . Aftershave or gingerbread? . 28 December 2020 . Church Times . 1 November 2013 . 1 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211101122123/https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2013/1-november/books-arts/book-reviews/aftershave-or-gingerbread . live .
  13. News: Oakley . Mark . Language giving life to the soul . 28 December 2020 . Church Times . 15 July 2016 . 20 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210120133102/https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2016/15-july/books-arts/book-reviews/language-giving-life-to-the-soul . live .
  14. Calendar . Cambridge University Reporter . 4 October 2017 . 6478 . 17 . 24 December 2020 . 28 December 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191228052504/http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2017-18/weekly/6478/ . live .
  15. Web site: University Sermon . University of Cambridge . 22 December 2020 . 24 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201224173939/https://www.staff.admin.cam.ac.uk/events/university-sermon . live .
  16. Morley . Janet . Editorial . Holiness the Journal of Wesley House Cambridge . May 2015 . 1 . 1 . 1–2 . 24 December 2020 . 14 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210414130113/https://www.wesley.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/01-editorial.pdf . live .
  17. Stobart . Andrew . Editorial . Holiness the Journal of Wesley House Cambridge . October 2016 . 2 . 3 . 279–282 . 24 December 2020 . 14 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210414140958/https://www.wesley.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/01-editorial.pdf . live .
  18. Web site: Clemence . Ruth . An interview with Janet Morley (30 November 2019) . ruthclemence.com . 22 December 2020 . 3 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201203010241/https://ruthclemence.com/2019/11/30/an-interview-with-janet-morley/ . live .
  19. Encyclopedia: The St Hilda Community . Suzanne . Fageol . Celebrating Experience . Women Included: A Book of Services and Prayers . 1991 . SPCK . 0-281-04531-3 . 16–26.
  20. Encyclopedia: The St Hilda Community . Monica . Furlong . Introduction: A 'Non-Sexist' Community . Women Included: A Book of Services and Prayers . 1991 . SPCK . 0-281-04531-3 . 5–15.
  21. Furlong . Monica . The St Hilda Community . The Ecumenical Review . January 2001 . 53 . 1 . 82–85 . 10.1111/j.1758-6623.2001.tb00076.x . 27 December 2020.
  22. News: From the archive: The day the Church said yes to women . 27 December 2020 . Church Times . 13 November 2017 . 31 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201031223810/https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2017/17-november/news/uk/from-the-archive-the-day-the-church-said-yes-to-women . live .
  23. Book: Watson . Natalie . Introducing Feminist Ecclesiology . 2002 . Bloomsbury Publishing . 9780567110527.
  24. Web site: Pierce. Janette. Thousands Celebrate Ministries Of Women. 28 December 2020. The Archives of the Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Church of the USA.
  25. Web site: Red Canna, (painting) – 1925/1926 . Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS) . January 13, 2017 . 11 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180911081735/https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=V4843548R0V35.9921&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!390058~!21&ri=2&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Red+Canna&index=.GW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=2 . live .
  26. Book: Morley . Janet . All Desires Known . 1988 . Movement for Ordination of Women and Women in Theology . 0951303902.
  27. Web site: Morley . Janet . Haphazard by Starlight: an Advent Pilgrimage - Janet Morley at St Paul's Cathedral . YouTube . 27 December 2020 . 18 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210218131028/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L7Ki1zWpbQ . live .
  28. Morley . Janet . Guarding the 'holy fire': dementia and the mystery of love . Holiness the Journal of Wesley House Cambridge . October 2018 . 4 . 1 . 77–93 . 24 December 2020 . 14 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210414130654/https://www.wesley.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/06-Morley.pdf . live .
  29. Web site: Morley . Janet . Love Set You Going . Hymns Ancient and Modern . 27 December 2020 . 2 December 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201202132131/https://bloxhamfaithandliterature.hymnsam.co.uk/programme/friday-21st-february-2020/530pm-love-set-you-going/ . live .
  30. News: Becket . Adam . Thornton . Ed . Handley . Paul . Bloxham: Love and its complexities, in writers' hands . 1 January 2021 . Church Times . 6 March 2020 . 19 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210119033021/https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2020/6-march/features/features/bloxham-love-and-its-complexities-in-writers-hands . live .
  31. Book: Graham . Elaine . Words Made Flesh: Writings in Pastoral and Practical Theology . 2013 . Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd . 9780334048657.
  32. Book: Orevillo-Montenegro . Muriel . The Jesus Of Asian Women . 2010 . Concept Publishing Company . 9788172681982 . 76.
  33. Book: Grey . Mary . Prophecy and Mysticism: The Heart of the Postmodern Church . 1997 . Bloomsbury Academic . 9780567085870 . 53.
  34. Book: 2001 . Jakobsen . Wilma . Berger . Teresa . Westminster John Knox Press . 9780664223793 . 210 . Chapter 14: Like Water in a Desert: Women Church in South Africa . Dissident Daughters: Feminist Liturgies in Global Context.
  35. News: Doney . Malcolm . Love Set You Going, by Janet Morley . 26 December 2020 . Church Times . 20 December 2019 . 1 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211101122042/https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2019/20-december/books-arts/book-reviews/love-set-you-going-janet-morley . live .
  36. Daggers. Jenny. 1999. The Emergence of Feminist Theology from Christian Feminism in Britain. Journal of the European Society of Women in Theological Research. 7. 137–144. 10.2143/ESWTR.7.0.2002946. 26 June 2021. 26 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210626075028/https://poj.peeters-leuven.be/content.php?id=2002946&url=article. live.
  37. Web site: McLean . Yvonne Leslie . 7 April 2022 . The Book of Common Prayer : a detailed analysis of its language, its revisioning in contemporary Australian liturgies and in the writings of Jim Cotter and Janet Morley and, in context of the relationship between spirituality and language, the implications of the use of revised Prayer Books in the Anglican Church in Australia . 8 April 2023 . Monash University.

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