American women - Catholic and Protestant - tell what it's like to be a woman in the church as a new millennium approaches. "Women and religion are at a crossroad," writes a Roman Catholic mother from New Mexico. "If women are not taken seriously and their talents recognized, there will be serious consequences. I've had three daughters and they are not drawn to current religious traditions. They see no place for women. Why join such confusion?" This groundbreaking book documents, in the words of the women themselves, the pain, frustration, and creative tension experienced by those who embrace feminist values within the context of institutional religion. It reveals how a growing number of them are taking responsibility for their own spiritual and religious lives. Hundreds of women from all denominations also speak here of an emerging feminist spirituality supported and nurtured in women's groups which transcend traditional religious boundaries. Responding to the call to live justly, women are celebrating their own liturgies, envisioning a more inclusive future, and empowering one another to challenge patriarchal religion, and they are in the process redefining Church. The book shows that many of these women are remaining within the established churches, but on their own terms, as potential agents of transformation in congregations and denominations, as women who are "defecting in place." Filled with true stories and supported by comments from women theologians, Defecting in Place brings good news to women who feel alienated from the Church and excluded from its rituals - you are not alone! Here is must reading for everyone.