Women and the Landscape of American Higher Education: Wesleyan Holiness and Pentecostal Founders
Abraham Ruelas has made an important contribution to recovery of long-forgotten but vital contributions Wesleyan Holiness and Pentecostal women have made to one of the most important religious movements of the last three centuries. His narrative takes us into the formerly little-explored area of women's involvement in shaping institutions that often trained the very men who denied them equal access to most arenas of ministry. Reulas is a welcomed comrade, whose work inspires Holiness or Pentecostal woman scholars who struggle to serve and forge a viable place for our intellectual gifts within the life of the institutions we love. --Estrelda Alexandar, Professor of Theology, Regent University School of DivinityIn an age when a woman has made a close run for U.S. President and another for Vice-President; when three women have served their country as Secretary of State and three have served or serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and another has just been nominated, it seems incredible that women are still greatly under-represented in the leadership of Holiness and Pentecostal colleges, universities, and seminaries. What accounts for this dearth is left to another study. Dr. Ruelas has, however, provided a very helpful challenge to this present reality by looking at the past origins of higher education in the Holiness and Pentecostal traditions, a past that was dominated by the innovation and leadership of dedicated women of faith and vision. --Kimberly Ervin Alexandar, Associate Professor of Theology, Pentecostal Theological Seminary