The Magdalene Gospel
From the Preface--- "The Magdalene Gospel" and "Spirited Women" (together or separately) invite women to find their place in that first, inner circle of those who followed Christ. These books have given me the joy of seeing and hearing from women who have felt brought into that circle for the first time.When a book is first published, the author often feels as if she’s given birth: one phase is over and a new one begins in which the author’s main task is partly feeding and guiding, but mainly watching. Since The Magdalene Gospel’s first appearance in 1995, it has gained a wonderful life of its own, and I’ve enjoyed hearing from believers and skeptics who’ve been touched, provoked, and intrigued by its message.  From its first publicist, who said to me, “Mary Ellen, I don’t call myself a religious person at all, but the other night at a party I heard myself saying, ‘You know, you’re wrong about Jesus—let me tell you about how he treated women...’” to many other women who realized that they could find themselves as followers of Christ.I’ve especially loved the many creative responses to The Magdalene Gospel (and now to Spirited Women). Parts of The Magdalene Gospel have been produced in dramatic form in places in the United States, Canada, and England. The productions have been as diverse as a student group in Ohio using parts of the book on stage to an ecumenical version done at a number of churches in Texas to a costumed version, interspersed with original music performed by students and choir at Clare College in Cambridge, England. In the few productions I’ve been privileged to see live or on video, different characters are used and different themes of the book emphasized. Some are set within the time of Christ and some in a much more contemporary setting; some feature a large cast, some one woman. Several have included original musical compositions sung by an individual or a choir.One of the most creative responses to The Magdalene Gospel comes out of Berkeley, California, where a program called The Magdalene Journey began with a group of women who wanted to read the stories aloud and bring them to life for a larger congregation during Holy Week. They found, as I have when working with groups of women, that inevitably their own stories of healing and encounters with Christ became a part of the first women’s stories; in the end their production included both. After the first performance, a number of women asked to be involved, and so the original group formed new groups to move through The Magdalene Journey, which is now in its fifth year.I have used parts of The Magdalene Gospel as the basis for retreats and conferences. Often I use a theme arising from one of the women’s stories followed by a dramatic reading of the story, and then questions for participants to take into times of silence and then perhaps into group discussion. I have also used parts for sermons and interspersed readings with a performance of Mozart’s Requiem. I have used some stories as guided meditations in hospital visiting.The Magdalene Gospel has also been used for study and book groups. One Graduate Christian Fellowship staff person told me she’d tried to get a women’s graduate student Bible study going and found no takers; she started a study using The Magdalene Gospel and found a whole group who read, discussed, and responded to the gospel.The notes are important to this book because many readers will want to read it with a Bible in hand. I have also included in this new edition questions for individual and group study. These questions may also be adapted for use at conferences and retreats.In Spirited Women, I have continued with my stories about women in the very early church, following some of the women in The Magdalene Gospel and including  other stories such as that of the Samaritan woman. It is my conviction that women have felt as if they were on the outside of the story of Jesus and the early church for too long; my hope and prayer is that these books will help women claim their place as followers of Jesus.