Author - Anne Rowthorne

"A passionate call for a new liberation movement, this time within the church in North America.... The genius of 'The Liberation of the Laity' is not so much that it provides new information or even an entirely original thesis, but that it lays piece after piece together until the pattern emerges for us, and we have the eyes to see the repetition and extension of that pattern in our own experiences of church life."

Books and Religion

"The author, in this deeply felt and powerfully argued book, tackles the issues of the nature of ministry, priesthood, ordination, lay theology, a spirituality of life in the world. The argument is clearly expressed, draws upon a wide range of scholarship, the example of the early church as well as the experience of the author.... I cannot be dispassionate in recommending this book. It provides a model of what a theology of the people should be like in the way it argues the case for such a theology."

Zadok Perspectives - a quarterly journal of the Zadok Institute for Christianity and Society (Australia).

"If I could have one wish fulfilled - I'd wish that Anne Rowthorn's 'The Liberation of the Laity' would be required reading for Christians everywhere! She is a voice for the church's voiceless."

Irene V. Jackson-Brown

"'The Liberation of the Laity' will irritate, inform, and inspire. And it should be read by all - lay and ordained - who are willing to have their eyes, and most especially their hearts, opened a little wider."

Virginia Seminary Journal

"'The Liberation of the Laity' is a provocative book that challenges the clericalist culture of the church, and provides practical advice and sound counsel toward a more inclusive future. Further, the book affirms the history and theology of the ministry of all baptized persons in a deep and thought-provoking way. 'The Liberation of the Laity' will spark conversation and reflection among those most concerned about the future of ministry, and the need for the church to support the vocations of all the baptized."

Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook
Director of Congregational Studies
Associate Professor
Episcopal Divinity School

Earth and All the Stars
The Liberation of the Laity Study Guide by Anne Rowthorne