Those Old Women: tell their storiesBySheila RobinsonDate 2015Those Old Women: tell their stories The purpose of this theological narrative is to ascertain from first-hand telling, the truth about the often harrowing, and frequently unfair experiences and ordeals that women of biblical antiquity endured. Although their experiences were written about and inserted into the scriptural narratives of the Old and New Testaments, the women were not the writers of their own stories. It was the male prophets and writers who chronicled the women's stories within the sequence of events of the biblical story line. As a result, these questions arise, "How can a man write a woman's story?" and "How can a male who is the keeper of a gender-off-balanced culture and society write a balanced account of a female experience?" Therefore, to correct the biased accounts of their life encounters, several women of biblical antiquity whose personal stories are documented in scripture, ask God for an opportunity to tell their own stories. God is favorable to their request and grants them the chance to speak from their experiences in order to do so. It is decided they will each share their own life story to be documented for all the world to read. Still another question arises, how will this happen? The women conclude that someone must be designated to become the story teller. But who? God tells them of a young woman in the 21st century named Jennifer who struggles with her century's gender unfairness and her church's gender inequities. The women can tell Jennifer their stories and she will write them. The matter is settled; together these old women travel through time into the 21st century to meet Jennife
About the Author: Rev. Dr. Sheila Robinson is an ordained minister and Associate Pastor at Grace Tabernacle Community Church in San Francisco, CA. She holds an MA in Pastoral Ministries from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from San Francisco Theological Seminary. She is also a Certified Professional Life Coach. For 30-years, beginning in 1977, Sheila Robinson hosted a Sunday morning Gospel Music radio show in San Francisco, the 4th largest market in the United States. During her broadcasting career, she co-founded the Bay Area Religious Announcers Guild, serving as the first President with 2 subsequent re-elections. She is also a nine-time-recipient-five of which were consecutive-of the Best Religious Announcer Award from the Bay Area Gospel Academy Awards Ceremony and was inducted into the Academy Hall of Fame. She authored a Children's Activity Book of poems and songs for children with an accompanying audio tape entitled, From Auntie Sheila, as well as a book of Inspirational readings entitled, My Perfect God which she had the opportunity to promote in Jamaica, WI, on Radio Waves 102.9 FM, in Montego Bay, and LOVE 101 FM Radio in Kingston. She is also a contributing writer of Life Lessons/Insight Essays for the Women of Color Study Bible, published by Nia Publishing and World Bible Publishing. In recognition for her writing, she received the Peninsula Book Club Award for literary excellence among local African American writers. Previously, a feature writer for City Flight News Magazine in San Jose, CA, as well as a feature writer and columnist for the Oakland Post Newspaper in Oakland, CA, Sheila is currently a novelist, with Those Old Women: tell their stories being her first full-length novel. In 1995, Dr. Robinson was invited by the Citizen Ambassador Program of People to People International, in conjunction with the China Women's Association for Science and Technology, to attend the US/China Joint Conference on Women's Issues, in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Dr. Robinson has traveled to the Middle East, to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, considered by the Jordanians to be "The Other Holy Land." This and subsequent visits allowed Rev. Dr. Robinson to see and experience first-hand the meaningful Biblical sites referenced in the Scriptures. Considering her visits to Jordan to be experiences of a lifetime, Dr. Robinson holds dear the special occasion of her re-baptism in the ancient waters of the Jordan River.