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Mennonite Women Bible Study Guide available in May 2010

by Patricia Burdette

Newton, KS—The 2010 Mennonite Women Bible Study Guide, Seek Peace and Pursue It: Women, Faith, and Family Care, by Elizabeth Soto will be available in May from Mennonite Publishing Network. The Bible Study Guide focuses on families becoming more peace oriented and less violent as indicated in Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments. Soto developed an interest in reducing family violence through her work with families suffering from violence.

"Family life is near to our hearts as women. We are usually mediating, negotiating, intervening, nurturing, and caring for those we love within the holy space of our family. We need to find ways of more effectively promoting the value of peace within our families. This is what it means to create a culture of peace, from our hearts to our families to our neighborhoods. God's shalom—well-being for all of us—is hard work, therefore, we need community to help us talk about the blessings and the challenges we face in our families. In the psalmists’ words ‘seek peace and pursue it’ implies work on behalf of the listener. Women of God, are we listening to this call? Come join us to study together the Word of God and to better care for our families," Soto invites.

Soto was born in Puerto Rico but lived part of her childhood in Chicago. In 1984, she returned to the United States to finish her Master of Arts in Religion degree at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. With her husband, Frank Albrecht and two children, Soto did service work in Colombia, South America for seven years. During her last four years of service in Armenia, Colombia, she was ordained for ministry by the Colombian Mennonite Church .

In 2005 Elizabeth completed a doctorate in ministry with an emphasis on international feminism. Her dissertation, Family Violence: Reclaiming a Theology of Nonviolence, was published by Orbis Books.