Reclaim the untold stories of women from the Hebrew Bible and reimagine scripture through their eyes. In the Beginning Were the Women offers a powerful blend of storytelling, reflection, and modern-day connections to promote justice and healing. Empower your faith with women's redemptive, liberating voices. In In the Beginning Were the Women , Claire K. McKeever-Burgett reimagines 16 often overlooked stories of women from the Hebrew Bible. Through creative storytelling and sacred imagination, McKeever-Burgett invites readers to engage with these women's voices as living, evolving texts that speak to both ancient and contemporary struggles. Each chapter features a woman's story, paired with reflective liturgies, questions for personal or group discussion, and connections to modern-day, woman-led nonprofits promoting justice and mercy. McKeever-Burgett challenges readers to understand women's ancient stories as a roadmap for living out faith that centers and celebrates women in today's world. Reclaim women's narratives as a source of healing, liberation, and transformation. “Claire McKeever-Burgett reminds us that women have always been at the heart of the biblical story, even when denied the chance to speak for themselves. Their stories are crucial in helping shape our understanding of truth, justice, and love. This book is all at once restorative, empowering, and visionary. And it invites us as readers and people of faith to honor scripture, reclaim what has been silenced, and embrace our shared humanity.” — Malynda Hale, Actress, Activist, Executive Director of The New Evangelicals “In Jewish tradition, we speak of the Tanakh / the Hebrew Scriptures as black fire on white fire. The black fire is the letters on the parchment; the white fire is the fertile blank space that surrounds them. In the Beginning Were the Women is white fire. These imagined voices of our Biblical mothers light the way to new understandings. From a Hagar who speaks her truths of slavery and gives a name to the Holy One to a Huldah who knows that God is an action (and that action is Love), these are women of integrity, wisdom, and courage. Meeting them in these pages inspires me to return to these sacred stories anew. And like the midrashists of my tradition, McKeever-Burgett knows that no one interpretation is “the right one.” We find God in the many-splendored multiplicity of our imaginings. This is how we are made in the Image and the Likeness: our words create worlds. I thank God for the worlds within these pages.” — Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, author of 70 faces: Torah poems and Texts to the Holy “This is storytelling at its best! Based in scripture, drawing on history, and filled with imagination, Claire McKeever-Burgett offers not only creative stories, but liturgies, prayers, music and reflection questions to guide her readers into everyday life. I wish I’d had In the Beginning Were the Women in seminary!” — Rev. Jane Vennard, Spiritual Director, Author of Fully Awake and Truly Alive: Spiritual Practices to Nurture Your Soul “At a time when women’s rights are under threat and Christian nationalism is on the rise, Claire McKeever-Burgett’s In the Beginning Were the Women offers a refreshing and necessary voice. Unflinching and unapologetic, yet tender, this book makes space where there has long been constraint. McKeever-Burgett invites us into expansiveness, into a vision of women’s stories and wisdom too often minimized or erased. Wherever you fall on the spectrum of religion or gender, this book challenges you to think big about the ways women have molded, shaped, and created movements. It is both timely and timeless, and it deserves to be read widely. — Raena Boston, Writer, Advocate, and Co-founder Emerita of the Chamber of Mothers “Reading In the Beginning Were the Women made me fall in love with Scripture, God, and the complexities of my own life. Rather than simply telling us about the women of the Hebrew Bible, Claire draws us into their story and invites us to find our place in it. It’s a kind of odyssey into the dynamics of our own lives. One does not merely read this book, one is transported by it. All I can say is that I want more: more of Claire’s writing and more of the wisdom and strength that she gives us all.” — Rev. Dr. Maria Kane, Rector, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Waldorf, MD “As a pastor and preacher, I often wrestle with how to capture the depth, humanity, and complexity of the women in the Hebrew Bible. Once again, McKeever-Burgett has offered a profound gift—one that enriches both my theology and my ministry. She finds a way to weave scriptural imagination, theological insight, and deep reverence for the ancient women of our faith. Her creative storytelling and the interactive aspects of each chapter allow me to really engage in the text with mind, body, and spirit. My congregation loved her first book; I have no doubt they’ll embrace this one just as wholeheartedly. McKeever-Burgett continues to s