NOTE: This will be a joint meeting with the Lesbian Spiritual Book Group--Portland.
What a wonderful and rich discussion we had on January 10 when we discussed Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine by Eric Weiner. Thank you so much to the 6 of us who logged onto Zoom and joined in, creating a very intimate discussion. The strength and commitment of this group makes it possible for us to connect deeply even online, and I so appreciate this remarkable group of women.
Our next meeting will be on Saturday, February 7, 2026, from 4:00-6:00 pm PDT. We will discuss The Girl Who Baptized Herself: How a Lost Scripture About a Saint Named Thecla Reveals the Power of Knowing Our Worth by Meggan Watterson. The book is widely available in print and audiobook, new and used and electronically from www.amazon.com, www.alibris.com and other sellers. Please contact me if you need help locating or purchasing the book.
You are welcome whether you have read or listened to the book or not--the conversation will be rich and intimate regardless. Each time we are joined by some who have not read the book, and I think they can attest that our conversations start with the book and roam freely into the rest of our lives.
We have had a problem with uninvited disruptors. Please note that all members will be held in the waiting room and only admitted if they respond to messages or are known to us. All members must be willing to appear full face on screen throughout the meeting. If you have not RSVP'd, you will not be admitted if you are not known to the group.
About the book:
This riveting exploration of a nearly lost first-century scripture tells the story of a courageous saint named Thecla and offers us a road map to knowing our worth. A teenage girl named Thecla is sitting at her bedroom window listening to a man share stories nearby. Her mother and fiancé order her to stop. But Thecla, trapped in a world that expects her to marry and have children, refuses. This man, Paul, is talking about a world she wants to believe in: an inner world of freedom to define her own life. And he’s talking about a kind of love she hasn’t known before—a love that asks her to be true to who she is within.
For Meggan Watterson, a Harvard-trained feminist theologian, Thecla’s story in The Acts of Paul and Thecla has everything to do with power. Thecla’s refusal to be controlled, as well as the authority she reclaims by baptizing herself, reads like a lost gospel for finding our own source of power within—a power that allows us to know who we are and to make choices based on that knowing. This hidden scripture suggests that Christianity before the fourth century was about defying the patriarchy, not deifying it. But early church fathers excluded The Acts of Paul and Thecla, along with other sacred texts such as The Gospel of Mary, from the New Testament.
Watterson synthesizes scripture, memoir, and politics to illuminate a story that has been left out of the canon for far too long, one that follows a girl freeing herself from a life predicated on the expectations of others—a path that made her feel unworthy. Thecla’s story offers us a path to take back the power we often give to others and live based on the truth of who we are.
About the author:
MEGGAN WATTERSON is the author of The Girl Who Baptized Herself (forthcoming July 2025) and the Wall Street Journal bestselling Mary Magdalene Revealed. She is a feminist theologian with a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University. She leads a global online spiritual community, The House of Mary Magdalene, to study the scripture left out of the Christian canon like The Gospel of Mary and The Acts of Paul and Thecla. Her work has appeared in media outlets such as The New York Times, The Huffington Post, TEDxWomen, and Marie Claire.
Here is the link:
Andrea Bride is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Lesbian Spiritual Book Group--Seattle/Eastside and Portland
Time: Feb 7, 2026 04:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86108618529
Meeting ID: 861 0861 8529
