Jann Aldredge-Clanton

She is the younger of two daughters of H. Truman Aldredge (1912–1966), the pastor from 1950 until his death of the First Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Minden, Louisiana.

Her mother, Eva Louise Hickerson Aldredge Henley (1918–2016), an educator and Baptist laywoman, married another Southern Baptist pastor, Odus Taylor Henley (1918–2000), after the death of her first husband and spent her later years in San Angelo, Texas.

She taught Sunday school for eighty-two years.

Truman and Eva Aldredge are interred at Gardens of Memory Cemetery in Minden, Louisiana.

Jann Aldredge-Clanton (born 1946 in Abilene, Texas) is an ordained Christian minister, author, teacher, and chaplain, who leads workshops and conferences throughout the United States.

She has authored eleven books, six songbooks, a children's musical, and a children's songbook.

She has also published many articles in publications such as Christian Feminism Today, The Journal of Pastoral Care, The Christian Ministry, and Patheos.

She specializes in feminist theology and inclusive worship resources.

Ordained in the Alliance of Baptists, she ministers in ecumenical and interfaith settings.

She serves as co-chair of the national ecumenical, multicultural Equity for Women in the Church Community, on the council of Evangelical and Ecumenical Women's Caucus-Christian Feminism Today; adjunct professor at Richland College in Dallas, Texas; and on the Dallas Workers’ Rights Board.

Her diverse career includes serving as consultant in the internship programs at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas and Brite Divinity School; associate pastor, St. John's United Methodist Church in Waco, Texas; executive director, Waco Conference of Christians and Jews; Pastoral Counselor, Samaritan Counseling Center of Central Texas; chaplain, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas and Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco; English professor, Dallas Baptist University.

She graduated in 1964 as the valedictorian of Minden High School.

In 1968, Aldredge-Clanton received the Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude in English] from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, then known as Louisiana Polytechnic Institute.

She procured Master of Arts and PhD degrees from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

She then obtained a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, also in Fort Worth.

Aldredge-Clanton and her husband, David McPhail Clanton, an artist and communications expert, reside in Dallas.

They have two sons, a daughter-in-law, and three grandsons.

Aldredge-Clanton's hymns have received numerous honors.

"Renewing, Reforming the Church in our Day" won in the category of "New Hymn Text for Traditional Hymn Tune" in United Theological Seminary’s first annual song and hymn writing competition; the judges commented that this text "has outstanding theological significance in church renewal."

Since 1990, Aldredge-Clanton has been writing, speaking, and preaching on feminist theology and specifically on including female language for the Divine as a foundation for equality, justice, and peace.

In her introduction to Changing Church: Stories of Liberating Ministers she writes: “My vision is for the Divine Feminine to shine forth in all Her glory in multicultural visual imagery and in the language of worship, supporting equal partnership of women and men.

My vision is of a church where the Divine Feminine and women ministers don’t have to be defended or marginalized, but are fully and equally included throughout every worship service and every activity of the church.

My vision is for the Sacred Feminine to be worshipped not only in Christian congregations, but in every religion all over the world, and for women to share equally in the leadership of every religion.

My vision is for girls to believe they are equal to boys because they hear and see the Supreme Being worshipped as ‘She’ as well as ‘He.'”

Many traditionalists are critical of Aldredge-Clanton's views.

Plumeline, a conservative Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) publication, criticizes the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) for Aldredge-Clanton's leadership at a CBF annual gathering: “The SBC has no feminist theologian leaders calling for the worship of the ‘Christ-Sophia.’ But the CBF does.

Jann Aldredge-Clanton conducted a breakout session at the 1995 General Assembly and is a promoter of feminist theology.

She is the cited ‘leader’ who espouses ‘Christ-Sophia.’” Additionally The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, an evangelical organization opposing an egalitarian view of gender, takes the organization, Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE), to task for including Aldredge-Clanton's children's book, God, A Word for Girls and Boys, in the CBE webstore.

“O Loving Creator, We Labor with You” won honorable mention in the 2007 international hymn contest sponsored by Macalester Plymouth United Church of St. Paul, Minnesota.

In 2011, St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, sponsored a hymn contest in celebration of 25 years of Jesuit leadership; her hymn “Celebrate Our Maker’s Glory” won third place.

“We Come in Celebration” won honorable mention in the 2012 Alliance of Baptists hymn contest.

In 2013, the Religious Institute selected Aldredge-Clanton’s “Praise the Source of All Creation” as the winner of its first hymn contest.

Aldredge-Clanton served as one of the contributors for the CEB (Common English Bible) Women's Bible.(Common English Bible; Sew edition, 2016)

Aldredge-Clanton writes and publishes inclusive language Christian worship resources, including prayers, responsive readings, hymns set to familiar tunes, and even a children's musical.

One of the conservative critics of inclusive theology and language, Russell D. Moore, warns that the children's musical by Aldredge-Clanton and composer Larry E. Schultz, ''Imagine God!

A Children's Musical Exploring and Expressing Images of God'' is "dangerous" because "feminist theologians are correct indeed that it is easier to transform the imaginations of children in thinking about God."

Moore continues his critique writing, "What is at stake here are [sic] not whether the church will accommodate more ‘gender-inclusive’ language, but instead the doctrines of God and revelation—and indeed the gospel itself."

Aldredge-Clanton is one of the founders of the New Wineskins Community in Dallas, Texas.

The community was founded because "We’re all in deep need of healing. We can never be all we’re created to be in the divine image until we expand our image of the Divine. That’s why New Wineskins Community creates rituals that name and image the Divine as female and male and more. Our words and images for the Divine carry great power to shape belief and actions for justice and peace."