Virginia Ramey Mollenkott

Personal life

She was born in Philadelphia's Temple University Hospital on January 28, 1932; married Frederick H. Mollenkott on June 17, 1954; had a son, Paul F. Mollenkott, on July 3, 1958; and was divorced in July 1973. A Democrat and trans-religious Christian, Mollenkott lives with her domestic partner Judith Suzannah Tilton at Cedar Crest Retirement Village; together they co-grandmother Virginia's three granddaughters.

Education

She earned her B.A. from fundamentalist Bob Jones University in 1953; her M.A. at Temple University in 1955; her Ph.D. at New York University in 1964; and received an honorary Doctorate in Ministries from Samaritan College in 1989.

Career

She chaired the English Department at Shelton College, Ringwood, New Jersey, from 1955–1963 and at Nyack College, from 1963-1967. She then taught at William Paterson University from 1967 to 1997, chairing the English Department from 1972–1976 and since 1997 holding the position of Professor of Englih Emeritus.

Mollenkott served as an assistant editor of Seventeenth Century News from 1965–1975; as a stylistic consultant for the New International Version of the Bible for the American Bible Society from 1970–1978. Mollenkott became an associate of the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP) in 1977. WIFP is an American nonprofit publishing organization. The organization works to increase communication between women and connect the public with forms of women-based media. She also was a member of the translation committee for An Inclusive Language Lectionary for the National Council of Churches from 1980–1988. 1980-1990, she was on the Board of Pacem in Terris, Warwick, New York. Starting in 1989 through 1994, Mollenkott served on the Board of the Upper Room AIDS Ministry, Harlem, New York. For over a decade she was on the Board of Kirkridge Retreat and Conference Center, Bangor, PA starting in 1980. She held a seat on the Advisory Board of the Program on Gender and Society at the Rochester (New York) Divinity School from 1993–1996. She started as a manuscript evaluator for the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion in 1994 and has continued into the present. She worked as a contributing editor to The Witness from 1994 to 2000. Since 1997 she has served on the editorial board of Studies in Theology and Sexuality, based in the United Kingdom. She was also a contributing editor to The Other Side from 2003-2007. She has delivered hundreds of guest lectures on feminist and LGBT theologies at churches, conferences, universities and seminaries throughout the United States.

Writing

Mollenkott's books are listed below.

She has been a lifetime member of the Modern Language Association, where she served on the Executive Committee of Religion and Literature from 1976–1980; and a lifetime member of the Milton Society of America, serving on the executive committee from 1974-1976. She has published dozens of articles in scholarly and literary journals as well as church-related publications, and is an active founding member of the Evangelical and Ecumenical Women's Caucus, better known as Christian Feminism Today.

Mollenkott's archives are available at The Center for Gay and Lesbian Studies at the Pacific School of Religion.

Editting

Mollenkott also edited a book of spiritual poems, Adam Among the Television Trees, 1971 and a volume of inter-religious essays by Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women called Women of Faith in Dialogue, 1987.

Awards

In 1992 Mollenkott received the New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Achievement Award, and in 1999 was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from SAGE (Senior Action in a Gay Environment).

She has also won awards for her writing. Is the Homosexual My Neighbor: A Positive Christian Response won the Integrity Award in 1979. Her book Omnigender: A Trans-Religious Approach won two awards in 2002: the Lambda Literary Award and the Ben Franklin Award.