• Acknowledgments; A Special Note on Barbara Robinette Moss (1954-2009)
• Duane DeRaad; Introduction: A Faith of Verbs; I. Seeking Faith in Motion and Stillness; Facing Altars: Poetry and Prayer
• Mary Karr; Pilgrimage
• Debra Moffitt; Chiaroscuro: Shimmer and Shadow
• Susan Cushman; II. Keeping Faith of Our Mothers; Taking Terroir on Faith
• Beth Ann Fennelly; Amazons in Appalachia
• Marilou Awiakta; Why We Can't Talk to You About Voodoo
• Brenda Marie Osbey; III. Embodying Faith in the Flesh; Magic
• Amy Blackmarr; Going to Church: A Sartorial Odyssey
• Marshall Chapman.

• What the Body Knows
• Barbara Brown Taylor; The Queen of Hearts
• Margaret Gibson; IV. Questioning Life Without Faith?; Rapture on Hold
• Rheta Grimsley Johnson; The Only Jews in Town
• Stella Suberman; A Purposeful Life
• Mitzi Adams; V. Transforming Faith in Change; A Fairy Tale: The Prodigal Daughter Returns
• Connie May Fowler; Alice Walker Calls God "Mama": An Interview with Alice
• Valerie Reiss; Signs of Faith
• Barbara Robinette Moss; What We Will Call Nature
• Cia White; Contributors; Permissions.

Circling Faith is a collection of essays by southern women that encompasses spirituality and the experience of winding through the religiously charged environment of the American South. Mary Karr, in 'Facing Altars, ' describes how the consolation she found in poetry directed her to a similar solace in prayer. In 'Chiaroscuro: Shimmer and Shadow, ' Susan Cushman recounts how her dissatisfaction with a Presbyterian upbringing led her to hold her own worship services at home and eventually to join the Eastern Orthodox Church. 'Magic' by Amy Blackmarr depicts a religious practice that occurs wholly outside of any formal setting - she recognizes places, such as a fishing shack in south Georgia, and things, such as crystal Cherokee earrings, as reminders that God exists everywhere and that a Great Comforter is always present. In 'The Only Jews in Town, ' Stella Suberman gives her account of growing up as a religious minority in Tennessee, connecting her story to a larger narrative of Eastern European Jews who moved away from the Northeast, often to found and run 'Jew stores' in midwestern and southern towns. Alice Walker, in an interview with Valerie Reiss titled 'Alice Walker Calls God 'Mama, '' relates her dynamic relationship with her God, which includes meditation and yoga, and explains how she views the role of faith in her work, including her novel The Color Purple. These essays showcase the large spectrum of spirituality that abides in the South, as well as the equally large spectrum of individual women who hold these faiths.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Acknowledgments; A Special Note on Barbara Robinette Moss (1954-2009)
• Duane DeRaad; Introduction: A Faith of Verbs; I. Seeking Faith in Motion and Stillness; Facing Altars: Poetry and Prayer
• Mary Karr; Pilgrimage
• Debra Moffitt; Chiaroscuro: Shimmer and Shadow
• Susan Cushman; II. Keeping Faith of Our Mothers; Taking Terroir on Faith
• Beth Ann Fennelly; Amazons in Appalachia
• Marilou Awiakta; Why We Can't Talk to You About Voodoo
• Brenda Marie Osbey; III. Embodying Faith in the Flesh; Magic
• Amy Blackmarr; Going to Church: A Sartorial Odyssey
• Marshall Chapman.

• What the Body Knows
• Barbara Brown Taylor; The Queen of Hearts
• Margaret Gibson; IV. Questioning Life Without Faith?; Rapture on Hold
• Rheta Grimsley Johnson; The Only Jews in Town
• Stella Suberman; A Purposeful Life
• Mitzi Adams; V. Transforming Faith in Change; A Fairy Tale: The Prodigal Daughter Returns
• Connie May Fowler; Alice Walker Calls God "Mama": An Interview with Alice
• Valerie Reiss; Signs of Faith
• Barbara Robinette Moss; What We Will Call Nature
• Cia White; Contributors; Permissions.

Circling Faith is a collection of essays by southern women that encompasses spirituality and the experience of winding through the religiously charged environment of the American South. Mary Karr, in 'Facing Altars, ' describes how the consolation she found in poetry directed her to a similar solace in prayer. In 'Chiaroscuro: Shimmer and Shadow, ' Susan Cushman recounts how her dissatisfaction with a Presbyterian upbringing led her to hold her own worship services at home and eventually to join the Eastern Orthodox Church. 'Magic' by Amy Blackmarr depicts a religious practice that occurs wholly outside of any formal setting - she recognizes places, such as a fishing shack in south Georgia, and things, such as crystal Cherokee earrings, as reminders that God exists everywhere and that a Great Comforter is always present. In 'The Only Jews in Town, ' Stella Suberman gives her account of growing up as a religious minority in Tennessee, connecting her story to a larger narrative of Eastern European Jews who moved away from the Northeast, often to found and run 'Jew stores' in midwestern and southern towns. Alice Walker, in an interview with Valerie Reiss titled 'Alice Walker Calls God 'Mama, '' relates her dynamic relationship with her God, which includes meditation and yoga, and explains how she views the role of faith in her work, including her novel The Color Purple. These essays showcase the large spectrum of spirituality that abides in the South, as well as the equally large spectrum of individual women who hold these faiths.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)