Synopsis "Can't You Hear Her?"
Can't You Hear Her? Asks the question that I'm sure victims of sexual and physical abuse are asking as they sit quietly in pain, shame, anger, and disbelief of the tragic violation they have experienced as the world continues to move on as though nothing has happened. Can't You Hear Her, is not directed to any one person, race, national origin, gender, or culture, it is written for all. Sexual and physical violence is a world-wide pandemic that is rooted and grafted in the fabric of patriarchy and this world's systemic evils that devalues women. Listen for her voice, she has been silenced far too long, from biblical encounters, to slave trade/exploitations, to yesteryear, and today. Hear her. Join me as we journey through the Holy Scriptures and hear three violated and silenced women, who's stories are rarely told from the place of their pain and exploitations; Dinah, Tamar, and the Unnamed Concubine, of whom some may be able to self-identify with as violated women. Through an intentional and homiletically unique transformative sermon series of four, an amalgamation of impactful preaching methods was used to address the difficult subject matter of the texts. The homiletical methods used are prophetic, incarnational translation, expository (both inductive and deductive), and narrative; these allow one to see and feel the presence, touch, and love of God even when God is not mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. These four sermons lend voice to those silently sitting in our pews, gives strength to the bruised and broken spirited, and gives courage for accountability to our society and to the Universal Church to "Shatter the Silence and Stop the Violence." Through her graduate work, "Using Transformation Preaching to Bring Awareness and Break the Silence in the Church regarding Sexual and Physical Violence Against Women," Reverend Dr. Marcia Grayson has become known as "The Voice for Broken Women." Dr. Grayson is the founder of A Better Me Prayer Ministry. Through her foreign missional outreach, Marcia gained an insatiable passion and compassion for ministry. Her community and organizational involvements include being a Grand Asst. Chaplain of the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World and a member of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. National Human Trafficking Committee. She is a retired Correction Officer, the proud mother of twin daughters, grandmother of four, and loves her encouraging and loving parents and family.
