Mary Magdalene's energy has become a vivid presence in the Christian tradition, says lecturer Pam Stockton, and studying her is like checking into the Hotel California. You never know where it will lead you in your spiritual life. She adds, Magdalene is a magnetic figure, a first century woman in whom contemporary women find an early role model in their search for a more affirming place in the Christian tradition.

Stockton spoke on Mary Magdalene and the Gender Wars Sunday, May 22, 2005 at St. Pauls Episcopal Church in Fayetteville. Stockton describes herself as a lifelong feminist and a recovering lawyer whose life was radically altered by the practice of Centering Prayer. Her own spiritual journey has taken her from fundamentalist beginnings to an understanding of as a loving and sustaining presence, a God who loves women equally with men.

After retiring from the business and legal world in 1999, Stockton became a member of the Rotating Circle of Brigids Place at Christ Church Cathedral and a student at Perkins School of Theology at SMU. She expects to complete the Master of Theological Studies degree with a Certificate in Womens Studies in 2006. Her interest in Mary Magdalene and feminist theology led her to undertake a book-length project exploring the two preeminent female icons in the Christian tradition, Mary Magdalene and Mary the Mother of Jesus.

Stockton is also a member of the Cathedral Choir at Christ Church Cathedral, a historic church in downtown Houston, where she facilitates Centering Prayer groups open to all who are interested in experiencing this ancient spiritual practice and discovering its transformative potential.

Stockton also spoke on the other Mary. Her morning talk, Mary of Nazareth: Early Images of the Mother of God, explored the remarkable story of the metamorphosis of Mary of Nazareth. Beneath the usual explanations for the transformation of Marys image is the influence of another remarkable woman: the fifth century Empress, Aelia Pulcheria, who deftly used her imperial power to craft an image of Mary that neatly served her own political ends. In so doing, Pulcheria satisfied the cultural and psychic needs of an empire undergoing its own process of conversion to Christian faith, Stockton says.