SHEkinah

Lois Roden (1905–1986) asserted herself as prophet of the Branch Davidians following the death of her husband, Branch Davidian founder Ben Roden (1902–1978), and she would lead the group from 1978 to 1983. In support of her authority as prophet she introduced two progressive ideas to the Branch Davidians—the feminine nature of God and the legitimacy of women's religious leadership. Following the example set by Davidian founder Victor Houteff (1885–1955) of publishing church teaching as a means of evangelization, Lois Roden in 1980 created the journal SHEkinah to reprint newspaper and other articles supporting her teachings about feminist theology and biblical studies. Analysis of SHEkinah shows that by reprinting articles from scholars affiliated with other Christian denominations and from authors with the secular media, Lois Roden promoted these revolutionary ideas even while retaining traditional Seventh-day Adventist convictions.