This dissertation presents a nuanced portrait of the female faith identities of Christian adolescent women and proposes a model of religious education that assists them in living with faith-filled integrity. Through my Stories of Gender project, I discovered that image is everything for female identity and that doing theological reflection together enables young women to struggle against harmful and limiting images of femininity. By critically correlating these findings with insights from girls’ studies, feminist theology, and religious education, I develop and test a curriculum designed to promote healthy and theologically-sound transformation in how young women understand and live out their identities. The religious education model I recommend focuses on introducing (1) feminist theological discourses and practices grounded in our status as imago Dei and imago Christi and (2) embodied and aesthetic means to reflect on, construct, and share emerging understandings of female faith identities.

Through two empirical research projects, this dissertation adds to our understanding of how faith is lived, particularly by young women in the United States. Further, correlating this portrait with feminist theology enables a more appropriate matching of resources from the Christian tradition for young women’s lives, such as highlighting imago Dei theology to bolster their sense of inherent worth. It also leads to a re-visioning of theological categories, particularly challenging a lack of attention to imago Christi theology and suggesting emphases on Christ’s identity as radically loved by God, our belonging to the body of Christ, and kenotic love as risking a sharing of self in community. Finally, this dissertation offers practical guidance for religious leaders wishing to support young women’s full flourishing.