"How does having a female body affect the experience of women in indigenous African Christian churches? The Christian faith as practiced by Africans has acquired unique traits over time, including distinct gender practices. Some of the most radical reinterpretations are offered by those churches known as "AICs" (variously, African Initiated, African Instituted, or African Independent Churches) - new denominations founded by Africans critical of dogma offered by mainstream churches with roots in European empires. As these churches spread throughout Africa and its diaspora, they have brought with them gender practices that range from requiring women to avoid holy objects and sites during menstruation to ordaining women and assigning them the same duties and responsibilities as male clergy.".

"Spirit, Structure, and Flesh explores the ways ritual, symbol, and dogma circumscribe, constrain, and liberate women in AICs. Through detailed description of worship and doctrine, as well as careful analyses of church history and organizational processes, Deidre Helen Crumbley explores gendered experiences of faith and power in three Nigerian indigenous AICs, demonstrating the roles of women in the day-to-day life of these churches."--BOOK JACKET.