About My Work
I am an unlikely and persistent scholar. In 2019 I left my career in nonprofit leadership to pursue my interest in women in Early Christianity. I received my Masters of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt Divinity School in 2023.
My research bookends the events of Holy Week. Starting with the anointing of Jesus's head in Mark 14:3-9 and ending with Mary Magdlaene's proclamation of the resurrection in John 20:18, "I have seen the Lord."
Not surprisingly, these profound moments in Christian history are rarely depicted or named in Early Christian or Medieval Art. Commisioning and celebrating contemporary art is an important step to addressing these oversights.
​
Jesus declared that the anointing woman would be remembered throughout the world, and that is what I seek to do.
​
(Figure 3) “Tomb of St. Clair,” Inventory Number Ra 825; Continuous frieze sarcophagi, fourth century,
St. Raymond Archeological Museum, Toulouse, France, from the region, Marble.
Height 43 cm, Width 59 cm, Thickness 8.5 cm, Depth 3.5 cm.
Photo by Beth Maczka
My Research
Research:
“The Absence of the Anointing of Jesus’s Head in Church-Commissioned Art,"
Submitted for peer review
“Mary Magdalene as the Orante, A Study of Three Sarcophagi in the Southern France and Northern Spain"
Submitted for peer review
Past Conferences:
“The Absence of the Anointing of Jesus’s Head in Church-Commissioned Art,”
Presented at the Bible and Visual Art panel,
Society of Biblical Literature Conference, San Diego, CA, Nov 22-25, 2024
“Mary Magdalene as the Orante, A Study of Three Sarcophagi in the Languedoc Region,”
Presented at the Archeology of Religion in the Roman World panel,
Society of Biblical Literature Conference, San Diego, CA, Nov 22-25, 2024
Beth Maczka's research and beautifully crafted Reclaim Mary Magdalene retreat is a much needed and welcome contribution to the Christian community and beyond. This retreat is an oasis in the desert for those of us who yearn for the Divine Feminine and a more well-balanced spiritual experience of mind, body, heart, and spirit.
I am ever so grateful for the transformation I personally experienced, thanks to Beth's passion and ministry.
The Reverend Stephanie Foretich-McKey,
Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church, Asheville, NC