At the end of February there will be an International Convocation Of Unitarian Universalist Women In Houston, Texas. (www.icuuw.com) The program will include an amazing collection of speakers including CMwD's own Sharon Welch, Provost from Meadville Lombard. Rebecca Parker (President of Starr King School for the Ministry), Meg Riley (UUA Action and Public Witness) and Laurel Hallman (Candidate for the UUA Presidency) are also on the speaker's roster. This Convocation is part of the ongoing stream of the Women and Religion movement that began over 30 years ago. In 1978 Paul Carnes began his UUA Presidency by appointing a Women and Religion Committee
. The purpose of this committee was to implement the Women and Religion Resolution and to raise the awareness of Unitarian Universalism to the Issues of feminism. At the time, fewer than 5% of our ministry was women. The hymnal used male identified language. Most Unitarian Universalist Churches had women's groups that had day meetings for women who were not employed outside the home. Unitarian Universalism needed to be challenged and encouraged to reflect upon how we could incorporate the issues raised by the women's movement into liberal religion. The first Women and Religion Conference in CMwD was held in 1980 and has grown steadily over time.
It is 2008. It has been thirty years...
Wendy Hunter Roberts in her book Celebrating Her remarks, “Of all the signs on the horizon, perhaps the most interesting are the countless homegrown women’s spirituality groups that have sprung up all across the nation and beyond.” The phenomenon of “homegrown women’s spirituality groups” has been especially widespread within Unitarian Universalism as women worked together to implement the Women & Religion Resolution.
Let us not forget that it was the women in our congregations who stood up every time sexist language was spoken until the ministers and worship leaders changed the words. It was the women in our movement who demanded that sexist language not be part of our Principles and Purposes. It was the women who demanded a hymnal free of sexist language. It was the women who brought home from women’s conferences and incorporated into Sunday worship the sharing of joys and concerns; the sharing of the waters collected on summer vacations; the arrangement of chairs in half circles rather than rigid rows; the closing words “Blessed be.”
Coming soon! A new, year-long, 13-session curriculum to prepare women to take on the important role of Crone / Wise Women in their communities.
This course is designed for women who are entering or have passed through menopause and would like to mark this passage. Other important life transitions such as births, coming of age, marriage and graduations are marked in cultures and are celebrated by the family and community. In European Pagan traditions the stages of a woman’s life are marked as maiden, mother and crone. These ritual celebrations occur in communities and honor both the individual and the group. This 13 session course helps prepare women to participate in a ritual celebrating becoming a woman of wisdom.
Here's a great Internship opportunity with the UUA Department of Advocacy and Witness. They are seeking a Legislative Assistant for Women's Issues, to assist the Washington, DC office in affecting public policy made by the US Congress and Administration, with a focus on gender and sexual justice. Get the details at http://www.uua.org/aboutus/careeropportunities/socialjustice/index.shtml
Applications must be received by noon EST on Monday, November 17th, 2009. That's this coming Monday!
