The purpose of this forum is to facilitate communication and mutual support and edification among those who strive toward gender justice in Churches of Christ. If you would like to join the forum, send an e-mail (including your first and last name) from your primary address to forum@gal328.org.
Sara Barton has let us know about the 2nd annual Women in Ministry Conference that will be occuring this May 24-25 at Rochester College (just following the annual Sermon Seminar held May 22-24). This year's theme is "My Soul Thirsts" and the feature speaker will be Dr. Jackie Halstead. Please see the link below for more information.
http://www.rc.edu/wmc/
The picture to the left is the group photo from last year's conference.
:::posted by Chad on 2/26/2006 10:21:00 PM
Follow-up to the "Vagina Monologues"...
2 years ago Princeton Theological Seminary was the first seminary to ever produce the Monologues. This was the second performance. Friday night we raised $700, 90% of which goes to a local organization, Womanspace. The remaining money is given to the V-Day organization, and this year is dedicated to the cause of the "Comfort Women" of WWII. I don't know the figures for Saturday, but the crowd was bigger so I expect we matched Friday's total or better.
The performance itself went really well. I personally had a lot of fun with it, especially adapting one of my funnier lines to include the name of my husband...
As a member of the "Vulva Choir," most of the pieces I performed in were simply funny: for instance, "what would your vagina wear," and "what would your vagina say in 2 words." A lot of the play is funny like this--lighthearted humor. It has to be, because some of the monologues are descriptions of rape and the consequences of rape: "Crooked Braid," and "My Vagina was my Village," are accounts of abuse and rape based on (as are all the monologues) interviews with real women. The play ends with a monologue called "I was there in the room," a description of the author's witnessing of the birth of her granddaughter. Being 6 months pregnant, sitting on stage listening to this monologue, made me weep every time I heard it.
I wrote quite a bit about the experience of being in the Monologues for the first time on my personal blog, so if anyone's interested in my various musings on it, you can go here: why part 1, why part 1.5, why part 2, why part 3, in media res, and fine.
:::posted by Jennifer on 2/25/2006 01:28:00 PM
Thanks, Wiley, for the report from ACU Lectures. It's especially nice to hear such a good report about Irie's class. Good job, Irie! I wish I could have been in that class.
Jennifer, I hope you'll give us an update on "The Vagina Monologues."
--Chris
:::posted by Christopher on 2/24/2006 09:05:00 PM
I just looked at the length of my last post. So much for quick :>)
:::posted by Wiley on 2/24/2006 07:43:00 PM
Just a quick post. Tuesday I was able to get out to Abilene to ACU Lectureship and take just one class. I had originally planned on being at Lectureship the entire time but had to cancel those plans due to work and other committments. I then had decided to take three classes on the one day I could drive out but you know how plans occassionally change. Well, my plans changed as soon as the 1st class ended. I had the priviledge to be in a class taught by Irie on ministering to marginalized women. If I could have taken any class at Lectureship, I don't believe there would have been a better class to attend! I wish we could have had more men in the class but there were four of us guys there. A definite minority! It was an excellent and very interesting class. Irie is a very interesting speaker who just captivates your attention! I had never met Irie before the end of that class, even though we have corresponded in the past both publically (here) and privately. I had listened to her class at Pepperdine (thanks to Gaylor), and have a paper she wrote on my web site. After the class, we ended up heading into the Bean for coffee (me) and breakfast (her) and in the process, ran into my daughter Shannon who lives in Kingwood, TX, and who had just finished up interviewing a summer CM intern applicant. She was on her way out of the Bean, Of course they knew each other already. We all had a nice visit after that and my 2nd class, one on Christian Lawyers (now that's an oxymoron! :>) ) taught by Edward Fudge (a Christian lawyer), fell victim to a much more enjoyable way of spending my time! After that, Shannon and I went to the exhibits and spent money that wasn't in my budget for this month, and then on to the morning assembly. We ended up on the concourse at of the collesium waiting on the morning assembly to start and Shannon's husband, David, to show up. Shannon told me to wait at one spot for a minute and left. After a short time, she came back with another person I had never met but corresponded with some last year. That person was D'Esta Love. That was another really nice surprise I hadn't counted on. After the assembly, it was back to pick up Shannon and David's daughter, River, and one of my twin daughters, Kathie, and then head to Harold's Bar-b-que, where we stood in line for about 45 minutes while Grandpa held his only granddaughter for most of the time until we finally got to where we could order. I was treated to lunch and just as we sat down to eat, Harold (owner)came out and led us in singing praise to God! Wow! Than man can sing! And when everyone in there sang with him, the harmony was awesome! After lunch, it was back to the duplex where Kristie and Kathie live (across from ACU) and prepare to head home. The third class was nixed by the little angel who who went home to spend the night and all of the next day with her very happy Grandpa!
It was quite a day for me!
:::posted by Wiley on 2/24/2006 06:52:00 PM
Background note to this comment: I am involved in the production of "The Vagina Monologues" on my campus--a first for me. For those of you who don't know much about it, you can go here and find out.
My husband found this article in the NY Times this morning and I thought it might be of general interest: At Religious Universities, Disputes Over Faith and Academic Freedom .
:::posted by Jennifer on 2/18/2006 11:14:00 AM
Any reactions on why/how one of our universities would articulate as a "core belief" this phrase:
Our commitment to the New Testament church compels us to teach, with a humble and gracious spirit, such neglected concepts as congregational autonomy, a cappella music in worship, the weekly observance of the Lord's Supper, and the distinctive roles of men and women in the Christian assembly.
Think they realize how many congregations they're alienating?
:::posted by J on 2/08/2006 12:13:00 AM
archives
