24 July 2009
Faithful and Fabulous: Dignity on the Road at Forty
Mary Hunt was featured as the keynote speaker at Dignity USA's 2009 Convention. Read her address here.
09 July 2009
Pink Menno calls for an inclusive and welcoming church
LGBTQ activism and inclusion in the church can look a host of different ways. For the Mennonite assembly gathered in Columbus, Ohio last week, the look was pink.
The "pink presence" at the Mennonite Church USA Convention was initiated by a campaign called Pink Menno, which began a few months ago in response to an open letter written to Mennonite Church USA by pastors calling for LGBTQ inclusion in the church. Pink Menno supporters wore pink as a way to be a visible presence of LGBTQ people, friends, family, and allies in the Mennonite Church. At an essential level, wearing pink was a way of reopening dialogue about how the church is called to be an inclusive and welcoming body.
Momentum for Pink Menno grew on the website, http://www.pinkmenno.org, prior to convention, and continued to spread as the week went on, culminating with a "sea of pink" in the center of the Columbus Nationwide Arena, where 4,000+ Mennonites gathered to sing at the traditional convention-wide hymn sing.
The mid-week prayer service and press conference drew a crowd of over 100 people, and the story was picked up by several local news services and the Associated Press. By 9:00pm that night over 150 sites had picked up the story, like the Washington Post.
Needless to say, a success like this coverage was thrilling. But simpler graces were just as thrilling -- the packed workshops and film screenings we led (in a hotel across the street since Pink Menno was banned from the convention center); the "pink demand" that rid us of all our shirts, bandanas, and bracelets and sent us to Goodwill to buy out their pink gear; the positive, welcoming spirit which the whole movement embodied. Opposing forces expected radical protest and disruptive disobedience; instead they got Pink Mennos singing hymns outside the worship hall, meeting for prayer, sharing communion, engaging in dialogue.
The Mennonite Church has a long way to go. There are many who don't want to go there. But Pink Menno's presence and movement at Columbus ensures that the Mennonite Church cannot ignore this issue any longer. Church leaders are now coming to us, asking us to help them deal with it. People are talking. Baby pink steps forward.
The "pink presence" at the Mennonite Church USA Convention was initiated by a campaign called Pink Menno, which began a few months ago in response to an open letter written to Mennonite Church USA by pastors calling for LGBTQ inclusion in the church. Pink Menno supporters wore pink as a way to be a visible presence of LGBTQ people, friends, family, and allies in the Mennonite Church. At an essential level, wearing pink was a way of reopening dialogue about how the church is called to be an inclusive and welcoming body.
Momentum for Pink Menno grew on the website, http://www.pinkmenno.org, prior to convention, and continued to spread as the week went on, culminating with a "sea of pink" in the center of the Columbus Nationwide Arena, where 4,000+ Mennonites gathered to sing at the traditional convention-wide hymn sing.
The mid-week prayer service and press conference drew a crowd of over 100 people, and the story was picked up by several local news services and the Associated Press. By 9:00pm that night over 150 sites had picked up the story, like the Washington Post.
Needless to say, a success like this coverage was thrilling. But simpler graces were just as thrilling -- the packed workshops and film screenings we led (in a hotel across the street since Pink Menno was banned from the convention center); the "pink demand" that rid us of all our shirts, bandanas, and bracelets and sent us to Goodwill to buy out their pink gear; the positive, welcoming spirit which the whole movement embodied. Opposing forces expected radical protest and disruptive disobedience; instead they got Pink Mennos singing hymns outside the worship hall, meeting for prayer, sharing communion, engaging in dialogue.
The Mennonite Church has a long way to go. There are many who don't want to go there. But Pink Menno's presence and movement at Columbus ensures that the Mennonite Church cannot ignore this issue any longer. Church leaders are now coming to us, asking us to help them deal with it. People are talking. Baby pink steps forward.
--Anna B. Roeschley
25 June 2009
Online Recordings from WATER's Creative Feminist Ministers Institute
WATER is abuzz with creative feminist ministry. Over the course of two days last week, we held a series of conversations via live interviews and conference calls, connecting feminist ministers and offering training and education they need to do their work more effectively.
In efforts to make these much-needed resources more widely accessible, and to broaden the scope of our conversation, we recorded the sessions for use online. We hope you will view/listen to them, connect from afar, and continue the conversations by posting comments to this blog. We invite you to donate to WATER as you use these resources.
Click on the links below to download. If the download does not begin automatically, right-click and choose "save target as" in order to start the download, which may take some time given the size of the video.
In efforts to make these much-needed resources more widely accessible, and to broaden the scope of our conversation, we recorded the sessions for use online. We hope you will view/listen to them, connect from afar, and continue the conversations by posting comments to this blog. We invite you to donate to WATER as you use these resources.
Click on the links below to download. If the download does not begin automatically, right-click and choose "save target as" in order to start the download, which may take some time given the size of the video.
Liberation Beyond Borders: Dalit Feminist Hermeneutics and Four Gospel Women
A conversation with Surekha Nelavala and Mary Kate Birge, Download video here.
Challenges for Feminist Ministers
A conversation with Cindy Lapp and Mari Castellanos, Download video here.
Theological Education for Feminist Ministry
A conference call with Emilie Townes, Download audio recording here.
Feminist Ministry and Sexual Violence
A conference call with Marie Fortune, Download audio recording here.
This inaugural series was a success, and the exciting part is that it is just beginning! Stay tuned for future opportunities to connect, cooperate, and learn together on issues surrounding feminist ministry.
-- Anna B. Roeschley
16 June 2009
Keep it Catholic, Catholics
Keep it Catholic, Catholics: A Response to Michael Sean Winters' Attack on Frances Kissling in America
I debated in Catholic high school and Jesuit college. We practiced by taking positions other than our own so we would understand the ins and outs of our opponents’ ways of thinking. We were taught that gratuitous slams at the other side were never acceptable, and that they certainly were no substitute for reasoned arguments. We were coached to avoid ad hominem (in those days we did not imagine ad feminam) arguments at all costs since they insulted our worthy opponents and made clear that we were out of ideas to bolster our own positions. In the rough and tumble of real world debates, it is training that has stood me in good stead.
Imagine my surprise to read on the Jesuit magazine America’s blog a recent post by Michael Sean Winters in which he violated all the rules. His attack on Frances Kissling and her recent article in Salon began with a gratuitous slam.
(Read the rest of the article by Mary E. Hunt posted on Religion Dispatches.)
I debated in Catholic high school and Jesuit college. We practiced by taking positions other than our own so we would understand the ins and outs of our opponents’ ways of thinking. We were taught that gratuitous slams at the other side were never acceptable, and that they certainly were no substitute for reasoned arguments. We were coached to avoid ad hominem (in those days we did not imagine ad feminam) arguments at all costs since they insulted our worthy opponents and made clear that we were out of ideas to bolster our own positions. In the rough and tumble of real world debates, it is training that has stood me in good stead.
Imagine my surprise to read on the Jesuit magazine America’s blog a recent post by Michael Sean Winters in which he violated all the rules. His attack on Frances Kissling and her recent article in Salon began with a gratuitous slam.
(Read the rest of the article by Mary E. Hunt posted on Religion Dispatches.)
09 June 2009
Post to our blog and see FSR, Inc.
WATER’s blog is a place for your thoughts on topics of common interest to feminists in religion. Please feel free to jump into the conversation whenever you wish. We welcome you!
Another place to discuss feminist issues is http://fir-publicvoice.blogspot.com/ which is sponsored by Feminist Studies in Religion, Inc. The two groups have collaborated on several projects over the years.
Your voice is important. Raise it here.
Mary E. Hunt
Another place to discuss feminist issues is http://fir-publicvoice.blogspot.com/ which is sponsored by Feminist Studies in Religion, Inc. The two groups have collaborated on several projects over the years.
Your voice is important. Raise it here.
Mary E. Hunt
05 June 2009
Feminist Theology 101
Mary Hunt and Judith Plaskow discuss feminist views of God and women in the Bible, in an interview on Interfaith Voices radio, http://www.interfaithradio.org
27 May 2009
The Unsung Speech at Notre Dame, A Postmortem
President Barack Obama spoke persuasively at the 2009 University of Notre Dame commencement, pulling off a graceful if somewhat jocular address befitting the sports-school ambiance. The president cushioned his pro-choice position with a crowd-pleasing homage to Notre Dame’s legendary president, Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC, a.k.a “Father Ted.” He hitched his wagon to the star of the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, champion of the “seamless garment” approach that connects ending abortion with the eradication of poverty, war, and the death penalty (among other issues), despite the fact the most women’s clothes have plenty of seams.
Read the full article by Mary E. Hunt on Religion Dispatches.
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