State of Belief

Tune in this weekend to Interfaith Alliance's weekly radio show and podcast State of Belief to hear
- Vickie Stangl, of the Great Plains chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, on the secular invocation offered at a recent Wichita City Council meeting.
- Kathy Miller, the President and Executive Director of the Texas Freedom Network, on new polling data related to the controversy over the new social studies standards approved by the Texas State Board of Education.
- Mary Hunt, co-founder of the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual, on Argentina's decision to legalize same-gender marriage and her experience teaching at an ecumenical seminary in Buenos Aires in the 1980s.
Plus, Rev. Gaddy shares his thoughts on the disturbing anti-Muslim sentiment that is still plaguing our country.

Listen now at http://feeds.feedburner.com/stateofbelief.

Where God Has Placed a Comma

As part of our internships at WATER, Ikhlas, Elizabeth and I took a “field trip” to the United Church of Christ DC headquarters this summer, where we met with the Rev. Dr. Mari Castellanos, an esteemed member of the UCC church and social justice activist, who is policy advocate for domestic issues at the UCC.

Dr. Castellanos welcomed us warmly with a stream of information about the church: commercials, literature, inclusivity, focus on social justice, all of which impressed me with their broad welcome, clearly stated core beliefs and progressive outlook. “God is still speaking,” as the UCC unofficial motto goes.

A few days later, I saw UCC principles in action at the wedding of Sue, my godmother, and her partner Claire in Chicago. The ceremony was held at Wellington Church in Chicago: we were invited to “come as you are.” Like the UCC church, the wedding incorporated many different traditions, including Cherokee poetry, readings from the Bible, Cris Williamson songs, Shakespeare sonnets, and the poems of Khalil Gibran. An impassioned call that the marriage, though not recognized in the eyes of the state of Illinois, was legitimate in the eyes of UCC was met with cheers from the congregation.

The progressive interpretations of the Bible, combined with a welcoming community, illustrated to me the importance of women’s theology, ethics, and ritual. We lit candles on the altar, sang songs, and responded to the call to worship. The brides’ vows were even different from the usual I do’s and reflected their belief systems.

I was reminded of the unofficial UCC creed: never place a period where God has placed a comma; I was also reminded of the other UCC phrase: God is still speaking; indeed, everyone with a voice who wanted to contribute may speak in the UCC church.

New Book from WATER!!

New Feminist Christianity: Many Voices, Many Views
edited by Mary E. Hunt and Diann L. Neu

Feminism has brought many changes to Christian churches. From inclusive language and imagery about the Divine, to an increase in the number of women ministers, churches will never be the same. Yet, even now, there is a lack of substantive structural change in many churches and a certain complacency within denominations.

The contributors to this book are the thought leaders of the future who are shaping, and being shaped by, the emerging directions of feminist Christianity. They speak from across the spectrum, and from the many racial and ethnic groups that make up the Christian community. Taken together, their voices offer a starting point for building new models of church and society.

Issues covered include:

• Feminist Theological Visions
• Feminist Scriptural Insights
• Feminist Ethical Agendas
• Feminist Liturgical/Artistic Frontiers
• Feminist Ministerial Challenges

A must-read for anyone in Christian ministry, as well as religious feminists in and beyond the Christian tradition, and church-based study groups. (SkyLight Paths Publishing, 300 pages, $24.99 plus s+h).

To order book click here.

WHO ARE THE INTERNS?!

Elizabeth Speigle


I love the color green. I also love water, and WATER! I am a sociology major with women’s studies and religion minors at Goshen College (IN), entering my final year this fall. I have many, many ideas about what to do afterwards… and will take forever making a decision, as per my personality. Women’s choir is my absolute favorite activity in college, though doodling in class would be a close second. I’m from Harleysville, PA, and grew up in the Mennonite church. I also love photography, reading Barbara Kingsolver, and giraffes.







Nellie Beckett

I am a rising first year at Smith College in picturesque Northampton, Massachusetts. I plan to study English, political science, religion and women's studies. During my time at WATER, I have not only engaged in critical feminist theology and social justice but perfected my cake-baking, coffee-making and table-setting skills.











Ikhlas Saleem

I'm a senior at Wellesley College majoring in Religion with a focus on development and social justice. I'm from the Islamic tradition. Like Elizabeth, I'm scattering to formulate post grad plans, which I hope will involve some type of travel! When I'm not "working" on future plans I enjoy watching Mad Men, reading historical novels and walking around the city. As I'm from Atlanta, Ga, Summer is my favorite season of the year and my time at WATER has made it that much dearer to me.

Updates at WATER!

The WATER office has been busy, busy, busy this summer updating and revamping our social networks to keep YOU better connected. We hope you have found the posts to Mary E. Hunt's articles and other information on our blogs helpful and convenient.

WATER intern Elizabeth Speigle, Diann Neu and Zelinda Fouant have been working diligently for weeks on updating and reorganizing our website, www.hers.com/water, and creating our eNewsletter which you should have received yesterday.

These social networks help to keep you connected with WATER, but we also want to hear from you! So, indulge us and follow us on twitter @WATERvoices, become a fan of our fbook page http://www.facebook.com/WATERwomensalliance. It's up to you, choose your medium.

Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, Cry For the Catholic Church

Argentina's legalization of gay marriage is a defeat of the Roman Catholic church every bit as much as the political opposition.

By Mary E. Hunt


Two women drinking coffee together in a Buenos Aires café during the dictatorship (1973-1983) could have been arrested merely for being together. Today they can marry. What a difference a few decades can make. Eva Peron was right in her address to her people from the balcony, as crooned memorably by Madonna in the movie Evita: “The truth is I never left you/All through my wild days/My mad existence/I kept my promise/don’t keep your distance…”

To continue reading article click here.

Catholic Prof Teaches that Same-Sex Marriage is Violation of ‘Natural Law’

By Mary E. Hunt

Kenneth Howell, an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was not rehired for the Fall 2010 semester. He claims that his right to free speech was violated when he taught a course on Catholic theology that included the notion that same-sex relationships are in violation of natural law. He made no secret of the fact that he agreed with the institutional Catholic Church’s teaching and by all reports offered no other Catholic positions on the question.

Predictably, the institutional Church is unhappy, conservative media including the local Fox affiliate are all over the story, and Dr. Howell is being supported in his efforts at redress by the Alliance Defense Fund. The Fund was created in 1994 in response “to the urgent need for the legal defense and advocacy of religious freedom” by religious leaders including Bill Bright, Larry Burkett, and James Dobson, among others. “Their prime concern was the dramatic loss of religious freedom in America’s courts and the resulting challenges to people of faith to live and proclaim the Gospel.” It is a good guess that a court case is in the offing.

To continue reading article click here.