Resources
Looking for information on women’s theology or worship planning materials? Want insight into how to use exclusive and expansive language? Looking for enriching materials for yourself or your congregation? Use the resources below from Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministry/PW. Are you looking for a resource you don’t see here? Email us.
Celebrate the Gifts of Women
Illustration courtesy of Ruggieri/Illustration Works.
Celebrate the Gifts of Women Sunday honors women who contribute their gifts to the church and community and lifts up issues of women’s rights. March 8, 2009, was designated as Celebrate the Gifts of Women Sunday, but you may choose to observe it on any Sunday of the year. This year’s Celebrate the Gifts of Women resource commemorates the Jubilee of John Calvin, the 500th birthday of the Protestant reformer with suggestions for liturgy, programs, song and prayer. Read how First Presbyterian Church of Owensboro, Kentucky, celebrated the gifts of women in the PC(USA) during its preparations for the Lenten season.
The 2009 Celebrate the Gifts of Women resource, written by Dale Lindsday Morgan, includes
- a worship service with a call to worship, prayer of confession, assurance of pardon, suggested hymns, scripture and program suggestions
- a dramatic approach applying Calvin’s thoughts to women’s leadership in the church today
- recommended resources for further study
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about the resource.
Download the 2009 Celebrate the Gifts of Women resource.
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Download the 2009 Celebrate the Gifts of Women bulletin cover
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Share your story
Whether you celebrate the gifts of women in worship, in a Bible Study, with others through your blog or on your own in reflection, we want to know: “What’s your story?” Tell us how you observed Celebrate the Gifts of Women Sunday in written form, photos, or short video. Email us your story, and we may tell your story on AllWomen.
Women of Faith
Since 1986, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Women of Faith Awards have honored ministers and laywomen who have transformed the church and society through their witness, service and leadership. Awards are presented at the Women of Faith Breakfast during the General Assembly. “Visionary Women transforming the church and society” was the 2008 theme. The three honorees were:
- The Rev. Magdalena I. García, pastor of Ravenswood Presbyterian Church, a multicultural and bilingual congregation in Chicago
- The Rev. Ann L. Hayman of Santa Monica, Calif., founder of the Mary Magdalene Project, a program that provides alternatives to women involved in street prostitution
- Theodora (Thea) Jackson of Brewster, N.Y., founder of the Jamaica Service Project in Queens, New York, a national model for developing comprehensive and coordinated systems of services for the aging
Download a PDF of Past Winners.
Associate General Presbyter for Kiskiminetas Presbytery Erin S. Cox-Holmes covered the 2008 event at the 218th General Assembly in San Jose:
As I raise my three daughters, I am reminded every day what it means to be a woman in this world,” Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) moderator, the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, told the packed room gathered to celebrate “Visionary Women Transforming the Church and Society” at the Women of Faith Awards breakfast. Keep reading.
Inclusive and expansive language
The Rev. Karen Sue Hernandez-Granzen of Trenton, New Jersey, at the 2008 Multicultural Conference. Photo used with permission.
When writing a prayer or creating liturgy, do you use father to describe God, or do you use additional or other words such as creator or shepherd to describe God? Or maybe you think all of those suggestions are unfamiliar or impractical. Whether expansive, or extensive, language is something you embrace or something that is new to you, the church has often debated its necessity and appropriateness. Keep reading.
Theology: The study of God ...
Are you a theologian? Some theologians are scholars and spend most of their time studying, writing and reflecting in this endeavor. Some of us are simply engaged through our lives and faith in reflecting on the question, "Where is God in this?"
As we notice, pay attention and wonder about God we become theologians too. The following items and current information deal with some of the theological questions that lay before us in this era.
Use this series of primers on theology from women's perspectives as an introduction to feminist, mujerista, womanist and Asian American theologies.
- Files marked with this icon can be downloaded in printable Adobe Acrobat format. This file requires the free Acrobat Reader. For best results, right-click the link (or click and hold for Macintosh), select " save target as" and save the document to your desktop for viewing and printing.
