GA08084

Let needs of the world set agenda, theologian says

by Mike Ferguson

Peg True of Annandale, Va., and exhibitor Rebecca Tollefson recited the Sophia-Blessing, which incorporates movement and words, at the Voices of Sophia breakfast. Photo by Joseph Williams

SAN JOSE, June 25, 2008 — Feminist theologian Mary Hunt’s advice at the Voices of Sophia breakfast Tuesday was to “let the needs of the world — and not the failings of the church — set our agenda.”

Voices of Sophia is a national advocacy group working for the full inclusion and equality of women in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Hunt, a Catholic and co-founder and co-director of the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER) in Silver Spring, Md., said that female clergy and theologians in mainline U.S. denominations have improved the quality of preaching and writing markedly.

“No longer is any hymn addressed to ‘a mighty fortress,’” she said. “But the backlash is the stuff of legend. There are those who work actively to put us out of commission.”

“We have a long way to go,” she added, “as Hillary Clinton found out the hard way.”

She cited an example of women “learning to be Christian in a multicultural world.” A religiously and ethnically diverse group of 35 women from 10 countries met recently in Washington, D.C., for a week of what Hunt described as “a radically democratic place of possibilities.” The group studied economics, globalization, healthcare and immigration policy — “the new work of feminists of faith.”

The last night, the women held a talent show. A Jewish and Muslim team who were college roommates sang, “You say shalom, I say salaam.” The women danced to “YMCA” and “Dancing Queen” at Cathedral College, which attracted a police officer summoned by a neighbor.

“Imagine how proud we were,” Hunt said with a smile, “underneath our polite apologies.”