TODAY IN MISSION YEARBOOK
Mission Yearbook: Young women share their hopes for a liberating church at Triennium
On two afternoons, young women and gender expansive individuals gathering at Presbyterian Youth Triennium met with Presbyterian Women to discuss what models of leadership for women they experience and what they need from the church.
The gathering was offered along with other “affinity groups” like those set up by denominational staff for PresbyQueerians, Black girls and women, Spanish speakers, African immigrants and Black men. These groups offered a safe space to foster community but also served as listening sessions to offer key insights to denominational leadership about what certain groups need to stay engaged as the church evolves.
“This is a listening space for Presbyterian Women to hear from young women and our gender expansive siblings to help us understand what is it that young women need from our greater church to help stay engaged,” said Kelsey Law, vice moderator of Presbyterian Women.
Law invited participants to string heart- and star-shaped beads of all colors into key chains and bracelets as they described what need from the church each bead represented.
“Gentle love is what drew me into the PC(USA) and it’s what I need to fall further in love with my faith,” said a new youth director, who shared her amazement at her church’s graceful expectation of her. “It’s been really radical to learn to sit, rest — to just be and not feel like my productivity is my worth,” she said.
A young student also chose pink for love.
Purple was chosen for acceptance and light green for more inclusion.
Bright green was held up for a focus on the spiritual connections to nature and commitment to Earth sustainability practices and advocacy.
Light blue symbolized social justice and dark blue cried out for more public advocacy.
A clear bead encapsulated clarity and transparency. “I picked the clear stars for transparency,” said a seasoned ministry leader, who noted the need to improve in this area. “When women start either a paid or volunteer job at church, they often aren’t told what it really is about.” Other women nodded in agreement, recognizing the ways women are socialized to keep saying “yes,” and how the lack of transparency in the church makes it hard to keep healthy boundaries on women’s labor.
“What stands out for me is all the beads and how they represent we are all different,” said a Christian educator who drew attention to the need for community and mentorship. A young person responded, “having the church community be able to help you is such an important thing.”
“Liberation comes from welcome and inclusion,” Law said as she asked the group to consider what a liberating church looks like and described the unique witness of Presbyterian Women. “What we do in leadership is mission and advocacy work,” said Law, describing the spaces of advocacy on eco-justice, reproductive and women’s rights where PW offers their voices, particularly their participation in the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women.
Law encouraged participants to go to the Presbyterian Women’s website to find opportunities to join a PW circle in their presbytery or remotely over Zoom and to connect with national programs like PW’s justice and peace national book club.
“The intent of this space was to listen to the voices of women, particularly young women, to hear the stories of women, what keeps them engaged, what will engage them in the future and to take that back to the national church,” said PW’s program director, Cheri Harper, who described how sometimes it can be hard to move beyond the superficial experiences of whether or not we like church and to look at our experiences in the church on all levels through a gender lens. What struck Harper about this newer generations of women compared to her own generations were all the stories that the young women told was the visibility of female pastors in their churches.
“We didn’t have female pastors that we were watching, but these girls did,” said Harper. “I just thought that was so powerful.”
Harper considered this a strength of the PC(USA) that needs more public celebration: “For the vast majority of PC(USA) churches, it’s very welcoming and inclusive, particularly for women in leadership,” she said.
Beth Waltemath, Communications Strategist(Click here to read original PNS Story)
Let us join in prayer for:
Lori Neff LaRue, Vice President, Education, Engagement & Church Relations, The Board of Pensions
Mai Nhu, Director, Core Business Applications, Information Technology, The Board of Pensions
Let us pray:
God of love, we give thanks for the vision of small groups of people all over the world who dream big dreams and work hard to realize them. Inspire us with their witness, that we too may join hands to make your world a safe and healthy place for all. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.