Eager CSW delegates get commissioned in New York by Co-Moderator
New and returning delegates also tell stories of hope and empowerment
NEW YORK — Nearly 70 people were commissioned Friday to serve to as members of a joint delegation representing the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Presbyterian Women during the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
The Rev. CeCe Armstrong, co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly of the PC(USA), commissioned the delegates near the end of a Presbyterian orientation session at the Church of the Covenant that included speakers, worship and camaraderie-building to prepare for CSW, which officially begins Monday.
“I hope everyone is feeling centered and grounded in worship and ready to move into this wonderful week ahead,” said Clare Balsan, Advocacy Associate for the New York-based Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations (PMUN).
CSW is an international gathering that, according to the UN, promotes women’s and girls' rights, documents the reality of their lives throughout the world, and shapes global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
During the commissioning, Presbyterian delegates were asked, in part, to accept their responsibilities and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, love their neighbors and work for the reconciling of the world. They also were urged to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination and love, relying on God's mercy and rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
"You have been commissioned to be God's hands and feet in the places and spaces” you go during CSW, Armstrong said. “Do so proudly, because you look good. Bless you!”
Earlier in the orientation meeting, Sue Rheem, who manages the PMUN office, provided an overview of CSW and the opportunities that delegates have for advocacy and learning surrounding the theme of “ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls.”
“Really participate and really engage, and think about what are some of the things that you want to do … back home,” she said, adding, “You will get great ideas from your buddies on what they've done: fantastic, fabulous things that have been happening over the years.”
People come to CSW from all over the world, but Rheem noted that some who would have been in attendance this year ran into roadblocks, upping the responsibility of delegates who’ve made it to New York.
Many of the delegates who were coming from Africa, the Middle East and Asia “were not able to obtain visas, which means that civil society space is shrinking,” Rheem said, adding, “We have the responsibility to really advocate for those who could not come and for those who cannot speak, to be the voice for justice, for equality and for empowerment.”
During worship, the Rev. Dr. Mary Newbern-Williams, transitional leader for the Presbytery of New York City, reminded the delegates of the crucial role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus’ ministry, including being the first person to see the risen Lord. Newbern-Williams went on to create a parallel with the CSW delegates.
“Today, let us be the first to know that CSW is good for all people, that CSW will allow us to be authentically who we are — God's people — to learn together, to laugh together, to live together, to know that in Jesus Christ, there is love, there is justice, there is joy, there is eternal life,” Newbern-Williams said. “We are the first to know what will happen this week, in a new year with CSW. When we go back to our respective homes, churches, communities, we’ll be the first to share what we have done here and inspire others so that they will continue to recognize who Jesus is and be the first to know that he loves us in spite of our sinfulness, in spite of our imperfections [and] will love us into eternity.”
Those in attendance also heard from returning and first-time delegates and spent time in small-group discussion.
Returning delegate Adriana Soto Acevedo, from Princeton Theological Seminary, described how she came to CSW last year with some cynicism but found hope in meeting people and hearing about the work they’re doing in their congregations, countries and spaces.
“My main advice to everyone here is talk, talk, talk to one another and see what each other is doing,” Acevedo said, noting that God can be revealed through such conversations, whether at main events or side and parallel gatherings. Connecting with people is “very, very important, especially now that the world is falling apart.”
First-time delegate Zayn Silva, a ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, talked about his past experience in a faith community where women’s appearance and attire were restrictive and questioning authority could lead to public discipline. Yet women persevered to organize ministries and prayer meetings and to feed the people.
“The first person who ever told me the greatest story of the love of Christ was a woman,” said Silva, a trans man whose own gender journey reminds him “every day what courage looks like.”
Showing solidarity with fellow delegates, Silva added, “I come here ready to listen, ready to learn and ready to hear the stories of all of you amazing women that are here and across the world, whose experiences will shape how I continue to do this work. … All of you are revolutionary.”
The Rev. Mary Lyn Oakley, a returning delegate, spoke of being shaped by generations of women who empowered and encouraged her, and how she’s positively impacted by previous CSW experiences, from listening to the stories of exiled Afghan journalists to participating in worship with people of other faiths.
“We gather as ecumenical women from every corner of the world, and that is the most beautiful, overwhelming thing ever. Period,” said Oakley, pastor of Washington Presbyterian Church in Corryton, Tennessee. “We'll be with Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists,” singing and praying and grounded “in the conviction that dignity and equality matter, period, because they do.”
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