|
THE MONTHLY CAUCUS
The Episcopal Women's Caucus:
Advocating for women since 1971,
theologically, spiritually and politically.
Early Fall 2012 |
|
|
IN THIS ISSUE
Connection to current issue of RUACH, the publication of the Episcopal Women's Caucus.
1) Greetings from new co-conveners
2) DIFFICULT ISSUES
a) Press release from EWC
b) Blog by Elizabeth Kaeton
c) Responding to Intimate Partner Violence by Terri Cole Pilarski
d) Curriculum about Rape
3) Two articles by amazing women
a) Escaping the Troll by Regina Ress
b) The Interweaving of One Life by Pamela Boyce Simms
4) Congratulations to:
a) The Rev. Linda Grenz
b) Kim Robey
c) The Revd Ellinah Ntombi Wamukoya
5) Remember in November: We are Women website
6) If you are in the area - documentary screening event
7) Looking ahead - 16 Days
|
|
 Greetings from your new co-conveners
of the Episcopal Women's Caucus!
We are honored - and blessed - by this opportunity to serve this eminent organization, which has played such an important role in the life of our beloved Church.
First, we'd be remiss if we did not offer our admiration for and gratitude to Elizabeth Kaeton for her leadership in the Caucus as our convener for the past 10 years. Perhaps the best testament to the breadth and depth of Elizabeth's service is that she's being followed by two women in the post she alone filled. Thank you, Elizabeth, for your fearless pursuit of justice for women, in and out of the Church.
For more than four decades, EWC members have advocated, agitated and prayed for equality and opportunity for women at all levels of the Episcopal Church and in the world at large. Through partnership with various like-spirited social justice Episcopal groups, we've seen tremendous success in furthering Christ's love and acceptance among God's beloved people.
As the EWC moves into a new era, our members and board are looking to how our organization can be most relevant and effective in our 21st century world. It's no secret that the rights and privacy of American women are currently under attack by elements within our political system that are proposing regressive, repressive legislation to strip us of the gains we've made during the past half-century. We cannot be complacent about these attacks or dismiss them as the ravings of a radical fringe. In state legislatures and in Congress, bills to grossly invade the private lives of women are introduced with regularity. Sadly, that archaic thinking is now present in the party platform of a Presidential candidate. We have much to fear - and much to fight.
In the years ahead, some of our goals and actions will include:
- Broaden partnerships with Episcopal, ecumenical and interfaith social justice organizations to ensure we continue our ministry and mission of equality, fairness and opportunity for all.
- Knit tighter relationships with other Episcopal and Anglican women's groups to form closer alliances on women's issues throughout the Church and world.
- Work to increase the percentage of Episcopal bishops who are women.
- Encourage and support women, especially young women, in leadership roles (lay and ordained) in the Church.
- Support women clergy to ensure they have greater opportunity for fruitful and fulfilling ministries.
- Solicit feedback from women throughout the Church regarding their personal concerns and struggles with the Church, and seek to serve them on their spiritual journey.
We thank all of our members for their support as we enter this new era and accept the challenges it will bring. We ask for your prayers for God's blessing and direction for our work. Of course, your financial support is needed as well. Please continue to renew your membership in the years ahead. If you are not a member yet, we need you. Elsewhere in this newsletter, you'll find information on how you can join is.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and, please, if you ever feel that the Caucus could assist you personally on your journey, let us know.
Faithfully,
Terri Cole Pilarski (Dearborn, MI) and Pamela RW Kandt (Casper, WY)
Co-conveners
|
Episcopal Women's Caucus calls the Episcopal Church
to action on reproductive justice
In August, Congressman Aiken made a remark that cast confusion about the issue of rape in that he used the term "legitmate rape." The Board of the Episcopal Women's Caucus issued a press release in response to the Congressman's statement.
[August 24, 2012] The Board of the Episcopal Women's Caucus, a social
justice advocacy group within the Episcopal Church, expresses our outrage
at the current political discourse regarding reproductive justice. We are
appalled by the misinformation that speaks of "forcible rape" as something
different from ordinary rape and asserts that, in a "legitimate rape," a
woman will not get pregnant, because her body has a way to "shut that
whole thing down."
Those of us who have worked to raise awareness about women's rights and
promoted changes in laws to more actively prosecute rapists, strengthen jail
sentences, and help victims of rape and sexual assault find help and hope
feel that we have back tracked in time. We are living a nightmare.
The Episcopal Women's Caucus is committed to changing this nightmare,
reinforcing and increasing acts of justice.
First, we take a firm stand against any and all representatives, senators and
other legislators who aim to limit the health care options any woman -
particularly a raped and pregnant woman - has available to her.
Second, the Episcopal Women's Caucus supports Rev. Harry Knox, president
and CEO of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, when he writes:
"Congressman Akin misunderstands the Biblical meaning of the word
'justice.' He talks about bringing rapists to justice, but he apparently doesn't
realize that true justice requires that a woman who has been raped have
every resource available to her as she rebuilds her life after trauma. One of
those resources must be the option to end a pregnancy caused by her rapist."
Additionally, the Episcopal Women's Caucus calls upon the membership and
leadership of the Episcopal church - at international, national, diocesan and
local levels - to write to their representatives, senators and other legislators
to express their outrage and distress about this archaic ideology and deeply
flawed theology that is the foundation of this political and anti-women
position.
In turning nightmares into dreams of justice, the Episcopal Women's Caucus
will actively work to ensure that people are informed and not misinformed.
We actively work to promote the well-being of all people. Each woman
should have the right to choose how to best care for herself, her whole self.
Because we are made in the image of God, and that is sacred.
The Episcopal Women's Caucus is a justice organization dedicated to Gospel
values of equality and liberation and committed to the incarnation of God's
unconditional love.
|
Responding to Intimate Partner Violence
by The Rev. Terri C. Pilarski, Co-convenor of the Episcopal Women's Caucus
and Rector of Christ Episcopal Church, Dearborn, MI
The first congregation I served as rector was stunned to learn that the wife of a prominent couple was the victim of years of violence inflicted by her husband. With the pending divorce the abuse escalated and threatened to spill into the church itself. During this time, the local police department hosted a workshop on violence. I learned that domestic violence was the primary reason for police intervention in our small but wealthy suburban community.
Domestic Violence, more appropriately called Intimate Partner Violence, is defined as: a pattern of abusive behavior in which a person uses coercion, deception, harassment, humiliation, manipulation and/or force in order to establish and maintain power and control over that person's current or former intimate partner.
The reality is this violence knows no boundaries and impacts equally every demographic across the spectrum from rich to poor, from educated or not, across lines of race and ethnicity, age and gender orientation.
Ninety-five percent of reported cases of Intimate Partner Violence occur with a man victimizing a woman. All religious leaders, lay and ordained, have a responsibility to become educated and able to discuss Domestic Abuse/Elder Abuse/Teen Dating/ Intimate Partner Violence. This is particularly crucial, albeit not limited to, those who lead premarital counseling sessions. It's important for leaders to articulate what constitutes a healthy relationship, recognize the warning signs when they appear, and be prepared with an appropriate course of action.
A few key points on what to do or not to do:
- Do not attempt couple counseling when Intimate Partner Violence is a known element of the relationship.
- If a victim speaks up and shares her story, do not judge, do not put words in her mouth, do not encourage her to stay in the relationship, or leave, or use scripture as a means to further victimize her.
- Offer hope; leaving an offender is a process, and victims want the violence to end, not the relationship.
- Violence is a learned behavior, it is a conscious decision and a willful choice of the perpetrator to get what they want when they want it.
- Intimate Partner Violence is not caused by addiction to drugs or alcohol, stress, children, job stress, psychological illness, pets, Satan, and especially the abuse is not caused by the victim. It is not a problem of anger or control.
- It is a problem of entitlement and a demand to have their way when they want it.
- Do not think that you can assist the person alone; reach out for trained help from an appropriate social service agency
- Provide congregational training on Intimate Partner Violence
- Provide resources that women can find in your church bathrooms, such as phone numbers, that will help them find appropriate help including an emergency shelter for battered women. Likewise, provide resources for men who are victims of abuse.
- Intimate Partner Violence includes physical, psychological, verbal, sexual, pet or property destruction (if I can't hurt you, I will hurt what you love), and stalking. The tactics include, but are not limited to, dictating how victims dress; to whom they can relate or not relate; what they can or cannot say and think; when the victim can or cannot study, worship, or work; describing the victim as disgusting, disrespectful, or using vulgar names like slut, stupid, whore.
When clergy and lay leaders are willing to become informed, educated, and trained on the complexities of intimate partner violence, we can assist in building healthier communities. The primary way we can enable this is by becoming educated and reaching out and teaming up with social service agencies such as counseling centers that specialize in intimate partner violence, and with the local police department. Clergy and lay people are able to bring in the spiritual dimension of hope, grace, and love that social service agencies are often prevented from approaching due to the limits of their practice. By partnering together, faith communities and social service agencies can work to create intervention strategies and prevention strategies for stronger, healthier, safer communities.
Articles and Brochures
Faith Trust Institute: "What Every Congregation Needs to Know About Domestic Violence" 1994 (206) 634-1903, www.faithtrustinstitute.org. Also, "What You Need to Know if a Child is Being Abused or Neglected," 1992.
Fortune, Marie, "A Commentary on Religious Issues in Family Violence," originally published in Violence in the Family: A Workshop Curriculum for Clergy and Other Helpers. Pp 137-151, The Pilgrim Press, Cleveland, 1991. Contact Faith Trust Institute: (206) 634-1903, www.faithtrustinstitute.org.
Peace At Home, Inc., "Domestic Violence: The Facts," 1994-2004. Contact Peace At Home, Inc: 877-546-3737, peaceathome@peaceathome.org.
Safe Havens, "Guidelines for Working with Congregations Facing Domestic Violence." Contact SafeHavens: 617-645-1820, info@interfaithpartners.org.
Books
Adams, Carold J. & Fortune, Marie M., Editors, Violence Against Women and Children: A Christian Theological Sourcebook, The Continuum Publishing Company, New York, NY, 1998.
Afkhami, M. Safe and Secure: Eliminating Violence Against Women and Girls in Muslim Societies, Sisterhood Is Global Institute, Bethseda, MD, 1998. Contact Faith Trust Institute 206) 634-1903, www.faithtrustinstitue.org.
Miles, Al, Domestic Violence: What Every Pastor Needs to Know 2nd edition, Fortress Press
 | Coalition Against Battered Women:
Domestic Abuse |
|
|
RAPE: GET THE FACTS CURRICULUM
 | | Rape: Get the Facts |
This documentary-style program presents the legal, medical, psychological and sociological facts about rape. Doctors, judges, social workers, detectives, victims' rights advocates, self-esteem experts, and rape survivors all contribute information, perspective, and analysis of this all-too-common crime. Among the compelling facts: an act of rape or sexual assault occurs in our nation nearly once every two minutes. More than half of all rape victims are under the age of 18. Most sexual assaults are NOT committed by strangers, but by someone whom the victim knows. This video explains that "date rape" is just as much a crime as other sexual assaults. Information is provided about the links between drugs, alcohol, and rape. Specific, practical guidelines for how to protect against rape and date rape are presented. Law enforcement professionals, medical personnel and psychologists take viewers on a step-by-step investigation of where, how and why rape occurs with the goal of informing viewers of the risks and providing strategies to avoid rape. Students will meet a woman whose unbelievable act of bravery put one rapist behind bars for good. And, a former NFL quarterback now teaches young men a whole new set of attitudes about themselves and about their behavior towards women. This program is a must-see for all high school students.
Social Learning Catalog
Includes: video, plus teacher's resource book, student handouts
and pre/post tests in digital format
|
|
 Her Story, Your Story, Our Story:
an Afternoon with Women Who
Have Escaped the Troll
by Regina Ress (first published in LANES Museletter, 2012) and used with permission of the author.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What message do you want to send to other women who've been captured by a "Troll"? "Love yourself enough to leave." Anything else? "Don't settle for less."
Storytelling is not just kid stuff. We, the storytelling community, know this. Indeed, we know that "kid stuff" can be ... and should be ... meaningful at its core. Life-long learning begins with those bedside stories of survival, of compassion, of what life holds, offers and teaches. And for those whose stories takes some bad turns, stories and storytelling can help them find our way out of the woods and home.
I am currently helping to launch a non-profit organization, Healing Voices-Personal Stories, whose mission is to bring awareness to women striving to overcome abuse through the distribution of film and video. Having worked with women in several correctional facilities, I am keenly aware that women who end up in jail generally have a history of abuse. Bad stories; bad endings.
But do all bad stories have to have bad endings? Is there a way to learn and grow a new story?
Last June, I spent time with a group of women in a "resettlement" program. These are formerly incarcerated women who have come through abuse and who are actively in the process of changing and reclaiming their lives. The women are part of a support group that meets once a week at the Community Partners in Action Resettlement Program in Hartford, Connecticut. I brought fresh strawberries from my friend's spring garden, an old European fairy tale, and some questions.
The story I brought to Hartford last spring was one of the Grimm's Tales. It describes the trials of a Princess who falls through the crack in a glass mountain and is forced to be the house drudge of the long-bearded Old Rink Rank. She loses all sense of herself, even forgetting her own name. This young woman is eventually rescued, not by a prince, but by her own efforts. When she hits rock bottom, something shifts in her psyche and she finds her own way back up to the light.
I told Old Rink Rank, adding my own voice, asking a question or two within the telling, but not changing the original Grimm version. It is a spare story. It is a very clear story.
The women in our group listened with great attention, nodding at times, often uttering a chorus of "uh-huhs" at recognizable moments in this story of abuse and redemption. After the telling, in response to my questions as well as their own, they fleshed out their understanding ... and mine as well ... of this classic tale. Our discussion was lively, filled with recognition and gritty wisdom. The women very much took control of the conversation, finding questions and answers themselves, often engaging in a kind of debate over issues raised in the story.
We looked at how easy it is to fall though the cracks, losing ourselves to the "trolls" ever waiting to use us for their own purposes.
The story does not tell us how and why the Princess turns her situation around. But these women knew: "All that hard work gave her strength." "When you hit rock bottom, when you are fed up, that's when you make the changes."
We also discussed two possible endings. The Princess, having trapped the old man by his long beard, sets him free once she has returned to the world. In the Grimm version, her father, the King, has him killed. We looked at the justice of this. Then we looked at a more forgiving model, the possibility of not taking revenge. A different kind of justice.
As our time was quite short, we did not get in to our own personal stories. However, it was clear that all of us, group members, case workers and I, recognized aspects of our own lives in this timeless tale. And working with it in this way helped us all clarify and enlarge our understanding of our lives.
Two of the women commented to me on their way out that they never understood that "those old stories actually meant something." Ah! This storyteller quoted a favorite adage in the storytelling world: The stories are not good because they are old; they are old because they are good. And they do, they most definitely do, "mean something."
==========================================================
Regina Ress is an award winning storyteller, actor, writer and educator who has performed and taught for more than 40 years, from Broadway to Brazil, in English and Spanish, in a wide variety of settings from grade schools to senior centers, from homeless shelters and prisons to Lincoln Center and the White House. Performances range from delightful folk tales to some of the world's great mythologies. She also tells original stories about New York City, 9/11, and Love. Regina is also a Storytelling Adjunct for New York University's Programs in Educational Theatre and Multilingual/Multicultural Studies and produces the storytelling series at the historic Provincetown Playhouse in NYC. In 2003, she was awarded the Oracle for Leadership and Service by the National Storytelling Network.
www.reginaress.com
Regina is working with a project (Healing Voices-Personal Stories) that involves women who are at risk because of domestic violence. Here is a link to the site to hear about one woman's life. Peggy's Story
|
The Interweavings of One Life
by Pamela Boyce Simms, Development Officer
Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD) Monastery
Woodstock, New York
Ed. Note: Pamela is involved in The Transition Movement, a global, grassroots network of people taking positive action to build local community resilience against the backdrop of climate change and peak oil. Spiritual leadership is increasingly understood as being synonymous with environmental leadership. This movement involves the Episcopal Church, several Buddhist traditions, Quaker and Indigenous First Nations representatives of the Lakota Sioux and Mexica people.
For information on the Episcopal Church and Ecology, visit Episcopal Ecological Network.
It makes perfect sense for a West Indian-American Jersey-girl to live, work and serve in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery nestled in the heart of the Catskill Mountains!! Surprisingly, it does indeed! A dual fascination with the sacred and with the workings of the mind, both of which fuse in Buddhist practice, has been a constant theme in my life since childhood.
Additionally, baptized and confirmed in the Anglican-Episcopalian church, and educated from preschool through college in Catholic institutions, my Christian roots are affirmed by and inform my 30-year Buddhist compassion-practice. These recurring threads continue to organically interweave themselves throughout my experience at ever deeper levels.
We magnetize to ourselves circumstances that induce growth, and conditions which build on, or deepen lessons learned earlier. It was not all that surprising then that the Tibetan Buddhist shrine rituals I would perform as an adult practitioner bear an uncanny resemblance to rituals I spontaneously concocted at age five at the site of my "sacred space" in the wooded area adjacent to my Northern New Jersey home. Similarly, it stands to reason that childhood self-talk and mind-disciplining exercises I devised to align with super-cerebral Barbadian caregivers morphed into a passion for Buddhist mind training and the study of Jungian analysis.
The third thread interwoven throughout my life has been the desire to be of service to the most disadvantaged of the disadvantaged. Therefore pragmatic application of academic training at Georgetown University in politics of developing nations, and at L'Universite de Dakar in Senegal, West Africa, bore fruit during a five-year sojourn in Senegal. As a local-hire for the US Agency for International Development, I helped impoverished Senegalese girl-farmers gain access to education. From that point forward, my feet were set on a path that continues to the present.
Compelled by training in Neurolinguistic Programming and Jungian analysis, which dovetail Buddhist mind training, I have interspersed organizational development work for social change non-profits with a career working with, or on behalf of, women who have survived violence. This has afforded me the opportunity to organize violence against women symposia for South African, Zimbabwean and Namibian women legislators, serve as a spokesperson for coalitions of battered women's shelters, and produce therapeutic girls and women-driven educational television programming.
It has been my pleasure to introduce meditation and Buddhist practices in youth and women's prisons in New Jersey. And just prior to signing on as Development Officer at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery, in Woodstock, New York, I was privileged to work with Liberian women who had victoriously survived trafficking and sustained mass rape during the 14-year Liberian civil war.
Buddhists on the vajrayana* path think big! Our goal is nothing short of enlightenment of all sentient beings! With each successive opportunity to serve, the choreography of my life experience has exponentially widened the scope of work. I now find myself in the trenches doing work aimed at safeguarding the Earth herself, our platform for evolution, against the backdrop of climate change and peak oil. Alas, the reward for service is more service.
Oh that you would bless me indeed
And enlarge my territory
That your hand would be with me
And that you would keep me from evil.
1 Chronicles 4:10
____________________________________________
*Vajrayana Buddism: School of Tibetan Buddhism grounded in the bodhisattva path whereby practitioners vow to extend compassion through service with the goal of enlightenment for all sentient beings.
|
Congratulations to ...
The Rev. Linda Grenz who will become the Canon to the Ordinary, working with bishop-elect Dean Nicholas Knisely, in the Diocese of Rhode Island.
Linda is the publisher and CEO of Leader Resources, which publishes the Journey to Adulthood curricula as well as a number of other faith formation resources. As part of that ministry, she has been a consultant to parish vestries and dioceses across the country in leader training, management, development, and conflict resolution. She has done extensive work assisting congregations in developing effective Christian formation, evangelism, and stewardship programs. She has taught at General Seminary and served on the national church staff as the Coordinator of Adult Education and Leadership Development. She has a number of books in print on these topics and has been in demand as a speaker for years.  Kim Robey, who has been elected to the Steering Committee for International Anglican Women's Network. Kim, Executive Director of AWE, has been elected as one of two North American represen-tatives on the steering committee of the International Anglican Women's Network. She will serve a three year-term. The network is the organization through which the voices of Anglican women are communicated to the Anglican Consultative Council and is AWE's sister organization within the Anglican Church. 
The Revd Ellinah Ntombi Wamukoya, who, in July, became the bishop-elect of Swaziland and the first woman bishop in any of the 12 Anglican Provinces in Africa.
It is thought she is only the second bishop elected in a mainline church on the continent. Her election comes as The Anglican Church of Southern Africa -- which also includes Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Lesotho -- commemorates 20 years since the ordination of women to the priesthood as priests and bishops. The 1992 synod was, coincidentally, held in Swaziland.
Revd Wamukoya subsequently received the required 2/3 majority in both houses of laity and clergy in the 12th ballot. The Assembly was described by one observer as a "particularly spirit-filled atmosphere" and there is said to be much excitement in the diocese over her election. Founded in 1968, the Diocese of Swaziland is composed of three archdeaconries: Eastern Swaziland, Southern Swaziland and Western Swaziland. Her predecessor was The Rt. Rev. Meshack Mabuza, who became bishop of Swaziland in 2002.
Revd Wamukoya is currently Chaplain at the University of Swaziland and St. Michael's High School in Manzini, Swaziland. She also serves as CEO of the City Council in Manzini. The election has to be confirmed by the members of the Synod of Bishops. When that happens, Revd Wamukoya will become the 24th non-retired female bishop of the Anglican Communion. The Member Churches that have appointed or elected women bishops to date are Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, Australia, Canada, The Episcopal Church, Cuba and now Southern Africa. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA
October 26 in the Evening - The Tutu Center @ General Seminary, NY
Documentary Film "Sweet Dreams" about the
first women's drum troupe in Rwanda
 | |
Sweet Dreams :: Trailer
|
This is sponsored by AWE (Anglican Women's Empowerment) and will be its first event of the program year. The film follows a group of 60 women who come together to form a community and heal from the devastation of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda by joining its first and only women's drumming troupe. Then, through the relationships that develop, the women embark on an unlikely enterprise -- to learn how to make ice cream and launch the first-ever local ice cream shop in Rwanda!
|
|
Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL)
16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign
From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let's Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!
The 16 Days are November 25 to December 10.
This year's campaign marks our third year of advocacy on the intersections of gender-based violence and militarism. The sub-themes of the campaign are:
- Sexual and gender-based violence committed by state agents, particularly the police or military
- Proliferation of small arms and their role in domestic violence
- Sexual violence in and after conflic
CWGL launches the 2012 16 Days Take Action Kit and Discussion Forum!
We are thrilled to announce the launch of the 2012 Take Action Kit in English, French, and Spanish, and our new online discussion forum. Please click on the links below to access the kit and request a hard copy to be mailed to you.
And watch for news about the Episcopal 16 Days partnership, coming soon!
TAKE ACTION KIT
 | |
Say NO to guns at home!
|
|
|
The Episcopal Women's Caucus strives to offer views from different women, lay or ordained, throughout the Church and to hold up celebrations, events, achievements, or struggles that involve women. If you are interested in contributing, whether through an article you have written or a newsworthy item, please contact either Karen Bota, editor of RUACH, at kdbota@aol.com or Gigi Conner, editor of "The Monthly Caucus," at gigipriest@prodigy.net.
The Episcopal Women's Caucus is on Facebook and we have a website. Follow us on Twitter @ewcaucus.
Please feel free to pass along articles to friends or forward this email ... and let us hear from you. And if you are a member and would like to "re-up" your membership, please do so by filling out the coupon at the bottom of the page. If you are new to the Caucus and would like to become a member, please use the same form.
|
|
|
|
Use this form to join the EWC, renew your membership, or make a donation. Make check out to EWC and mail to: Episcopal Women's Caucus, 1103 Magnolia St., South Pasadena, CA 91030
attn: Chris Mackey-Mason, Please indicate if this a:
___new application
___renewal
___donation to the EWC
Amount: $________
For new and renewing members, please select the appropriate membership level below.
|
|
|
WEBSITE FOR WE ARE WOMAN