Celebrating WATER’s 30th Anniversary 1983-2013

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Join WATER in celebrating over 30 years of using feminist religious values to create social change! Watch this 3 minute video that highlights programs of the Alliance's 30-year history. Thank you for being a part of WATER's history!

Join Us in Celebrating WATER’s 30th Anniversary, 1983-2013

Pour yourself a glass of water, and join us in toasting WATER’s 30th Anniversary!

Raise your glass, and give thanks that thirty years ago Divine Wisdom called us to gather a dozen women, respond to a need, and create WATER. Cheers!

Journey Towards Reimagination: Society of Race, Ethnicity and Religion by Grace Ji-Sun Kim

gmd_2948Grace Ji-Sun Kim will be presenting at our teleconference July 10th on “Colonialism, Han, and the Transformative Spirit.” Originally Posted on Feminist Studies in Religion Much of my personal life intersects with race, religion, and gender issues.  In some ways, the word intersects is too gentle.  Perhaps collide better captures what occurs in my life as an Asian North American woman theologian, writer, minister, and mother.  As I try to engage in theological dialogue, live in community with the dominant, unfamiliar culture, and raise my kids with concerns on how to be just in this world, I realize that the lives of all people, especially people of color, collide and clash with others on the critical issues of race, religion, and gender.

June 12 Teleconference with Monica A. Coleman

MonicaColeman“Third Wave Womanist Religious Thought” Wednesday, June 12 1 PM – 2 PM (EDT) Monica Coleman’s writings focus on the role of faith in addressing critical social issues. She writes about church responses to sexual violence in The Dinah Project: A Handbook for Congregational Response to Sexual Violence. In Making a Way Out of No Way: A Womanist Theology, Dr. Coleman discusses inter-religious responses to the joys and pains of black women’s lives. She is the co-editor of Creating Women’s Theologies: A Movement Engaging Process Thought. In her most recent edited work, Ain’t I a Womanist Too?: Third Wave Womanist Religious Thought (Fortress Press, May 2013), Monica traces this new movement within religious studies with deep roots in the tradition of womanist religious thought while also departing from it in key ways.

Early Influences Endure

A number of leading women in the Protestant world began their work in and around the student movements.

May 31 The Life of Ruth Harris: A Service of Remembrance and Celebration

Friday, May 31, 2013 Noon to 1:30pm, reception to follow …

May 15 Rape Culture, Sexual Violence, and Spiritual Healing by Gina Messina-Dysert

gmd_2948Originally posted on Feminism and Religion. Recently I had the great pleasure of presenting on the WATER Teleconference Series and dialoguing with women from around the world about how to promote healing in a rape culture. Likewise, in a previous post I discussed rape culture in the Church and its impact on victims of sexual violence and the greater community. Within a rape culture, those who experience sexual victimization endure physical, emotional, and spiritual wounding. It is a victimization unlike any other, and one that we must continue to discuss in search of healing.

Courage Needs to Make a Comeback to Create Change

A dose of courage would go a long way toward solving many ecclesial and civil problems.

May 13 Congratulations, Clarafrancie Cromer!

Diann, Clarafrancie, Mary 2Clarafrancie Cromer, a former WATER intern, received her M.Div. on May 13, 2013 from Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC. Congratulations, Clarafrancie!

May 22 Teleconference with Marie M. Fortune, Jeanette Stokes, Mary E. Hunt, and Diann L. Neu

gmd_2948"A Century of Creative Feminist Leadership in Religion" Wednesday, May 22, 2013 1 pm - 2 pm EDT • In 1977, Marie M. Fortune founded FaithTrust Institute to mobilize faith communities to address sexual and domestic violence. • In 1977, Jeanette Stokes founded the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South (RCWMS) to support women in and entering ministry and to weave feminism and spirituality into a vision of justice for the world. • In 1983, Mary E. Hunt and Diann L. Neu founded the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER) in response to the need for theological, ethical, and liturgical development for and by women. Together, these modest non-profit organizations have logged more than a century of progressive feminist work for justice.