It stood out to me. Spread across the front row of the guests of honor to the General Assembly of the National Evangelical (Presbyterian) Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL) sat three amazing women holding key leadership roles in the larger church community.
Presbyterian Women from across the country will gather in Louisville August 2-5 to celebrate the 2018 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women (PW). Susan Jackson Dowd, executive director of Presbyterian Women, Inc., said she is pleased PW, Inc., is bringing the triennial PW Churchwide Gathering back to Louisville for its 30-year anniversary celebration.
La campaña electoral presidencial del 2016 planteo cuestiones que perturbaban a muchas mujeres. Los criterios de aptitud de una mujer candidata para el cargo de presidente, como comentarios sobre la ropa que llevaba, por ejemplo, eran normas aparentemente no impuestas a los candidatos masculinos en la contienda. Los comentarios que rodean los cuerpos de las mujeres también eran alarmantes. Estas conversaciones llevaron hasta una especie de trastorno de estrés postraumático (TEPT) para algunas mujeres, ya que ellas mismas han experimentado acoso sexual y discriminación.
The 2016 presidential electoral campaign brought up issues that were disturbing to many women. The criteria for fitness of the woman candidate for the office of president, such as comments about the clothes she wore, for example, were standards seemingly not imposed on male candidates in the race. The comments surrounding women’s bodies were also alarming. These conversations brought up a sort of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for some women, as they themselves have experienced sexual harassment and discrimination.
The three-day RISE Together: A National Mentorship Network conference provided networking opportunities for attendees and offered a social justice and pastoral voice in support of women of color.
While many 21-year olds are escaping the pressure of college courses on a beach during spring break, Kathryn Urban decided to head for the United Nations and the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) as part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) delegation. During the day she is learning about the challenges women face around the world and she’s spending her nights in a hostel several blocks away.
Today’s heroes don’t wear power suits, fly in on fancy jets or have superpowers. The real heroes of today are the people on the street helping people who are poor, connecting communities, and risking arrest in protest of oppressive systems. Oftentimes these heroes are women who work every day to make the world a better place for themselves and their children. That was the message Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis brought to the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations.
The participants at the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations come from all over the world and their interests are as varied as their geography. Bulletin boards boast a wide variety of event invitations. From advocating for LGBTQI rights to exploring feminism and Korean TV to genital mutilation in Africa, chances are if the issue affects women, it’s being addressed by a UN agency or by one of the many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that sponsor lectures and discussions.
Marvella Lambright didn’t realize that some women use dried cow dung to absorb their monthly flow of blood until she attended her first Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) session at the United Nations several years ago. There she learned that women in some countries don’t have access to the sanitary products that are available in the United States and other parts of the world. This surprised her and helped her realize that the best way to find out what is really happening in the world is to talk with people from other countries.
Amantha Barbee, Karen Hernandez-Granzen and Liz Theoharis were named recipients of the 2018 Women of Faith Awards by the Presbyterian Mission Agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) during its board meeting Feb. 7-9. They will be honored at the Women of Faith Awards Breakfast on Sunday, June 17, during the 223rd General Assembly (2018) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in St. Louis, Missouri.