Women’s Retreat this Fall!

“Treasure in Earthen Vessels: A women’s Celebration of Body, Mind and Spirit. ABC’s retreat is designed for women who are seeking to develop balance, a sense of well-being, and fullness of spirit. The weekend will be led by Deanna Brown and Anita Smith Buckwalter, and will be held at the Leaven Retreat Center in Lyons, Michigan and is from 7 pm Friday, September 26 through 11 am Sunday, September 28. Registration deadline is July 25, but space is limited, so an early start is encouraged. Contact the district office for registration and more details, or contact the ABC office at 800-323-8039 or email Mary Lou Garrison at mgarrson_abc <at> brethren.org.

Congratulations, California!

Excuse the lateness of these tidings, but we’ve been so busy celebrating that we just didn’t have a chance to post!  But the festive spirit continues, in gratitude for the (Republican-majority!) California State Supreme Court’s decision to allow equal rights to all Californians in access to marriage.

Congratulations to the many couples who will now be able to experience the joys and struggles of marriage!  And thanks to all who have worked to show that God’s Kin-dom – and this, our country – include all people.

For more information and reflection on this landmark decision, visit our buddies at Brethren-Mennonite Council for LGBT Concerns.

MOTHER’S DAY WORSHIP RESOURCES

Mother’s Day is one of those rare chances we get to lift up the work and wonder of women.  Yet, even on this day of celebration, there are many women who are overlooked and unheard in worship that honors women solely for their parenting.  We are challenged to find ways to celebrate women who are mothers, women who cannot be mothers, and women who choose not to be mothers.

We offer these worship resources for your use or to spark your creativity as you plan services that honor the creative, nurturing power of women.  All of these resources and more are available at our website:
http://www.womaenscaucus.org/Resources/Inclusivity/Inclusivity/Language/worship.html

LECTIONARY TEXT for May 11, 2008 – Pentecost (Red)

Acts 2:1-21 – Pentecost story
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b – “O Lord, how manifold are your works!”
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 – “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit”
John 7:37-39 – “‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”

HYMNS

Lord Bless the Hands, Brethren Hymnal 93 – because mothering is done by many people.
Mothering God, Brethren Hymnal 482
How Shall I Sing to God? Brethren Hymnal Supplement 1019
Bring Many Names, Hymnal Supplement 1088
Loving Spirit, Hymnal Supplement 1064 – We invite you to change the words of the third verse to reflect gender-inclusive language.

TAKE ACTION FOR MOTHERS

Church World Services (CWS) supports midwives working in refugee camps in Darfur, southern Sudan.  Support their work to support mothers facing some of the toughest living conditions a woman can face, by visiting www.churchworldservice.org.  The CWS website also offers ‘alternative’ Mother’s Day gifts of donations made in the name of your mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, wife, or friend, complete with cards to download to accompany your gifts.

PRAYERS

When you were pregnant with Israel, God
–did your ankles swell?
–did your fingers tingle and droop?
Did you spend your time waiting, marking time,
and doing infinite chores?
After you announced the birth of the nation,
knowing it would be long, three generations long,
till the birth of the people on its land–
After you announced this birth, God–
did you sit counting the days and the years?
Did you plan how you would raise Ephraim,
your darling child?
how you would call him from Egypt,
draw him with cords of love?
Did you count the days
till you could teach her to walk?
till you could bend down and feed her each morsel?
When you carried Israel in your womb, O God,
did you think how you would nurture forever,
how you would carry him till old-age?
Did you plan every moment of her upbringing,
dreaming of the perfect child?
Or were you very busy with all the other tasks of creation, God,
planning universes,
setting up laws,
organizing history?

(from Motherprayer, by Tikva Frymer-Kensky, adapted by Anna Lisa Gross, drawing on Gen 15:13-15, Jer. 31:20, Hos. 11:1, 13, 14, Isa. 46:3-4)

Narrow, narrow is the path!
You deliver us from narrowness.
From Egypt you brought us forth,
In straits we call upon you.
You answer us expansively.
Narrow was the path between the waters of the Red Sea
A canyon between two high walls.
Then out into the light and bright and wide
of the world beyond Egypt.
My way is narrow
In the straits I call upon you:
Widen my path,
deliver me to the light
of life.

(from Motherprayer, by Tikva Frymer-Kensky, adapted by Anna Lisa Gross, drawing on Ps. 118:3)

In my womb you formed the child,
in my womb I nourished it.
You formed and numbered the baby’s limbs,
I contained and protected them.
You who could see the child in my depths,
I who felt the kicks and the turns,
together we counted the months.
Together we planned the future.
Flesh of my flesh,
form of your form.
Another human being upon the earth,
a home for God in this, our world.

(from Motherprayer, by Tikva Frymer-Kensky, drawing on Ps. 139:13, 15, 16, Jer. 1:5, Isa. 49:5, Gen 1:26)

We come together today in praise and thanksgiving
for the gift of life itself.
Someone gave birth to us and some of us have given birth.
All of us have been mothered in our time,
All of us have mothered.
Let our time today be one of recognition–
That we arrive from so many places,
Joy and delight,
Wistfulness and longing and worry,
Unmet needs and unfulfilled dreams,
Loss and sorrow, loss and emptiness,
loss and regret.
All that life is made of, mothers are made of too.
Today we sing the songs of so many:
Mothers who are single parents, foster parents,
Mothers who relinquished their young out of necessity,
Mothers who found their heart in adoption,
Mothers who left their children in a thousand ways,
Mothers who rejoice and mothers who mourn.
There is a kind of love we cannot live without.
It is never too late, no matter our age or situation.
We sing a song of gratitude for all the moments
of being known, being cherished, being found.
Amen.

(Mother’s Day Prayer, by Mary J. Harrington)

TALK BACK

Mother’s Day isn’t always the best day for lots of women.  It reminds us of not being mothers by choice or by necessity, of things we don’t like about being mothers, of things we don’t like about our mothers, of all the ways society doesn’t respect the real work of mothering…..

How do you feel about this holiday?  Have a Mother’s Day sermon of your own to share?  To discuss any of these topics further or to share your own resources, please post a comment below.

Misogyny and Distraction in the Texas Polygamy Raids

National media coverage of the recent raid at the Texas compound has revealed as much about “ourselves” as about the FLDS polygamist sect.

Child abuse, domestic violence, and rape are wrong: they are some of the greatest evils a society ever knows. Yet, too often, the coverage of the raid has focused not on the abuse but on the “peculiar” culture of the people. The clothing (“long pastel dresses,” according to an April 7 Chicago Tribune article) is not the point; child abuse and misogyny are the point, and distractions confuse that important moral lesson. Both the sect members and our voyeuristic culture need to understand that. People should not be humiliated for what clothing they wear; they should be tried and punished for what harm they cause.

It is well worth questioning whether a government that does not protect its children from poverty, toxic toys, and manipulative commercial advertising, has learned any lesson from this raid. Will we recommit ourselves to helping all children escape the evils of child abuse? Is this raid to help the children or is it to soothe the smug consciences of mainstream citizens who fear “deviants?” It is also worth questioning whether a national spotlight on this sect discourages such violence, or pushes similar instances of abuse further underground.

Also illuminating is that commentary on the raid has emphasized the “Latter-Day Saints” half of the church’s name, and not the “Fundamentalist” half. While some of the community’s beliefs may come from the LDS tradition, it is the fundamentalist style of the faith that encourages a closed community structure and intolerance to other perspectives. Fundamentalism is not unique to LDS communities, and facing the dangers of this belief system in the wider Christian community may be harder than further marginalizing LDS and Mormon believers.

(May we all keep praying for those children and their families, and for the redemption of the gospel from those who would pervert it to serve their abusive purposes.)