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Christie, Dauway and Shriver top the list
of special mentors of faith in New York
New York, May 19, 2011 -- The New York City Area Circles
of Names Gathering will take place June 14, 2011, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in
The Interchurch Center, 475 Riverside Drive in Manhattan.
The event, one of several local events sponsored by the National Council of Churches
Circles of Names campaign, will be hosted by
Anne Hale Johnson, honorary chair of the campaign.
The Circles of Names Campaign is a project of the NCC to create a circle of support for women's ministries by
asking a thousand persons to give $100 in the name of a woman who helped
shape their faith. In so doing, the campaign will lift up the stories of a
thousand women as sources of inspiration and empowerment of the churches'
witness for gender justice.
In addition to scores of mentoring women who will be named to the circle as
a part of the New York gathering, three special mentors will be honored:
Marge Christie, an Episcopal educator and communicator from
Newark, N.J.; Lois McCullough Dauway, a Methodist activist,
leader in the UMC's Division of Women's Ministries, and former assistant
general secretary of the National Council of Churches for justice and
liberation; and
Peggy L. Shriver, a Presbyterian writer, researcher and
former National Council of Churches staff member.
The Circles of Names campaign seeks to build a foundation
towards long-term sustainability of women’s ministries and gender
justice in the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC, the
37 member communions of the NCC, and its ecumenical partners.
Persons planning on attending the gathering should RSVP before June 3
to the Rev. Deborah DeWinter at 212-870-2513 or
ddewinter@ncccusa.org.
Participants will be invited to give or pledge $100 in the name of a
woman who was or is important in his or her faith. The names will be added
to the ever-growing circle of names (see
http://circlesofnames.org/who-has-been-named/).
incorporated in a work of art commissioned for the campaign, and listed on a
plaque in the NCC offices in The Interchurch Center.
In a letter of invitation by Anne Hale Johnson and the
Rev. Ann Tiemeyer, director of the NCC Program for Women's
Ministries, the Circles campaign is playing a crucial role.
"The future of Women's Ministries and gender justice work is at stake
in many of our denominations as they grapple with the impact of the economic
recession," they wrote. "History is repeating itself: women's desks,
commissions, and programs are being severely reduced or eliminated. Women's
Ministries at the National Council of Churches USA benefits all 37 member
communions, and provides resources to galvanize collective energy and
commitment for the ministry of gender justice across a broad constituency."
The New York City area Circles of Names Steering Committee includes
Suzanne Campise, Clare Chapman, Esq., the Rev. Deborah DeWinter, Joan
Gardner, Karen Hessel, the Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, the Rev. Dr. Michael
Kinnamon, the Rev. Dr. Eileen Lindner, Meagan Manas, Paula Mayo, the Rev.
John L. McCullough, Harriett Olson, Esq., Edna Palmer, Wesley M. "Pat"
Pattillo, the Rev. Dr. Larry Pickens, Ammon Ripple, the Rev. Canon Charles
K. Robertson, Andris Salter, Shirley Struchen and the Rev. Clara Wong.
Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of
the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for
shared ecumenical witness among Christians in the United States. The NCC's
37 member communions -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican,
Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace
churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local
congregations in communities across the nation.
NCC News contact:
Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 646-853-4212 (cell),
pjenks@ncccusa.org
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