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National Council
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Ecumenical group explores the power of language
By
The
participants represented a broad spectrum of ages, races, cultural
backgrounds, gender, sexual orientations, abilities,
denominations/communions, and professional fields.
“Our vision,” said the Rev.
“This vision is grounded in the Gospel mandate to affirm life and carry
forth the healing love of God found within the gospel of Jesus Christ in the
face of the death-dealing effects of sin in our world,” Tiemeyer said.
Each person at the August gathering responded to the prompt:
Share with us an experience when you
noticed the power and/or importance of language (words, symbols, or images)
and the impact of that language on your life, your faith community, or your
relationship with God. This
experience may have helped you embrace the Divine more fully or it may have
been destructive, harmful, or painful to you in your personal and/or faith
journey.
After listening to one another’s stories and noting their own responses,
participants met in small groups to discuss what they had learned from the
stories, led by co-facilitators Virstan Choy and Aleese Moore-Orbih.
What was
learned The
stories told by the group called for language expansion—expanding the way we
think and talk about ourselves, others, and our God.
Instead of restricting language, the stories called for adding more
diverse language.
Chris Lewis, a student at
The
stories told by the group called for expanding the understanding of how
language is tied to systems of power and has been and can be harmful,
oppressive, and death-dealing. K.
Ray Hill, the pastor of an urban United Church of Christ congregation in
Other participants also noted that when “inclusion” or “political
correctness” is the goal, the dominant culture continues to be held up above
others.
“My
culture is not demeaned in my church,” said Teresa Chavez Sauceda, a
Presbyterian who describes herself as Chicana, “but it certainly is not
lifted up.” The
internalizations of descriptions created by dominant groups for “others” --
even experienced through the lack described by Sauceda -- can reinforce
stereotypes, ignorance, and oppression. The
stories told by the group called us to expand contextual cultural
attentiveness --understanding that language speaks differently in different
contexts.
NaKeisha
S. Blount,
NCC Advocacy
Officer for Racial Justice and Human Rights, a
joint staff appointment
with the United Church of Christ who is affiliated with the American Baptist
Churches and Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., described the
huge cultural difference she often moves between, calling for more
understanding of one another’s contexts.
“Truth be told, there are those who are opposed to language like ‘God the
Father’ because they never had a father, or they had a distant or abusive
father,” Blount said, using a common example in discussions of language.
“But truth be told, there are those who would deeply grieve the loss
of ‘God the Father’ because they never had a father, or they had a distant
or abusive father.”
The
stories told by the group showed that in an environment created through
respectful intentional listening, compliance to rules about specific words
was not as helpful as commitment to understanding the impact of the power of
language.
“There was no list of forbidden words created; rather, we pursued a
consciousness of how language shapes our own experience as well as the
experience of others – precious wisdom,” said Inez Torres Davis, Director
for Justice of Women of the ELCA.
This kind of commitment can lead to real, meaningful analysis of systems of
power that oppose the Gospel; extending a life-affirming hospitality within
the church and community.
Sue
Hedahl, Professor at Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary, characterized
campus discussion around language there as revolving around the difference
between “compliance” and “commitment,” and agreed that understanding what it
at stake in the language we use is more valuable than simply following a
list of rules. The
stories told by the group also called for spreading this conversation to as
many different places as possible.
In beginning to think about how to spread these conversations, the
participants acknowledged the need for a variety of methods that might
include listening, dialogue, liturgy and hymnody, humor, story-telling, art,
and social media networks.
What was learned at this gathering will be shared with the NCC
Said Torres Davis, also a member of the working group, “Our hope is to have
such conversations occur in congregations, pericope studies, classrooms,
forums, Sunday schools, pulpits, and so forth…The scholarship on expanding
language has been done, including liberation, mujerista, womanist, feminist,
GLBT, ableist, patriarchal, and other analyses of power within the faith and
within those who hold the faith. It is now time to begin applying this
knowledge.”
Among the 25 participants, eight were men, six were under 30, three openly
identified as LGBT, eight were clergy, nine were lay, five were seminary
professors, three were seminarians, Ph.D. candidates or recent grads.
Three participants identified as Latino/a, seven as African American,
three as Asian, one as Native American, eight as Caucasian, and three as
mixed/bi-racial.
Participants came from the following communions:
the African Methodist Episcopal Church,
NCC group to meet in
The National Council of Churches
symposium, “Language Matters,” will discuss how to talk about God and faith
in ways that respect the sensibilities of people from a variety of
Christian traditions and viewpoints.
The conversation will focus on the language, images,
and symbols used in worship and everyday life to talk about faith and God.
Initiated
by the NCC’s Justice for Women Working Group, this conversation is a first
step in a larger project designed to create resources for congregations and
groups to assist their own conversations.
The term “expansive language” has been used in some
circles to describe respectful language that honors all of God’s people and
is more than just “gender inclusive”.
“When
women in the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ) held a joint event, we prepared guidelines around expansive language
which asked preachers, speakers and workshop leaders to bring consciousness
to the language they were using out of the traditions from which they came,”
said the Rev. Loey Powell,
executive for Administration and Women’s Justice in the UCC.
Sensitivity to gender inclusive language, particularly
religious language and metaphor, emerged in the 1970’s with the advent of
feminist theology and feminist biblical exegesis and hermeneutics.
Many denominations began
the process of developing gender inclusive worship materials, protocols for
publications, and even biblical translations that offered metaphors and
names for God and humanity that reflected this inclusiveness.
In 1988 the General Convention of
the Episcopal Church first approved Supplemental Liturgical Texts, now known
as Enriching Our Worship, as an alternate to the Book of Common Prayer for
Episcopal worship.
Part of the impetus to have a meeting on language is
the impression of some observers that the use of gender inclusive language
throughout our NCC member communions has declined.
Furthermore, new
insights have emerged within our churches about language that reinforces
harmful stereotypes around the realities of race, disabilities, sexual
orientation and gender, planners say.
The August gathering will explore
dimensions of language, images, and symbols for God through multiple
approaches that reflect the diversity of the group.
The 30 participants, both lay and ordained, come from
a wide diversity of NCC member communions and religious traditions.
New and expanded Fistula Stories curriculum Explore faith in action, educate your community about maternal health, and walk in solidarity with your global sisters A recent
article in the medical journal
The Lancet
revealed that global maternal mortality is on the decline.
This is good news, but much progress remains to
be seen.
It is still estimated that a woman dies in childbirth
or from pregnancy-related complications every 90 seconds—and that for every
one woman who dies there are 20 who live with childbirth-related injuries.
One of those injuries is Obstetric Fistula.
A hole between the vagina
and bladder and/or rectum that leaves women incontinent and shunned, fistula
affects more than 2 million women worldwide. Fistula Stories is a 4-session
curriculum for use in church bible studies, campus ministries, and other
community groups.
Through education, Bible study, and advocacy
planning, Fistula Stories invites you to take a stand on Global Maternal
Health.
Studying the specific issue of fistula provides a
tangible framework in which to explore the connections between faith and
action in our own lives.
All of the participants in
our pilot program during Fall 2009 reported that they understood the
connections between faith and action in their own lives in new and deeper
ways, and they felt empowered to be advocates for this and other issues! The
curriculum is closely linked to a website,
www.fistulastories.org, where you can read
more stories of faith in action, find out more about fistula, and learn
about what is being done to improve life for women worldwide.
Visit
fistulastories.org to download the free
curriculum, complete with a leader’s guide and supplemental resources!
Interested in Fistula Stories?
Stay in touch!
Visit
www.fistulastories.org/curriculum to
download the materials and provide us with your contact information—we will
keep you in the loop with anticipated supplemental materials, including a US
Maternal Health Supplement (did you know that the Explore faith in action, educate your community about maternal health, and walk in solidarity with your global sisters! Check out Fistula Stories today! Promote Maternal Health this Mother’s Day!/span>
· Download Worship Resources to recognize maternal mortality and morbidities from a grassroots educational campaign for Mother’s Day from the Rachel Sabbath Initiative at the Religious Institute, Bulletin inserts, Prayers and more! · Sign A Petition to send to Kathleen Sibelius, urging her to start an Office of Maternal Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. This action is urgent, as a study recently released by Amnesty International reported that maternal mortality has increased by 42% in the United states since the 1980’s—at the same time that Maternal Mortality worldwide is decreasing.
· Coming Soon:
Fistula Stories Re-launch,
featuring an expanded curriculum and re-vamped website! Are you still scratching your head over “fistula?” or wondering why a Maternal Health Initiative would be called “The Rachel Sabbath?” Take heart, there is much to learn—and what better time to be educated and raise awareness about maternal health than Mother’s Day? Visit www.fistulastories.org to find out more.
Circles of
Names –
Within the circles of the painted
fabric designs, I have drawn silhouettes of important historical and
contemporary women church leaders.
Women like Ida Wells Barnett, Dorothy Day, and
Katie Canon:
women whose dedication to the church inspires
and moves us . . . I then began to encircle
these portraits with the names of one thousand
more women who inspire and move.
In the end, I hope that these paintings will
stand both as a personal thank you to the women of my church who taught me
to love color as a child and as a testimony to the work of women in all our
churches. (Circles of Names Artist –
Mary Button) To see the women already named go to
http://circlesofnames.org/who-has-been-named/.
To name a women of faith that
inspires you go to
http://circlesofnames.org/donation/. Donations or pledges may be made on line or alternately a
Circles of Names brochure may be downloaded and checks mailed to the NCC
office. The NCC will send a note to women
named when their contact information is provided.
It is also possible for the donor to download a
gift card in order to express more personally how the woman named has been a
source of inspiration to the donor.
To name a woman in honor of Mother’s
Day, a special Mother’s Day Circles of
Names gift card has been designed especially for this occasion.
It can be downloaded at
http://circlesofnames.org/donation/ By the beginning of March, $45,525.00
had been donated or pledged to the Circles of Names Campaign.
All funds for this Campaign are to be received
by December 31, 2010 and are placed in the
Claire Randall Sustaining Fund
(see the Frequently Asked Questions section of the website at
http://circlesofnames.org/faq/)
to support the ongoing work of Women’s Ministries at the NCC and in
addressing gender justice in the church and in the world.
 Click here for updates: Women's History Month, Making aid work, A Walk to Beautiful, Domestic Violence Month, the Fistula Project and more. |
The
gathering approached language issues using a descriptive rather than a
proscriptive method.
Participants
called for a breaking down of the “cliques” of our own communions to foster
an expanding vocabulary and imagery for who God is and how God is revealed
in our lives.
As communions seek to become genuinely inclusive as
well as multiracial communities of faith, planners say, the conversation
about the use of language in churches becomes more critical, and more
challenging
completed
when the final goal of 1,000 names is reached.
To
read what has been said about some of them go to 