Celebrating Memories The Selected Stories about Women and the United Church of Christ 1957–2007 Barbara Brown Zikmund, General Editor The Living Theological Heritage of the United Church of Christ Designed and printed by United Church Resources, Local Church Ministries 2006 Note: This booklet blends articles published during 2006-2007 on the Women’s Page of the Worship and Education Ministry Team, Local Church Ministries. The original essays (with pictures) can be viewed at REMEMBERING HER http://www.ucc.org/women/remembering.htm 3 B efore the birth of the United Church of Christ in 1957, women in those denominations that came together to create the UCC generally related to their churches in five ways: (1) through special ministries of service as Deaconesses; (2) through local congregational groups that studied and supported mission; (3) through “ladies aid societies” that raised money for church projects; (4) through “altar guilds” that handled preparations for worship; and (5) through small prayer and study groups. In many local churches the last four of these functions often found expression in a “women’s group, guild, association or fellowship.” By the 1950s many local Congregational Christian (CC) women were part of “Women’s Fellowships.” Building on the special history of the four historic Congregational Woman’s Boards of Missions that had been established in the 1860s and 1870s, CC women met regularly to do many of the above things. Local women’s fellowships related to their State Conference fellowships and to the national Women’s Fellowship of the Congregational Christian Churches. Women’s organizations in the Evangelical and Reformed (E&R) Church began in 1869 with formation of the Women’s Missionary Society of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in the US. Much later, in 1921, the Evangelical Synod of North America organized the Evangelical Women’s Union. After 1934 the Women’s Guild of the E&R Church provided national support for hundreds of local Women’s Guilds. In the 1940s and 1950s denominational support for men and women in the Congregational Christian Churches was provided by a national Laymen’s Fellowship and a National Women’s Fellowship; in the Evangelical and Reformed Church there was a national Churchmen’s Brotherhood and Women’s 4 Guild. Everyone assumed that when the United Church of Christ was created these CC and E&R organizations would merge to create two new national UCC bodies, one for men and one for women. The Council for Lay Life and Work (CLLW) By the 1960s that assumption changed. Building upon experiences in “lay acquaintance meetings,” “lay schools of theology,” and conferences on the “place of the laity in the church,” the UCC Constitution, completed in 1961, called for a single national instrumentality to support all UCC laity (men and women) – a Council for Lay Life and Work (CLLW). Its advocates affirmed the wholeness of the Church, recognizing that changing social patterns were reshaping the lives of men and women. They declared that the purpose of the CLLW was “to assist all men and women in the churches to grow to full stature as mature Christians; to develop and coordinate programs to deepen and strengthen their Christian witness; and to help men and women understand and participate in the whole task of the church.” In 1962 the national president of the Evangelical and Reformed Women’s Guild and the national president of the Congregational Christian Women’s Fellowship declared an interim year and prepared to “close down” their organizations. They wrote a joint letter to thousands of local women’s groups “to help them follow new patterns, learn to use new terminology, and look forward to new opportunities.” The letter did not suggest that local women’s guilds and fellowships should go out of existence; instead it challenged local groups to relate to wider church structures in new ways. It stated, “we are standing on the threshold of an exciting new adventure, on the growing edge of the ‘church of tomorrow’.” The new executive of the Council for Lay Life and work was Helen Huntington Smith. Born in China, 5 serving there as a missionary under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions from 1930-50, educated at Union Theological Seminary in NY and director of women’s work in the Ohio Conference of the Congregational Christian Churches from 1951-1962, in 1963 she was the first woman and the first lay person chosen to head a national instrumentality in the UCC. The goals of the Council for Lay Life and Work (CLLW) were: “(1) to work with other instrumentalities in challenging lay people to better understanding of the mission and purpose of the church; (2) to aid in coordinating various facets of a total church life; (3) to keep the church at large aware of the needs and potential of the laity; and (4) to co-operate in training the laity for its ministry in the church and the world.” In spite of these goals, during the 1960s many young women in church and society felt that their needs that were not being met by existing church structures and programs. Inspired by the “feminist movement” they pressed the UCC for change. At the same time, other women, often older housewives who did not have jobs outside the home, were unhappy with the Council for Lay Life and Work. They did not think that the CLLW was providing enough support for women’s activities in local congregations. After the United Church of Christ General Synod responded by passing a “Pronouncement on the Status of Women in Church and Society” in 1971, in 1973, the Council for Lay Life and Work (CLLW) was quietly folded into a new instrumentality called the Office for Church Life and Leadership (OCLL). The General Synod Pronouncement on Women in Church and Society Before the 1970s few Protestant denominations had taken any formal steps to respond to the changing needs of women. The United Church of Christ led the 6 way. The General Synod “Pronouncement on Women in Church and Society” (1971) established a Task Force on Women in Church and Society charged to do nine things: (1) expand opportunities for women in leadership, (2) enrich knowledge about women’s contributions in history and society, (3) develop programs to support women’s rights, (4) work to overcome discrimination in employment and compensation, (5) promote the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, (6) support reproductive choice, (7) commend other organizations and movements seeking to correct injustices inflicted upon women, (8) affirm gender neutral life styles for children and (9) explore additional areas relevant to the well-being of women. [1971 GS Minutes, pp.129-30] The 1971 Pronouncement was a broad based appeal to church members, local congregations, Conferences, national Boards and Offices (called Instrumentalities) to become more assertive in their efforts to improve the lives of contemporary women. During its four year life (1971-75), the Task Force focused upon promoting Conference Task Forces, improving women’s employment situation, supporting families and challenging masculine patterns of theological education. Common Lot One of the most significant actions of the Task Force was the launching of a new newsletter/publication (January 1974) to advocate for and communicate with women about the changing needs of women in church and society. The first issue of this newsletter, called The Common Lot, was a non-descript eight pages of news and articles in brown ink on beige paper. There were no pictures – only a graphic design showing a circle of stick figures joined together in a circle. Common Lot quickly became a valuable resource, sought after and used by UCC women in thousands of 7 local congregations. Thirty three years later Common Lot looks quite different. Its Winter, 2007 (#109) issue is a 24 page glossy magazine filled with articles for and about women with striking art and photos. Although finances have sometimes limited the frequency of its publication, Common Lot remains highly respected and important. Its annual issue containing resources for “Women’s Week” is eagerly anticipated in many local congregations. At its beginning Common Lot set forth three goals: (1) to acknowledge that Christian people are part of a “confessing community and in need of forgiveness, liberation and grace,” and that in our “common lot” none of us are without blame; (2) to share stories within the context of the women’s movement; and (3) to create a greater sense of struggle and solidarity among women, among men, and between the sexes, races and age groups within the church. The first page in the first newsletter explained: “Not all of us in this struggle use the same language or share the same cultural, religious or historical perspectives. Not all of us agree in our analysis, use the same methods to achieve our goals, nor do we yet share a common vision of what a just society would look like. Yet as the society and its conflicts increasingly demand that the church be the Church in the true prophetic and pastoral sense, our goal to participate in the struggle of women and “minorities” to obtain justice becomes sharper. And as our goals become more clearly focused, they also become more closely parallel.” [The Common Lot, January 1974, #1, p.1] The Task Force on Women in Church and Society Throughout the 1970s some people thought the UCC was becoming too “feminist,” while others argued that it was 8 not doing enough to support historic women’s groups in local congregations. In its 1975 Report, the Task Force on Women in Church and Society challenged the Executive Council to become a catalyst, monitoring recommendations “related to the elimination of sexism” in the UCC by implementing ten specific recommen- dations. Among those recommendations were the development of improved personnel and affirmative- action policies, new sensitivity to the role of volunteers, better support for women clergy and the establishment of an ongoing Advisory Commission on Women in Church and Society. To lift up a new UCC commitment to support women clergy, in 1975 the Task Force established the Antoinette Brown Awards. These awards are given at every General Synod to honor two ordained women in the United Church of Christ who exemplify ”the contributions women make through ordained ministry as they work in the parish or in church related institutions.” The award is named to remember and celebrate the ministry of Antoinette Brown, commonly recognized as the first woman ordained by a major Protestant denomination in the United States – an event that took place in 1853 in a small Congregational Church in South Butler, New York. The 1975 Synod was a special synod for women. Its moderator, Margaret Haywood, a judge from Washington, DC, was extremely effective. UCC President Robert Moss promised that there would be no foot- dragging in carrying out the votes of Synod to support women and serve the needs of women. A spontaneous and exuberant Synod irrupted in applause and thanksgiving after the recommendations were approved. According to A.D. Magazine, “Women “put it all together” and they did it with “determination, patience, cooperation and care.” Meeting the needs of all women throughout the United Church of Christ, however, was an ongoing challenge. Although national women’s organizations had been phased out and new “task forces” organized in many conferences, life in local congregational 9 women’s fellowships, circles, guilds and associations was troubled. Some groups adjusted meeting times to accommodate working women. They studied and explored feminist issues. Overall, however, the number of younger women involved in church women’s organizations steadily declined. The national UCC Task Force on Women in Church and Society and its successor Advisory Commission tried many things to meet the needs of all UCC women, yet it was difficult to keep everyone happy. There were women who wanted to restore the earlier national women’s structures. There were other women who felt those were passé and agitated for wider church attention to social justice issues related to women – the Equal Rights Amendment, reproductive choice and feminist theology. From 1975-79 the Advisory Commission for Women in Church and Society listened carefully and in the late 1970s, along with the UCC Office for Church in Society, and funds from the 1978 Family Thank Offering, organized the “First National Meeting of UCC Women for Leadership Development”. The First National Meeting of UCC Women for Leadership Development The meeting took place January 10-13, 1979 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Under the theme “Created in God’s Image – Women Empowered for Mission” it registered 1,240 people (17% Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, Black and Hispanic; 4% male, 2.5% seminary students). Hundreds of women came, affirming in an opening litany their desire to learn, to teach each other, to worship, to sing in joy, to grow and stretch, to experience power, to share stories and skills, to strengthen leadership in God’s church and to renew their “commitment to struggle for the coming of justice throughout the world.” They were nourished by daily 10 Bible study, seven major speeches, one hundred and thirty workshops on management, theology, human rights and personal growth, and dozens of small group sessions and informal conversations. Helen Barnhill, an African American executive and owner of a management consulting firm in Milwaukee, chaired the event. She reminded women at the meeting to think like Mary when the angel appeared to her with the surprising news of her pregnancy. Mary was astonished, yet she began to sing a song of joy and power, newly confident that her soul could “magnify the Lord.” In the same way, Barnhill told the women in Cincinnati that they needed to be like Mary, “on the tiptoe of expectation.” Valerie Russell Expectations among UCC women were diverse and challenged by ethnic and racial realities. Fortunately, in 1973, two years after the UCC General Synod established the Task Force on Women in Church and Society, an African American woman named Valerie Russell became the assistant to the president of the UCC and coordinator of new efforts within the denomination to respond to the changing roles of women. As traditional women’s fellowships and guilds continued to serve the needs of older church women, younger women, lay and ordained, pressed for new resources and structures. Russell understood, yet as a black woman and as a layperson, she worked to make sure that marginal voices were heard in church and society. She recognized that many minority sisters carried “bitter” feelings about white standards of beauty and spent years doing white women’s housework and childcare. She promoted the importance of renewing trust between minority women and white women in the UCC. Her leadership and consistent concern for