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07549 September 5, 2007
Faith perspectives on upcoming elections highlight NNPCW event
35 Presbyterian collegiate women gather in nation's capital
by Laura Parkinson Presbyterian News Service
WASHINGTON - The National Network of Presbyterian College Women (NNPCW) held its annual leadership event July 25-29 at American University in Washington D.C. This year's theme, "Speaking Truth to Power," drew 35 young women from private and public universities nationwide.
Many issues pertinent to the upcoming 2008 election influenced the conference. To teach about the connection between faith and politics, the leadership event planning team organized a different plenary speaker each night and a visit to the PC(USA)'s Washington, D.C. office.
"We worked together and tried to find women who had a background in faith and politics," said Hailee Barnes, a member of the coordinating committee and planning team. "Too many people said yes so we decided to have different speakers every night," says Barnes.
One of the speakers, Mara Vanderslice, is the founder of Common Good Strategies. This organization provides elected officials and candidates with tools to connect with religiously diverse communities.
"I began by seeing that the Democratic Party had a tone-deaf ear toward the faith community," Vanderslice, who was director of religious outreach for the Kerry campaign in 2004, said. "There was an opening that wasn't being explored. I was passionate about how we can make a connection among central communities that share common values. I wanted to make sure it was done with the right heart," says Vanderslice.
Vanderslice has started a conversation among faith groups. She identifies the moral compass of candidates to help them direct their voice to religious groups.
"I really liked the talk by Vanderslice because she is actually working in the political field to help Democrats understand how faith and politics is for everyone, not just Republicans," said Rachel Lewis, a senior at the University of Washington. "I thought that she had a lot of good insight and info about how the Democratic Party has dealt with faith and how it has changed," says Lewis.
Vanderslice believes that if people feel engaged by an issue, they should not worry about how faith has informed that decision. The NNPCW conference offered one way for women to find their voices.
"Personally I loved the conference because no other time of the year do I get to sit down with other young women my age and discuss issues important to us," said Iyana Davis, a junior at Spelman College Atlanta. "We are building a network, but also friendship and sisterhood. It provides a resource for us to get involved and foster and influence change."
The network was formed in the early 90s with a mission to claim a Christian faith that empowers women. A 12-member coordinating committee (CoCo) directs the young Presbyterian feminist network.
Objectives of the network include leadership development, networking and resourcing.
"It provides a way that women can be involved in church through their college years," Barnes said. "There doesn't have to be a gap between youth group and being a retired Presbyterian Woman. There is a place for you to explore what it means to be a strong woman of faith," says Davis.
The conference, "Speaking Truth to Power," included discussions about the place of a woman of faith in politics and how she can connect her personal faith with the public arena.
"I've taken away a stronger sense of informed politics in that a lot of people, especially mainline Protestants, think that religion is one thing and politics are something else," said Kristin Williams, senior at University of Pennsylvania. "I walked away with a renewed sense of wanting to reclaim religion and think about progressive religion and how many possibilities there are in politics."
Interning in religion and public life research this summer, Williams has been able to connect what she learned through her internship and school with discussion throughout the conference.
"I think it is a really delicate balance between faith and politics," Williams said. "Faith informs our politics and we decide what issues are important due to our religious outlook. Thinking about what issues are most important in an overarching religious sense is what drives politic decision," says Williams.
This connection was underscored when attendees visited organizations in Washington such as the National Organization for Women, The Center for Community Change and the Marya McLeod Bethune Council House.
After visiting the Center for Community Change, Davis made a contact to help find interns at her college for the center.
"Community organizing is very important to me and on my campus," Davis said. "I want to get people behind me on the issues that I am strong about," says Davis.
The leadership team also planned a "Speak Your Mind" forum with small-group discussion questions covering topics including reproductive rights, healthcare and immigration.
"It was a good way to hear what everyone had to say about things," Williams said. "There were questions of a personal nature about how personal experiences have affected our politics. I was able to hear individuals articulate what goes in their political decision-making process," says Williams.
The workshops not only allowed political discussion, but also provided students with tools to use after leaving the conference. The speakers provided tips on programming and how to create "WomanSpace" on campus, a core value of NNPCW. Suggestions included building personal relationships and offering individual invitations to other students.
"I think that one of the cool things that I took away form the conference was that there was more of a community for progressive Christian women," Lewis said. "Sometimes you feel like you don't have peers, but I feel like there is a community around NNPCW. Community is important especially when sharing faith and ideas," says Lewis.
The NNPCW mission statement includes a commitment to challenge systems of oppression, domination, exploitation and suffering and to work for justice in both church and society. In line with that commitment, conference discussion centered on mission and on global and local women's issues.
"Any type of mission that exposes women to more knowledge and more situations that women across the world are in, it makes us humble and shows us how we can work in the world and what is our place in the world," Barnes said.
The conference exposed both new members and old to the various forms that mission takes and provided the women who attended with the tools to become strong leaders and to make a difference on their campuses.
"I think that the really cool thing is just how unique and how important the network has become to Presbyterian women," Davis said. "It is a small group and for the women who find themselves in it, it positively influences their lives. It is really refreshing to see people that I met last year were able to find a faith base to explore feminism and religion and be able to make those decisions in their environment that are important to them."
Laura Parkinson is a member of NNPCW and a journalism student at the University of Missouri.
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