wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Congregation celebrates the gifts of women to kick off Lenten season

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This story available online:

www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09163<http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09163

Congregation celebrates the gifts of women to kick off
Lenten season

March 8 is Celebrate the Gifts of Women Sunday; churches
can celebrate when they choose

>by Beth Newberry
>Communications Associate
>Special to the Presbyterian News Service

OWENSBORO, KY - At First Presbyterian Church here Feb. 22,
the congregation held its annual service celebrating the
gifts of women in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The
service featured an all-female Chancel Choir composed of
members in their teens to their 60s, a group of women
elders collecting the offering and serving communion and
young women reading scripture.

The church's Presbyterian Women planned the service and
many other female members served in leadership roles. The
Rev. Rhashell D. Hunter, director of Racial Ethnic and
Women's Ministries/PW, preached in honor of the occasion.

While First Presbyterian Church strives for diversity in
age, gender and race during each service, the celebration
of the gifts of women service exclusively highlights and
encourages women's leadership and contributions to the
church, said the Rev. Jonathan E. Carroll, pastor.

While the PC(USA) has designated March 8 as Celebrate the
Gifts of Women Sunday for 2009 - coinciding with
International Women's Day - congregations are encouraged to
honor the role of women in the church on any Sunday they
choose.

First Presbyterian decided to celebrate the gifts of women
on Transfiguration Sunday as a way to set the tone for the
Lenten season, Carroll said.

"What a beautiful way to start Lent (where we will explore)
intentional Christian practices such as hospitality,
authentic relationships, fellowship and service," he said.

This was the eighth year that First Church's Presbyterian
Women have planned and led the worship. This year's
celebration focused on John Calvin's Jubilee, the 500th
anniversary of the Reformer's birthday.

The two Sunday worship services featured liturgy, prayers,
hymns and a dramatic interpretation centered on the theme.
Many of the texts used in the services were published as
part of the liturgical resource produced by Racial Ethnic
and Women's Ministries and written for the occasion by the
Rev. Dale Lindsey Morgan, a retired pastor and Bible study
author.

A standout moment featured Carroll, playing Calvin, joining
Marsha Nash and Elder Susan Hicks for a conversation about
women's leadership in the church. Carroll, clutching his
copies of Institutes of the Christian Religion, used
Calvin's own words from his seminal two-volume work while
the women probed Calvin on his writings on scripture,
leadership and call.

During the short drama, "Calvin" pointed out, "When
Scripture sets out a list of human beings, it names only
the males. ... Why, even children know that women are
included under the term 'men'!"

In response, the women said, "I hope my children know I'm
not a man!"

The humor did not undercut the reverence of the observation
of the day, however, as different groups of women were
recognized for their talents of teaching and leading as
elders.

Elder Helen Sears remarked on the significance of the
service: "It's important because it gives women an
opportunity to better themselves and recognize the
contributions they make when they see other women
(participating) in the service."

Sears is a past member of the Churchwide Coordinating Team
of Presbyterian Women and a past moderator of Presbyterian
Women of the Presbytery of Western Kentucky and encouraged
the celebration of the gifts of women as an annual event at
the church.

Debbie McKoy, past moderator of Presbyterian Women of the
Presbytery of Western Kentucky, added that the celebration
was the time the church honors "all that (women) do as
elders, as circle members and in caring for the sick."

The presence of women in every role in the church was
further underscored by Hunter's sermon, titled "The Little
Girl with Jesus." Preaching on Matthew 18, where Jesus
calls a small child forward from a crowd to illustrate to
the disciples how to achieve greatness in the kingdom of
heaven, Hunter imagined the conversation between the child,
whom she called Joanna, and her mother. In their
conversation, the mother learns how Joanna was used by
Jesus to model humility and wonder to the adults around
her.

After the service, Loré North was asked by her daughter why
she was participating in worship. North, who sang a solo
and invited other members to join her in "celebrating women
here and everywhere," explained: "In our Presbyterian
Church, today's the day we celebrate women. Some Sundays we
celebrate men, some we celebrate kids, and today it was the
day for women to participate."

To download a flier of resources on Celebrate the Gifts of
Women Sunday 2009, click here
[www.pcusa.org/allwomen/pdf/celebrate2009flier.pdf].

Beth Newberry is an associate for mission communications in
Communications and Funds Development, assigned to Racial
Ethnic and Women's Ministries.

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