wfn.org | Presbyterian Women's Leadership Group Explores Hospitality

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

1-April-1998 
98111 
 
    Presbyterian Women's Leadership Group 
    Explores Hospitality 
 
    by Leah Ellison Bradley 
 
SANTA FE, N.M.-More than 50 women gathered here Feb. 26-March 6 for the 
biannual meeting of the Churchwide Coordinating Team (CCT) of Presbyterian 
Women. 
 
    During the weeklong gathering, the CCT hosted prominent author and 
theologian Letty M. Russell, professor of theology at Yale Divinity School, 
who lectured and led the group in discussions on the meaning of 
hospitality, both for Presbyterian Women and for Christians in general. 
 
    The team also began initial preparations for the next Churchwide 
Gathering of Presbyterian Women, scheduled for the summer of 2000 in 
Louisville, Ky.  Issues under consideration as themes for the next 
triennial gathering include racism, sexuality, violence against women and 
children, women and the economy and broadening the diversity of 
Presbyterian Women. 
 
    According to figures released at the meeting, annual giving among 
Presbyterian Women increased in 1997.  Total giving for the year reached 
$5.7 million, an increase of nearly $200,000 over 1996.  Each year 
Presbyterian Women raise money for the unified General Assembly mission 
budget through the Birthday Offering and the Thank Offering, as well as 
through honorary life memberships, memorials and special recognitions. 
 
    In 1997, 2,304 honorary life memberships were conferred upon 
Presbyterians - both men and women - in recognition of their faithful 
service to the work of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). 
 
    Tentative dates were set for the 1999 Presbyterian Women Global 
Exchange Program "No Longer Strangers."  The 36 persons chosen to 
participate in the program - Sept. 20-Oct. 18, 1999 - will visit the Middle 
East, Ethiopia and parts of the United States to explore the issues of 
children at risk, justice for women and different belief systems. 
 
    CCT members present included Diana Lim, San Jose, Calif.; Carol 
Hylkema, Dearborn, Mich.; Ann Beran Jones, Western Springs, Ill.; Florence 
Reeder Morrison, Traverse City, Mich.; Sara Wallace Payne, Greenville, 
S.C.; Artence Johnson Walton, Dayton, Ohio; Sunok Chun Pai, Overland Park, 
Kan.; Mary Elizabeth Anzaldua, Corpus Christi, Texas; Kyung-Soon Yoon, 
Perrysville, Ohio; Amy Heusinkveld, Fairport, N.Y.; Beulah Townsend, 
Spokane, Wash.; Louise E. Davidson, Dublin, Ohio; Lois Potter, Albertville, 
Minn.; Millicent Hankla, Anna, Ill. 
 
    And Diane Blankenhorn, Madison, Miss.; Ellen Carter, Hill City, Kan.; 
Ellen Newbold, Rose Hill, N.C.; Elizabeth Addison, Toms River, N.J.; 
Kathryn Baker, Ontario, Ore.; Flavia Alvarez, Quebradillas, P.R.; Jane 
Westfall, Yuma, Colo.; Peggy Lane, Davenport, Fla.; Mary Lee, Anaheim, 
Calif.; Betty Forsberg, Sun City, Ariz.; Sharon Mihaltian, Cabot, Ark.; 
Gloria Venett, State College, Pa.; Wilma Bennett, Louisville, Ky.; Shirley 
Samples, Belleville, Ill.; and Dollie Ortiz of Houston. 
 
    Staff members present were Jane Parker Huber, interim coordinator for 
Presbyterian Women; Ann Ferguson, the new coordinator for PW; Marie T. 
Cross, editor of "HORIZONS" magazine; and Jean Cutler, associate for 
mission participation in the Women's Ministries Program Area of the 
National Ministries Division. 

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