Boston women gather to celebrate Circles of Names

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

Boston women gather to celebrate Circles of Names

>By Kathryn M. Lohre 
>President Elect, National Council of Churches

See: http://www.ncccusa.org/news/101101bostoncircles.html

Cambridge, Mass., November 1, 2010 -- On a beautiful New England fall 
morni ng, more than 40 women gathered at Harvard Divinity School to 
tell their st ories about the women who have shaped their lives of 
faith, and to build a  future for women's ministries and gender 
justice in our churches and societ y.

The event, one of several local events taking place this fall, was 
part of  the National Council of Churches Circles of Names campaign.

Women's ministries and work toward gender justice are at stake in all 
of ou r churches as they grapple with the impact of the economic 
recession.

History is repeating itself: women's desks, commissions, and programs 
are b eing severely reduced or eliminated. The Circles of Names 
campaign seeks to  build a foundation towards long-term 
sustainability of women's ministries  and gender justice in the 
National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA  (NCC), the 35 
member communions of the NCC, and its ecumenical partners.   

This occasion in Boston centered on honoring the Rev. Dr. Constance 
Parvey,  one of the first women admitted to Harvard Divinity School 
and one of the  first women ordained in the Lutheran Church. Parvey 
is the author of the no w-famous Sheffield Report on the community of 
Men and Women in the Churches  for the World Council of Churches 
(1983), and was the longtime chaplain of  the ecumenical 
Lutheran-Episcopal ministry at MIT.

Dr. Diana Eck, chair of the NCC's Interfaith Relations Commission, 
who had  herself been present at the Sheffield conference, paid 
tribute to Parvey's  work.

"It is such an honor to name [Connie's] name so many times this 
morning," E ck said.

Parvey was formally named by the NCC General Secretary, the Rev. Dr. 
Michae l Kinnamon, to the Circles of Names when the campaign launched 
in November  2009. 

Parvey lifted up the ecumenical witness of Bishop Krister Stendahl 
and Arch bishop Desmond Tutu, demonstrating how women's ministries 
and gender justic e is the work of women and men together.

NCC President Elect Kathryn Lohre, the local host and chair of the 
planning  team, shared her own experience of being mentored by Parvey 
and Eck, and e ncouraged participants to think of mentoring as "what 
makes our circles con centric."  

The testimonials that were shared during the event colored the rich 
relatio nships between women who are scholars and students, clergy 
and laypeople, e cumenists and interfaith leaders. Each story brought 
the Circles of Names t o life in a rich tapestry of shared 
experiences, and visions for the future .

It is the hope that these stories will have a ripple effect, 
inspiring othe r stories in other circles, and enlarging the Circles 
of Names in order tha t women's ministries and gender justice will 
continue to shape the churches ' work and witness in the world.  

Video clips of the event can be viewed at: 
http://www.youtube.com/user/bost oncircles23 

Members of the Boston Circles of Names planning team included: Dr. 
Diana Ec k, Chair, NCC Interfaith Relations Commission; Ms. Laura 
Everett, Associate  Director, Massachusetts Council of Churches; Ms. 
Polly Hamlen, Boston Outr each Coordinator, Oikocredit USA; Ms. Karen 
Hessel, former Program Director , NCC Women's Ministries; Ms. Kathryn 
Lohre, NCC President Elect; Dr. Jenny  Peace, Assistant Professor of 
Interfaith Studies, Andover Newton; Rev. Dr.  Rodney Peterson, 
Executive Director, Boston Theological Institute; Dr. Eli sabeth 
Schüssler Fiorenza, Krister Stendahl Professor of Divinity, Harvar d; 
Rev. Katherine Shaner, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 
Delegate t o the NCC; and Pastor Jay Williams, Board Member, US 
Conference of the Worl d Council of Churches. 

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of 
Christ  in the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical 
cooperation among Chri stians in the United States. The NCC's 36 
member faith groups -- from a wid e spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, 
Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African  American and Living Peace 
churches -- include 45 million persons in more t han 100,000 local 
congregations in communities across the nation.

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 
646-853-4212 ( cell), pjenks@ncccusa.org