Feminist Studies in Liturgy
2004 New York, New York
2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002
Convener 2004
June C. Goudey (interim minister within the United Church of Christ, currently serving Woodland Hills Community Church UCC in Woodland Hills, CA)
Seminar Participants 2004
Seminar members: (in attendance) Janet Walton, Heather Murray Elkins, Kathy Black, Teresa Berger, Linda Vogel, Susan Roll, Marjorie Procter-Smith, Martha Whitmore-Hickman, Brigette Enzer-Probst, Marcia McFee, June Goudey
Visitors: Deborah Sokolove, Siobhan Garrigan
Seminar Report 2004
Our work this year involved several discussions related to the manuscript being edited by Heather Murray-Elkins and Kathy Black, presently entitled Wising Up: Women, Rituals, and Aging. Seminar members have been collecting essays on the wisdom, wit, and rituals of aging; thus considerable time was devoted to which essays would be chosen for publication, particularly in the area of death and dying.
In addition Janet Walton moderated a session devoted to the Women’s Liturgy Group of New York City that she along with five other women founded in February 1981. Several members of the group were present and shared the challenges and triumphs of creating alternative liturgies based on women’s experiences. Their presence generated significant conversation regarding the benefits they have received from the diversity of religious expression among their members that has tested their beliefs and drawn them together beyond difference to address the human needs at the center of their common life. The group continues to meet on a monthly basis, though membership has shifted over time. More information can be obtained from Claire S. Derway, 1120 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10128; (212) 860-0980. See also “The First Six: Interviews with the founding members of the Women’s Liturgy Group of New York City” published by WLG, NYC in January, 2001.
Other work
The seminar members also gathered for a pre-meeting slide presentation and talk on The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago, an art-curator at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Heather Murray Elkins opened our gathering with a Theo-poetic presentation on foot washing, absent members were remembered in a closing liturgy, and plans were made for next year’s gathering.
In 2005 seminar members plan to focus on feminist perspectives on sacramentality as well as the nature of prayer. Janet Walton will prepare a paper to facilitate discussion on claiming the word “sacrament” and Marjorie Procter-Smith will provide excerpts from her previously published book, Praying with Our Eyes Open. In addition seminar members will come prepared to share prayers they have written and used in a variety of liturgical expressions. The intention is that these prayers might be gathered for publication under the title, Lighting Up the Sky: The Power of Prayer.