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Calling Others to Hurt and Confusion: The Office of Women’s Advocacy Recommends a Conference
by
Viola Larson One of the Pastors at my Church invited
us to go with him to a Pastor’s Conference at Regent College in British
Columbia. The Conference was exceptional; the speakers were N.T. Wright
and Gordon Fee. The worship service, however, was the best part. Jesus
Christ was lifted up in song, scripture and dramatic reading. During
communion a wooden cross was placed up front for those who wanted to
kneel and pray. Like Jesus’ disciples all Christians need a time of
coming away for a deeper sense of Christian community, hearing the Word
and worshiping.
But there are other kinds of meaningful and good conferences for Christians. For instance, The Office of Women’s Advocacy, an office within the Presbyterian Church (USA), encourages women to get involved with conferences that “focus on women.” Their main concern is advocating against such evils as domestic violence, racism and human trafficking. And, indeed, these are areas where both women and men of the Church ought to participate.
But what if those in leadership in such
ministries as advocacy simply confound the needs of women by
recommending conferences that focus on false words and false deities?
What should one think or do if the recommendation is fraught with the
possibility that one could come away hurt and confused?
Sadly, The Office of Women’s Advocacy is urging women to attend a conference filled with problematic theology and workshops. The conference, “HerStory: A Conference for Women of Faith;” is evidently an annual conference which began in 1994. This year’s title is “Women Who Testify: Proclaiming the Gospel in Our Own Voice.” The specifics of this conference are found on the Shenandoah Presbytery web site as well as in a pdf brochure at the Salem Presbytery site.
On the pdf brochure Beverly Riddell is
listed as the registrar, however at the web site of the Resource
Center For Women & Ministry in the
South, where the conference is also listed, Sally Robinson
and Jean Rodenbough, both workshop leaders, are listed. The main presenter and worship
leader: The HerStory
conference’s main speaker and worship leader is Anna Carter Florence,
Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship at Columbia Theological
Seminary. In reference to her preaching the brochure states, “Women of
all ages are crying out for a deeper rootedness in the biblical text, a
deeper embodiment which is to say, a living out, in full view, of the
theological questions. As we become more enlightened, we ask, ‘Can I
really say that?’ Learn that we can, as Anna uses biblical and
historical models of girls and women.” But the truly troubling parts of
this conference are the workshops.
The workshops: One workshop le
But historically, the name crone was
invented by magicians in the nineteenth century to denote older women
in the religion of Wicca. It is part of the triple name, ‘maid, mother
and crone,’ which witches or radical feminists connect to the
phases of the moon, to a goddess symbolized by the moon and to what
they see as the three phases of a woman’s life.
Another workshop, led by Sally Robinson, takes the above theme further. “Exploring the Feminine Face of God” will make use of such books as The Divine Feminine: The Biblical Imagery of God as Female by Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, Reimaging God by Johanna W.H. van Wiik-Bos and A God Who Looks Like Me by Patricia Lyn Reilly. The latter book advocates for the need of goddesses for women. In one section a re-imagined biblical Eve is speaking and she is presented as a new way of seeing deity. According to the text, Eve speaks thus:
The snake is my wise adviser, counselor,
and interpreter of dreams. Symbol of Sophia, of wisdom, the snake is
the bearer of immortality… In the very beginning the sacred grove
was the birthplace of all things. Its trees of knowledge and life were
intimately connected to my worship… Many Hebrews worshiped in my sacred
groves. Hebrew women followed me… The mythmakers twisted the
truth to serve as a warning to the Hebrew people not to visit my sacred
groves not to eat of the fruit of its trees. And the most zealous of
Jehovah’s prophets cut down my groves and burned the bones of my
priestesses… As the Mother of All Living, I pick the fruit of life. It is good and satisfies hunger.” (128-129)
In a different section Mary the mother of Jesus is turned into the goddess, “I am Mary, the Virgin Goddess. I stride the earth in willfulness. I am She who is Complete in Herself.”
Another workshop is for the “GLBTQ”
community. It is entitled, “Diversity, By God (Inclusivity Is Up To
Us). It is led by Rev. Emma Chattin, a member of the Universal
Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. The brochure states of
her, “Her joy in theological diversity can be summed up in the words of
her bumper sticker: God is too big to fit into one
religion.” (Italics the brochure’s author.) Caring for
women in the name of Jesus Christ: Since the Office of
Women’s Advocacy is an office within the Presbyterian Church (USA)
under the Director of The Racial Ethnic Women’s Ministries/
Presbyterian Women, and since the
Presbyterian Church USA is a reformed denomination, advocacy implies
much more than social work. Advocacy by a Christian women’s
organization should mean not only concern for the emotional and
physical well-being of women but concern for their faith. And part of
that concern should include a Christian world view rooted in Scripture
and Confessions. But instead, the staff of
the Office of Women’s Advocacy is asking women to participate in
conferences that can only undermine their faith in Jesus Christ. In
fact, with their recommendations, they are excluding from participation
in their ministry those many women whose faith is both reformed and
biblical. This leads to
several questions: Why doesn’t the Office of
Women’s Advocacy promote conferences that deal with women’s issues,
such as domestic violence and racism, from a biblical perspective? Why
is an office of the Presbyterian Church (USA) recommending a conference
that is in opposition, even hostile, to the Church’s biblical and
confessional standards? And finally, why doesn’t
the Office of Women’s Advocacy open up a way for all women of the
Presbyterian Church (USA) to participate in their ministry by promoting
faithful biblical teaching and conferences?
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