Worshop Descriptions: Ottawa 2005
/Women's Ordination Worldwide (WOW)
Second International Conference
Breaking Silence, Breaking Bread: Christ Calls Women to Lead
Ottawa, Canada
July 22 - 24, 2005
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS: OTTAWA 2005
A. BREAKING SILENCE - RECLAIMING HER-STORY
A1. Dina Cormick (South Africa): withdrawn
A2. Regina Coupar (Canada): BORN AGAIN: RECONCEIVING WOMEN'S STORIES: using a combination of demonstration, lecture and hands-on exercises, will expose participants to tools they can easily adopt for reconstructing stories of biblical women - in poetry, prose and visual art; will enliven and inform the imagination.
A3. Bernice Santor (Canada): SOME WOMEN AMAZED US: using 5 quilts depicting biblical women, will tell their stories from a Christian feminist perspective, followed by discussion of the methodology used, and exploration of creative imagination and its use in reclaiming biblical women and their contribution to the development of their religion.
A4. Elaine Guillemin (Canada): SHE INSISTED IT WAS SO: WO/MEN RE-TELLING BIBLICAL STORIES: creative re-telling of biblical women's stories, will explore some of the theory and practice of a hermeneutics of creative imagination, including the androcentric nature of the biblical text, elements of reader-response theory, principles of feminist biblical interpretation, and the authority of women's experience therein.
A5. Mary-Lynne Monroe (USA): REGENESIS: RESTORING WOMEN'S PLACE IN CREATION: probing the stories of creation as well as the role of Mary, often idealized as the quintessential woman, in Christian and Islamic traditions; delving into the mythic patterns which have created women's roles and exploring the possibilities available to recreate these roles in both the world in general and the church in particular.
A6. Jennifer Stark (GB): SILENCING WOMEN IN REVELATION: A HERMENEUTICAL EXPLORATION OF VISION, TEXT AND ARTISTIC REPRESENTATION: The workshop will examine and discuss the impact of the text, the thought worlds on which John drew for his writing, and the visual representation of these 'apocalyptic women' over the centuries: powerful imagery which needs to be explored, redefined and often challenged if women are to speak and lead in the Churches of the future.
A7. Kim Vidal (Canada): THE MOON UNDER HER FEET: WOMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE: Exploration of feminine imagery in the Book of Revelation and its relevance for women of today.
A8. John N. Collins (Australia): INESCAPABLE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN NEW TESTAMENT DIAKONIA, WOMEN AND ORDINATION: to clarify the nature of ministry/diakonia in Pauline mission as "ministry of the word"; to establish women's connatural role in ministry of the word; to establish the essential connection between ministry of the word and Eucharistic celebration; to elucidate the process of "ordination" as "good ordering".
A9. Karen Fitz La Barge (USA): WOMEN, THE PROMINENT APOSTLES! THE SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE FOR WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP: will correct the false assumption that Christ called only twelve males to be apostles: will review the compelling scriptures that support women in ordained ministry.
A10. Adriana Valerio (Italy): withdrawn
A11. Doreen Wyatt, (GB): NEGATIVE IMAGES OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH AND THEIR DESTRUCTIVE POWER: This workshop will explore the images of women which are presented by the Church, namely the two opposing models of the pure and immaculate woman, Mary the mother of Christ, and the fallen, sinful woman to be found in such as Eve and Mary the Magdalene. In its own way, each of these models is used in a destructive manner.
A12. Martha Ann Kirk (USA), (the music of Covita Moroney): VOICES OF ANCIENT WOMEN INVITING COURAGE AND COMPASSION: Story-dramas, ritual, and music celebrating texts by and about women who dared to break limits, holy women of Palestine, Sinai, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Greece from the fourth to ninth century who are guides for modern pilgrims charting new maps. Texts used for the ordination of deaconesses reveal a rich and neglected tradition.
A13. Dorothy Irvin, (the music of Covita Moroney): WOMEN PRIESTS AND BISHOPS IN THE EARLY CHURCH: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTATION
B. BREAKING BREAD - MODELS OF MINISTRY
B1. Miriam K. Martin (Canada): LEADING FROM THE GROUND UP: WOMEN RELIGIOUS WORKING AND PRAYING TOWARDS WOMEN'S ORDINATION: This paper will situate briefly the role of women religious in the ordination movement, particularly in Canada. Then it will examine how women religious' active leadership roles and their ritual lives are affecting the practice of local churches in a way which affirms a grassroots movement toward women's ordination; how women's ritualising is moving the questions of leadership and ordination in divergent directions, towards an inclusive, equal and more circular model; will expand the present understanding of women's actual leadership roles in the church and world today while challenging patriarchal and dysfunctional notions of leadership.
B2. Ida Raming (Germany): ORDINATION CONTRA LEGEM-A WAY TO OVERCOME DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: short overview of the history of discrimination of women in the Church; the motivation of the 7 women who decided to go ahead with an ordination contra legem. Participants are invited to discuss the pros and cons of the decision (transgression of Church Law) and to form their own opinion.
B3. Maria Alma Chaires, Victoria Maria De Leon, Teresa Andrade Garcia, Eustorgia Estrada (Mexico): LUZ Y LIBERTAD: LIGHT & LIBERTY IN MEXICO: A group of Mexican Catholic women will share their experiences and struggles of how they transformed their Comunidad de Base (Base Christian Community) into a community ministry to women.
B4. Valerie Bannert, Mary Ellen Nettle, Sharon Smith (Canada): FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE: THE CHURCH UNITING IN MINISTRY: will introduce and invite participation in the development of an alternative Ministry (Ecumenical Diaconal Ministry) in the Christian Church.
B5. Angelika Fromm (Germany): WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP IN A DEACONATE-BASED CHURCH: Short history of women's deaconate, presentation of experiences of a German three-year women deaconate formation program and ideas for renewed ministries in an up-to-date church serving the wellbeing of the people.
B6. Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger & Elisabeth Grossegger (Austria): A PRIEST IN THE FAMILY: REPERCUSSIONS AND SUPPORT: will examine models of priestly work in a renewed understanding of community, women in ecclesial structures and priestly ministry as the lever for equality.
B7. Giovanna Piazza (USA): withdrawn.
B8. Kelley A. Raab (USA): CATHOLIC WOMEN PRIESTS: WHAT DIFFERENCE ARE THEY MAKING? What difference are women priests making for the priesthood, for parishioners, for theology, and for the church? Using case studies and feminist and psychological theories, I suggest that Catholic women priests redefine the notion of priesthood, empower parishioners, bring an embodied theology of relation and presence, and clarify the mission of the church.
B9. Denise Donato & Mary Ramerman (USA): FAILURE IS IMPOSSIBLE: THE STORY OF TWO WOMEN CATHOLIC PRIESTS: Hear the story of what happened when a Roman Catholic Parish refused to remove their female pastoral assistant from being on the altar. Learn how a new Catholic community was formed and the issues it faced.
B10. Brigitte Enzer-Probst (Germany): Withdrawn
B11. Pauline Jacob (Canada): ET SI DIEU APPELAIT DES FEMMES A LA PRÊTRISE OR AU DIACONAT? Il existe déjà un discernement vocationnel valable chez les femmes qui se disent appelées a la prêtrise ou au diaconat; bien que différent des modes traditionnels de discernement vocationnel, il repose tout autant sur des fondements théologiques réels et merite d'être prise au sérieux. Ma recherche part de récits de cheminements vocationnels de 15 femmes qui se disent appelées et de 73 témoins de leurs communautés.
B12. Patricia Fresen (South Africa and Austria): TRAINING FOR THE PRIESTHOOD: WOMEN'S WAY OF PREPARING FOR, LIVING AND ENRICHING PRIESTHOOD: will discuss the programme of training for the priesthood which is being used at present by the Women's Ordination Movement; will address issues and questions arising out of the experience of those who have been through the programme or are still participating in it.
B13.Chris Maunder, Pat Brown (GB): RESPONDING TO WOW 2001-PREPARING A COURSE IN WOMEN'S MINISTRY: We will outline how our Leeds Catholic Women's Ordination Group reflected on the resolutions from WOW in Dublin 2001 and instituted a pilot course in ministry for women, which is held every two months and will last two years. It will be almost completed by the time the workshop takes place. We hope this workshop will provide an opportunity to discuss how we might all respond to the call for courses in ministry for Catholic women
C. CHRIST CALLS - VOCATIONS AND EMPOWERMENT
C1.Anne Cross & Michael Bold (GB): THEOLOGY OF LAY LIBERATION: will enable participants to see how empowerment of all lay people is necessary for the redefinition of church and the ministers it needs; will encourage participants to recognise the importance of praying & sharing together for this empowerment and to envision how that could happen in their own context.
C2. Susan Williamson, Alison Gelder, Ian Smith (GB): THE TRUE NATURE OF EUCHARIST: will consider what is Eucharist and what is community and how these two are vitally intertwined; using the work of Paulo Freire and empowerment of the marginalised will link these to the idea of Eucharist and community.
C3.Angela Bonavoglia (USA): JOIN THE CHANGE-MAKERS - HOW CATHOLIC WOMEN ARE FIGHTING TO CHANGE THE CHURCH: will celebrate the efforts of Catholic women in all areas of Church reform, and enable workshop participants to identify specific ways that they can join in that work.
C4. Christina Cathro (Canada): LISTENING FOR THE ECHO: GIVING VOICE TO LESBIAN SPIRITUALITY: will raise consciousness of the need to include lesbian priests in the effort to ordain women worldwide; I will explore some aspects of an evolving lesbian spirituality, and examine ways that these lesbian voices are contributing to the fields of spirituality and theology.
C5. Deborah Halter (USA): WHEN SILENCE IS NOT GOLDEN: EVANGELIZING FEMALE DEFENDERS OF A MALE PRIESTHOOD: will explore ways that advocates of women's ordination can reach out to a group comprising the statistically largest single source of Roman Catholic women's ordination opponents: Roman Catholic women.
C6. Judith Schleitwiler Wolicki, Mary Nichols Schleitwiler (USA): LETTING GO OF THE FEAR: THE COURAGE TO BREAK SILENCE AND BREAK BREAD: overview of the history and function of priesthood in the world, the demonization and silencing of women's ministry; interaction and discussion on needs of communities, what kind of priests do we need in our world?
C7.Katherine Adolph & Jackie Frolick (Canada): THE WORK OF TRANSFORMING OURSELVES: BEYOND RELIGION, BELIEF AND FAITH: will clarify the meanings of faith, belief, church, religion and spirituality, thereby exposing common confusion among the terms.
C8. Joanna Manning (Canada): EROTIC JUSTICE: COMMITMENT TO PERSONAL AND GLOBAL TRANSFORMATION: will provide ways to renew, energize and deepen women's commitment to leadership. Spirituality, study, personal relationships and social action are interweaving circles of Christian life within which women are called to break silence and break bread in the contemporary world.
C9. Chris Schenk (USA): WOMEN IN CHURCH LEADERSHIP: TOOLS FOR TRANSFORMATION: will present proven methods for advancing women's roles in today's Church, as well as bringing to visibility biblical and historic Catholic women leaders of the past; will discuss basic skills for parish and diocese wide organizing, and develop strategies for advancing chosen issues
C10. Rosana Pellizari, Rosemary Ganley (Canada): A BETTER SEXUAL ETHIC: CHALLENGING PATRIARCHAL MORES IN PRIESTLY FORMATION: This workshop, offered by two member of the voluntary group "Catholics for a Free Choice-Canada", will explore these themes and those of women's moral agency, reproductive rights as human rights, the ambiguous history of the church teaching on abortion, the classic theory of primacy of conscience, misogynistic reductionism in preaching today, and global perspectives on sexual ethics, including the politics of the Holy See at the United Nations.
C11. Soline Vatinel (Ireland): - withdrawn
D. DIVERSITY - BREAKING BOUNDARIES
D1. Joy Barnes (USA): BREAKING BOUNDARIES THROUGH MINISTRY: DIVERSITY IN THE WOMEN'S ORDINATION MOVEMENT: will share the basis of the Women's Ordination Conference (WOC-US) Three Ministries and discuss the struggles and successes with addressing diversity through these ministries.
D2. June Boyce-Tilman (GB):MUSIC & TRANSFORMATION - WOMEN, MUSIC & TRANSFORMING CHURCH: willl set out a model of how music has been used to support patriarchal culture particularly in the church, will free up people's preconceptions about music, enable participants to find a voice and look at how music may be used to transform church.
D3. Veronica Dunne (Canada):VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES - CYPERSPACE ROOMS OF OUR OWN: will consider what can happen when a group that is denied actual space in the church buildings creates a virtual room - "a room of one's own - in cyberspace; will examine ways women can draw on these new cyber-resources, and how cyberspace can work as an ally in the process of destabilizing dominant patriarchal church and cultural norms, allowing new norms and practices to emerge.
D4. Jessica Fraser (Canada):ECOFEMINISM & MINISTRY - THE SACRED EARTH CALLING US HOME: will examine the gendered face of the ecological crisis as well as international ecofeminist efforts: will then move to a theological analysis of what is occurring in terms of feminist leadership on ecological issues; will discuss shifts to interpret Christianity in terms of the multi-religious world and an earth sciences perspective.
D5. Eileen Kerwin-Jones (Canada):BREAKING THE SEXUAL SLAVE TRADE - BREAKING SILENCE: THE GLOBAL TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN: will raise awareness about the global trafficking of women and call women of faith to collective action to halt this injustice.
D6. Sarah Samson:UNITÉ DE RECHERCHE ET DOCUMENTATION <<GENRE>> EN CHRISTIANISME: La recherche s'opère aujourd'hui selon un critère à la terminologie difficultueuse en français mais désormais admise dans les milieux scientifiques et politiques, le critère du genre (en anglais gender). Le concept du genre est fruit d'une longue étape: après tant d'années d'études sur les femmes ou par les femmes, on prend acte de la discrimination subie par les femmes dans un système général de domination masculine. Et, sans en avoir terminé pour autant avec les prémisses de cette démonstration, on explore désormais ce rapport socialement construit entre les sexes.
D7. Walda Taylor-Javier (USA):MAINTAINING A POLITICAL PRESENCE - A LOBBYING PRESENCE IN ROME: Will discuss the importance of keeping the women's ordination issue in the forefront by establishing a lobby group in Rome.
D8. Debra Wuliger (USA):MEDITATING ON OUR WISDOM - withdrawn.
D9. Mary Schaefer: THE MODES OF CHRIST'S ACTIVE PRESENCE IN THE LITURGY: A LITURGICAL-THEOLOGICAL CASE FOR WOMEN'S ORDINATION TO EUCHARISTIC LEADERSHIP.
