EEWC Conference 2006

Conference Report

by Alena Amato Ruggerio

(from the Summer 2006 issue of Christian Feminism Today)

In the spring of 2005, Letha Dawson Scanzoni was walking home from an errand and took a shortcut through an alley.  She came across a small, discarded, weather-beaten sign poking out of some debris that had apparently washed away from nearby construction work completed months earlier.   Encrusted with mud, the wrinkled vinyl sign read, “Caution: Buried Power.”  She and Nancy Hardesty had just volunteered to coordinate the next EEWC conference, and as they talked on the telephone later that evening, Letha told Nancy about the little sign and its message.  “That’s just like women,” Letha said, “buried power.”  They searched their Bibles, looking for references to power, buried power, even buried treasure.  They found Ephesians 3:16-21, and the 2006 EEWC biennial conference theme, “Rooted in Love, Powered by God” was born.

Approximately seventy inclusive biblical feminists gathered at the Hyatt Charlotte Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina, from July 20 to 23 to enjoy speakers, music, workshops, worship, and togetherness.  Longtime EEWC members and new friends were drawn to the conference from advertising in the conference brochure mailed to members and inclusive churches in the region, our EEWC website, Ms. Magazine, Christian Century, Feminist Studies journal, Women’s Review of Books, Sojourners magazine and the e-mail distribution list SojoMail, Western North Carolina Woman magazine, and press releases in local newspapers.

We were greeted Thursday night with joyful singing, dancing, and piano music from Martha Ann Kirk, Catherine Cuasay, and Janice Pope.  The musicians continued to lead the group in song and dance throughout the conference, repeating the refrain, “Rooted in love and powered by God, alleluia, amen forever.”

Friday was rich with plenary addresses.  The first was presented by Reta Halteman Finger, who utilized her expertise as a professor of New Testament at Messiah College to analyze the message of equalizing love in the book of Ephesians in its original context of Roman colonization.  In the evening, Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, professor emerita and author, urged Christian feminists to express God’s love in the world by challenging economic and racial injustice.    Local political leader and Pentecostal Holiness pastor Mary Emma Evans spoke next, expressing her conviction that “the ground is level for all people at the foot of the cross” through both speech and powerful gospel song.

Friday was rounded out with workshops.  There were so many wonderful options, from art to writing to psychology to poetry to social justice, that it was difficult to choose just a few to attend.

Early risers enjoyed the devotions and movement of morning meditations, led by Indiana chapter member Kay Kiehlbauch Nannet.  On Saturday, hymn writer and Brevard College professor Mary Louise “Mel” Bringle presented her plenary, “Breadth and Length and Height and Depth: Hymns of Expansive Love.”  The room was filled with weeping as we sang together Mel’s hymns honoring human diversity of age, race, class, nationality, ability, and affectional orientation.  The Hyatt Queen’s Courtroom resonated with the sounds of “The Love that Goes Unspoken,” “When Hands Reach Out,” and “When Memory Fades,” accompanied on the piano by Janice Pope.

To illustrate the range of theologies among us, and to emphasize that no one person represents the official theology of EEWC, previous speakers Reta Halteman Finger and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott were joined by All We’re Meant to Be coauthor Nancy A. Hardesty, and professor of communication Alena Amato Ruggerio for a theological panel discussion.  S. Sue Horner moderated the conversation on the three questions of the nature of God and the divinity of Jesus, interpretation of the Bible, and sin and salvation.  Audience members provided their own perspectives and asked further questions. This open exchange continued into the following workshop time and will be extended into the pages of an upcoming issue of Christian Feminism Today. 

The business meeting held good news for the financial future of the organization, thanks to generous donations and faithful pledging.  We also honored Judy Jahnke as she ended her service as the Central Office Manager, and celebrated Sharon Bowes for stepping into that role.  We heard reports of our successful outreaches through the magazine Christian Feminism Today and our website, and about the preservation of our history in the archives at Union Theological Seminary.

The final bidding ended Saturday at the silent auction, which was a great success thanks to those who donated five tables full of beautiful items, and also to those who bid with such open hearts.  Lucky winners brought home with them a handpainted liturgical stole, an embroidered piano bench cover, the EEWC statement of faith in cross stitch, earrings and pendants, inscribed books, handknitted clothing, a stay at an inn, baskets of food, floral-painted tools for the handy feminist, and more.  Saturday evening closed with a dramatic presentation on ancient Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women by author and musician Martha Ann Kirk, assisted by music therapist Catherine Cuasay.

Sunday’s service featured Presbyterian pastor and conference registrar Rebecca Kiser as liturgist, and Baptist pastor and prison chaplain Nancy Sehested as preacher.  Our prayers were planted to sprout and grow under Divine power, our hearts were moved by the stories of female courage in both girlhood and in prison ministries, our voices were raised together in song, and our souls were fed in communion.  We ended with the invigorating Caribbean beat of Mel Bringle’s “Now Go in Joy.”

Sunday afternoon, some departed to return to their homes across the country.  Others stayed for the Council meeting to do the administrative work of the organization.  We thanked Chicago representative Arlynne Ostlund for her leadership as EEWC Coordinator for 2006, and looked forward to Hoosier Georgean Johnson-Coffey’s guidance as Coordinator in 2007.  We also heard that a few people are already contemplating a call to plan the 2008 EEWC conference, but will be taking some time to explore, research, and pray before the October 2006 deadline to commit. 

Letha Dawson Scanzoni still has the little red flag that says, “Caution: Buried Power.”  Perhaps she will pass it along to inspire the ’08 committee, whoever they might be, to continue to unearth and celebrate the buried power of women.

Ed. Note: This conference report was written by Alena Amato Ruggerio (bottom row, left), Assistant Professor of Communication at Southern Oregon University.  Before her move to Oregon, Alena was active in the Indiana EEWC chapter and joined the group for this photo during this year’s conference in Charlotte. Bottom row (l-r): Alena Ruggerio, Georgean Johnson-Coffey, Barbara Crews, Becky Bender.  Second row: Elizabeth Bowman, Sharon Bowes, Kay Nannet.  Top row: Helen Claire Ferguson.

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