“And so it begins.” This is a lovely little phrase from the movie, “About Time,” when the young couple gets married and a new life together begins.
By Nancy R. Crawford
I have thought of the phrase often during my time as president of the national ECW Board. Of course, there was THE beginning in 2012 at the commissioning ceremony in Indianapolis. But along the way there have been many beginnings: beginning to preside at board meetings and getting to know the other board members; beginning to address the concerns of the women of the church, and others, and develop a board response to the resignation of some UTO Board members; beginning to formulate a committee to study and make recommendations on Resolution 101/104 on Restructuring; beginning to understand more fully the plight of those trapped in Human Trafficking and learning about organizations such as GEMS in New York and Rahab’s Sisters in my Diocese of Oregon; beginning to support and collaborate with Lindsay Hardin Freeman’s dream to write a book about the women who speak in the Bible; beginning to engage others with the President’s Blog’s bi-monthly reflections on Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter; and beginning to travel as president of the Board.
Besides board meetings in our eight continental provinces, my travels as president began in Minnesota. There was a desire to reinvigorate ECW in the diocese and the seeds were planted at St. David’s, Minnetonka. Lindsay Hardin Freeman spoke to the women gathered together and I had the pleasure of preaching and sharing the Good News of Episcopal women’s ministry in the church. The next trip was a very big beginning for me. It was the ECW Pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the beginning of my passport being used for something other than identification. It also began my love for the people who live in the Holy Land and who tend the land where Jesus walked. I have been fortunate to go on pilgrimage a second time with another ECW-sponsored group and meet with the Archbishop of Jerusalem, definitely a first! My travels have included meeting at Camp Allen, Texas; attending a gathering in the Diocese of Spokane; leading a 2-day spiritual retreat at Kanuga, North Carolina; gaining new insights at women’s leadership training in Colorado; speaking at the Honored Women Luncheon, Diocese of New Jersey; and attending and speaking briefly at the Province IX Synod Meeting, Quito, Ecuador. This spring I made visits to the Diocese of East Carolina and the Diocese of Ohio and shared what to expect at the upcoming Triennial Meeting in Salt Lake City.
All along the way I have had the privilege to meet wonderful women, just like you, who are working hard for ECW, who are questioning our role in the 21st Century, and who are shining forth the light of Christ. In each of them, in each of you, I see a child of God.
And now I should say “and so it ends.” It is hard to imagine that this is really the end of my service to ECW, my love for the women of the church, my passion for the cause of social justice for women, children, and men around the world, or my concern for those living in Palestine and the complicated struggles they face. It is so difficult to imagine that I know it will not end, but only change.
Over the past three years the Spirit has stirred up something within me and I forever will be thankful for the opportunity to serve and to learn as president of the national ECW Board.