ECW Women Articles-Poems-Announcements Archives - Page 22 of 23

We pray for women across the world

Almighty and merciful God, we pray for women across the world who are suffering from violence. Help us to be agents of transformation and promote justice and equality for women around the world. Open our eyes Lord so we can see the truth, the words to speak the truth, and the courage to eradicate a world culture in which violence against women is tolerated. Help us remember that vision without action is a daydream.

God of life, lead us to justice and peace. Amen

Deborah Gardiner Member at Large for Social Justice National Board of Episcopal Church Women

Episcopal Church Women2020-05-27T15:51:20+00:00November 26th, 2012|

16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence

16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence begins November 25th.

Continuing a partnership begun in 2010 with Anglican Women’s Empowerment and the Episcopal Women’s Caucus, Episcopal Church Women will observe this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence by writing and collecting prayers from Episcopal Women speaking to the theme From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women! Visit our page to read the prayers or subscribe to the eCommuniqué to receive prayers via email.

Episcopal Church Women2020-05-27T16:44:29+00:00November 25th, 2012|

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women 2012

Eternal and most loving God,whose spirit falls upon all flesh,

We bring to you this day, our awareness of the serious divisions in the lives of humans living in this beautiful world world which you have created.

You have given the care of this world into the hands of your people…and as stewards we know that we are charged with the responsibility to take care of your creation and all humankind ….male….female….young and old.

We pray that you would guide us and give us the wisdom to make a difference in the area of gender discrimination and abuse.

We pray for the women and girl children who are victims of any kind of abuse because of their gender and powerlessness in their culture.

We pray for the oppressors that they would see and recognize the deep and lasting damage they inflict upon the women and children who are under their authority and power.

Help us to have the courage to use our voices, our hearts and our resources to respond appropriately to the injustices that are known to us.

May we be instruments of your peace and bringers of Justice.

We pray in the name of Jesus, the greatest Peace and Justice maker of all time…. Amen

By The Rev. Heather Mueller – Priest in Charge at St. Augustine Episcopal Church (Kohala Episcopal Mission) Big Island of Hawaii

Episcopal Church Women2020-05-27T15:58:14+00:00November 25th, 2012|

O God, our comforter in hard times

O God, our comforter in hard times, often have we called to you in pain and you have answered our pleas. Here we sit this night, guardians of a shelter where women lie sleeping, briefly safe from the battering and bitterness of a world that does not protect them. They look to us to knit together their shattered hopes, dreams, and lives. But, you, O God, are the tailor, the binder of wounds, and the great healer. Help us to be conduits for your love, to reveal you to them, and in seeing their joy, to know you more deeply. In the name of him who fully opened himself to all in need, Jesus Christ, your Son. Amen.

-Ms. Jayne Oasin from the book Womens Uncommon Prayers

Episcopal Church Women2020-05-27T15:35:35+00:00October 30th, 2012|

Shirley Greiman – Vice President, Program

I come from the Diocese of Connecticut and belong to Old St. Andrew’s Church, Bloomfield, CT. Born and raised on a farm in a small town in Iowa, I was brought up in the German Reform faith. I was a member in both girls and boys 4H, as my father raised purebred Aberdeen Angus Cattle, therefore showed cattle at Iowa State fair, county fairs, and other cattle shows. Since there were no girls who lived near me to play with (there were just boys, and all of them my cousins), I was a real “tomboy” – if I wanted to be involved in the boys’ games, I had to keep up with them. My family were very hardworking, devoted, loving, and religious people. Their lives revolved around the church, as both sets of their grandparents (on the matriarchal side) had formed small churches in the areas where they settled in different areas of Iowa.

During my college days, since there was not a German Reform church, I attended different churches, and was exposed to other beliefs and their way of worship. This was, in addition to my family, an advantage in my growing into who I am today.

My work experience consists of working in the media and direct mail department in three top advertising agencies in Chicago. Also, with my former husband, I opened, decorated, and ran nine restaurants in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Florida. I have worked for Lord & Taylor, in West Hartford, CT; traveled doing antique shows throughout the Midwest, Southwest, and West Coast; and have owned and operated my own antiques and decorator store, as well as arranged estate sales.

In my church, I have served as president of the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) for 14 years, two-and-a-half terms on the vestry, hospitality chairman, and enhancement committee. I have also worked on the World Day of Prayer as a lay delegate for the Diocesan Convention, and as fundraising chairperson for the Democratic Republic of The Congo.

I launched a grassroots program to Vinh Long, Vietnam, through a Vietnamese temple. The program raised money for rice and food for orphans, as well as funds to build 20 houses for individuals handicapped by the effects of Agent Orange.

On the ECW diocesan level, I was the publicity chairperson, and I am now 2^nd vice president, a well as editor of the Diocesan ECW Communiqué.

I have been involved in Anglican Women’s Empowerment (AWE), which has furthered my interest in global women’s issues, as well as in the United States.

My vision for the ECW is to further women’s work in the church by making things more accessible and attainable for the younger women and youth groups, so they may become involved in missions for their church, state, community, and globally.

It is a calling by God that I feel I have to follow to continue the task he has set forth for me to do on the national board of the ECW.

Episcopal Church Women2020-05-27T16:57:36+00:00October 23rd, 2012|

Christine Budzowski – Vice President, Information and Communication

Born in Sydney, Australia, I was baptized in the Church of England and confirmed in the Episcopal Church after moving to Los Angeles in 1962. In my early 20s I served as ECW President at St. Mary’s Church in Provo, Utah, where I lived for 8 years and where my two daughters, Marina and Katherine, were born. I returned in the late 70s and have made my home in the Diocese of Los Angeles ever since. Now grandmother to Wills and Sofia, who live in Northern California, I am actively involved in the Community Garden Project at my parish, The Church of the Holy Nativity, in Westchester, CA. I have served in various communications roles in the Diocese of Los Angeles, and in leadership roles with ECW and the Order of the Daughters of the King. My business, Trinity Web Consulting, serves non-profit organizations and small businesses with website development, database implementation, training, and marketing.

I love the Episcopal Church and believe that our greatest strength lies in the ECW organizations within parishes and dioceses, working together in mission and ministry and inspiring the next generations of Episcopal Women, who will follow the examples set by our mothers before us. Communicating our history, as well as our current story through all the forms of media available to us, keeps us connected and working together in that common mission. I look forward to communicating and serving for the next 3 years on the path to Triennial 2015 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Episcopal Church Women2020-05-27T16:54:10+00:00October 23rd, 2012|

Kathy Mank, Treasurer

Greetings from your National ECW Treasurer! For the last 22 years, Cincinnati, Ohio, has been my residence and St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, my spiritual home. When our family joined St. Barnabas, the parish was only 10 years old in a growing area of the city with many young families attending services and leading activities. Our priest was not only an ex officio member of ECW, but of the Mothers of Young Children group (MYC) that eventually ran the fundraising projects of ECW. This included the annual Lasagna dinner and auction, rummage sale and the flower sale. The MYC also led Lenten Bible and book studies. The Diocesan ECW President called me one day out of the blue and asked me to serve on the Board. An older woman in our parish had suggested me as a possibility for the Book of Remembrance chair. I was 31 and the mother of a four year old.

Over the next 14 years, I served the Diocesan ECW, our local parish ECW and attended Province meetings. I found the mission and ministry of the ECW to be life changing to me and to those we served. The ECW spearheaded needed projects in congregations and throughout the world. The ECW women were organized, shared common goals and saw endless possibilities with Jesus Christ as their inspiration and leader.

When the ECW National Board visited our Province and Southern Ohio, I attended their meet and greet session to see what their focus and plans for TM were. Again totally by surprise, I was approached by a board member to serve on the National Board as Secretary. My ECW journey took another path that has led me to Treasurer which fits my natural gifts and accounting abilities.

In my experience younger women make intentional decisions to associate with the church and ECW. It truly helps when they are personally asked to serve.

What are my dreams for the national ECW in the next Triennium? Here is a list:

Development of a Prayer/Liturgy Network – Sharing of prayers that are directed toward women
Development of a Speakers Bureau – Sharing speakers and topics of interest to ECW’s
Update/Revise Sections of the Women of Vision Program to incorporate current learning
Gain Appreciation of the Benefactors of ECW – research the history – work with EWHP
16 Days of Activism – Partner with other Episcopal Women’s organizations
National Online Bible Study
National Online Book Club – one Book per Year
Work on Structural Changes that can Help ECW evolve
A Triennial Meeting that touches the heart and quickens the soul

If there is enough interest, these dreams can be fulfilled. Three years may not be enough time!

Pray with me and the rest of the board for a spirit filled and progressive Triennium. Do not hesitate to contact me with any question or thought.

Episcopal Church Women2020-05-27T16:51:00+00:00October 23rd, 2012|

Lisa Towle, Secretary

Lisa Towle hails from the Diocese of North Carolina. She and her husband, Karl, live in Cary, and are members of the Church of the Good Shepherd in nearby Raleigh, the state capital, as well as the location of the diocese’s primary office. In addition to serving as president of the diocesan ECW, Lisa is a member of the diocese’s Botswana Companion Diocese Committee, the Millennium Development Goals Committee, and the Chartered Committee for Global Mission. A journalist and editor, Lisa has also worked in public relations. She and her husband co-own Liskar Communications, which provides writing and editing services as well as website content, database and email consulting. Lisa is a native North Carolinian who’s lived globally thanks to her father’s career with the U.S. Army. She and Karl have been blessed with three terrific daughters and a son-in-law. When she’s not doing church-related work or tending to Liskar business Lisa enjoys family time, genealogy, gardens, reading, the beach, Masterpiece Mystery, the arts, coffee and chocolate. And while she holds her own at “Words with Friends,” she’s less than artful when it comes to the “Draw Something” social media game.

Over the course of 2012-2015 triennium she hopes to help make the National ECW more known to dioceses around the country and begin a serious conversation about the National ECW’s future – its form and function.

Episcopal Church Women2020-05-27T16:48:29+00:00October 23rd, 2012|

First ECW Triennial 5K Run/Walk

Episcopal Church Women2020-05-27T17:59:43+00:00July 13th, 2012|

ECW Triennial Keynote Speaker: Reverend Lindsay Hardin Freeman

Among the many highlights of the 47th Triennial Episcopal Church Women’s meeting, “Many Paths, One Journey,” is scheduled keynote speaker Reverend Lindsay Hardin Freeman, award-winning editor, author, and Episcopal priest.

Freeman worked with the Episcopal Church Foundation for more than 20 years, and served as editor of The Vestry Papers. During her editorship of almost 10 years, Freeman won 33 Polly Bond awards for excellence in church communications.

Since then, her keen interests in women of the Bible and their parallels with contemporary women and spirituality have inspired her in authoring such works as Good Lord Deliver Us: A Lenten Journey (co-authored with husband, Leonard Freeman); Wisdom Found: Stories of Women Transfigured by Faith; and, her latest offering, The Scarlet Cord: Conversations with God’s Chosen Women, a compilation of 12 stories featuring Bible women, with colorful illustrations by Karen N. Canton.*

Aside from her keynote speech engagement, Freeman, a popular retreat leader, will be offering a couple of workshops, “Bible Women Who Sought Healing: What We Can Learn From Their Actions” and “Courageous, Bold, and Surprising: Spiritual Mothers and Grandmothers,” inspired by materials from her books, Wisdom Found and The Scarlet Cord, and from the Bible women and contemporary spirituality.

Freeman currently resides in Orono, Minn, with her husband, Leonard. They have two sons, David and Jeffrey. She is available for retreats, workshops, and book club presentations. For more information, go to www .scarletcordbook .com, or call 952-476-6267.

Episcopal Church Women2020-05-27T18:07:55+00:00July 4th, 2012|