Summary

Sojourners – 11 Christian Women Shaping the Church in 2021 – Celebrate Women’s History Month with a roundup of women faith leaders who are bringing us hope…

GoErie – Rev. Melinda Hall: Unbinding our buried selves is best done in relationship with God –  As the light grows each day and the promise of spring dawns…

Lake Norman Citizen – Hope is cooking in St. Mark’s new building – The Flyin’ Lion Transition to Employment Program teaches underserved women how to cook and bake, with the goal of preparing them for jobs in the food-service industry. The eight-week program will cover basic cooking techniques.

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11 Christian Women Shaping the Church in 2021

Sojourners

For the past five years, Sojourners has celebrated Women’s History Month with a roundup of women faith leaders who are bringing us hope and inspiring us to action. This year’s group includes pastors and seed-keepers, authors and theologians, activists and organizers. Collectively, they envision and work toward a wide and bold church community — a community that cares for creation and for those who are suffering, that centers those who the church has historically marginalized, and that holds both political and faith leaders accountable. Pray alongside these leaders and learn their vision for growing justice this year. […]

Rev. Melinda Hall: Unbinding our buried selves is best done in relationship with God

GoErie – Erie, PA

Lately, I am aware of a tightness bound inside me. The wintery gray, the drudge of the pandemic, have left me tense, less spontaneous, more wary. As the light grows each day and the promise of spring dawns – and the hope brought by vaccines – this tightness is making itself known, wanting to unfold.

The Rev. Melinda Hall is dean of the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Paul in Erie.
Rainer Maria Rilke, German poet, writes in one of his poems: “I want to unfold./ Let no place in me hold itself closed/ for where I am closed, I am false.” (translation by Barrows and Macy). […]

Hope is cooking in St. Mark’s new building

Huntersville – NC

While the finishing touches are being made to a new building, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church has been preparing for a culinary-based ministry.

The Flyin’ Lion Transition to Employment Program teaches underserved women how to cook and bake, with the goal of preparing them for jobs in the food-service industry. The eight-week program will cover basic cooking techniques, terminology, scaling of recipes, and weights and measures. Participants also will complete the ServSafe food-handling safety course.

“A potential employer will know they have a good handle to safely work with food, how to keep food safe and work with the public,” said Sue Bartlett, Flyin’ Lion’s lead culinary instructor. “We will give them a leg up on the competition. We want to give them as many measurable skills as we can.”

Applicants are identified through community agencies like the Ada Jenkins Center and Mecklenburg County Social Services that provide full-scale support.

Bartlett said typical program candidates often found themselves as heads of household through homelessness or domestic violence, and lack marketable job skills. […]

Some Faith Leaders Call Equality Act Devastating; For Others, It’s God’s Will

NPR – National Public Radio

A potential revision of federal civil rights law to extend protection to LGBTQ people could soon get a long-delayed vote in the U.S. Senate, but concerns about its implications for religious freedom cloud its prospects for final passage.

The Equality Act, which would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, has twice passed the House. Republicans in the Senate have until now blocked its consideration, but Democratic control there should finally ensure at least a hearing. […]

‘From Many, One’ Webinars to Fuel Practice of Conversations Across Difference

Episcopal News Service

A set of upcoming webinars promises to prepare Episcopalians to effectively listen, honor difference, and help to heal families, congregations, communities, and nations.

“From Many, One: Conversations Across Difference” will host three webinars introducing individuals and ministries to what Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry calls “the spiritual practice of love in action” – one-to-one listening and sharing across the differences that separate us. The webinars will cover basics like invitation and attentive listening, as well as the theology, tools, gifts, and challenges related to this critical spiritual practice. Register for each date below.

  • Friday March 12, 2:00-3:00 p.m. EST: The How and Why of Conversations Across Difference (Register here)
  • Thursday, March 25, 2:00-3:00 p.m. EST: How We’re Practicing and What We’re Learning (Register here)
  • Thursday, April 8, 6:00-7:00 p.m. EST: From Many One “Listen-In” – Sharing Our Stories and Growing Our Practice (Register here) […]