by Cynthia Davis – Coordinator of Women’s Ministry Diocese of the Rio Grande
How do you minister together when the miles are long? How do you gather in community when you can’t gather in person? How do you build a Beloved Community in the midst of pandemic?
These questions have faced Women’s Ministry in the Diocese of the Rio Grande, especially during the past months of COVID-Diaspora (as a friend calls it). At the best of times, we are physically distanced by the miles of our diocese. It can take 10 or 11 hours to drive from Farmington, New Mexico, in the far northwest corner to Marfa, TX, at the far southeast end of the diocese. It’s seven hours driving time north to south, so getting together in a central location is a trek for nearly everyone.
The gift of COVID has been discovering that we can form a community on Zoom that is just as vibrant as being in the same room. Women who couldn’t join in-person events, have been able to meet online. Women who enjoy traveling to in-person events have made new connections and we have all learned that technology can be a blessing. Called ANEW2, this online ministry has brought us together even in the social distancing of the past 18 months.
Since April 2020 women from all corners of the Diocese of the Rio Grande (and some outside the diocese) have met monthly on Zoom. We’ve explored a variety of topics with discussions led by lay and ordained women. Topics have ranged from Gratitude to Moms to Telling our Story to Books. We had a Christmas Party and a two-day retreat, all via Zoom. Via ANEW2 we have also done outreach. In August of 2020 we filled the trunk of a car with books for children in ToHajiilee on the Navajo Nation, about an hour west of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
These ANEW2 events have been a way of building community and including women who have felt isolated during, and even before, this time of COVID protocols and distancing. Several have expressed great joy at being able to see and talk to others, even if it’s on a computer screen.
One exciting and fun ANEW2 event was the July 2021 PICNIC! A Picnic on Zoom, you might ask. Yes, indeed. Women were encouraged to invite a friend or two to join them at their home or church for the event. Several women joined individually as well. Those who registered ahead received a “basket” of supplies including leis, pinwheels, and some of the ingredients for the suggested recipes provided so we’d all have the same food no matter where we were!
There was a door prize for the largest group, which happened to be from one of the smaller churches in the diocese; and for the woman who had the most distant summer fun memory (Canada). Together we made Candle S’Mores, ate our Picnic goodies, and had a lively discussion about ways we can be Partners in Christ, Neighbors in Community, the theme of our PICNIC.
Wonderful ministries already in action were shared, and we got ideas for future diocesan-wide outreach such as shoe collections and donating feminine products to women’s shelters. There is also interest in finding ways to support existing diocesan outreach such as our Borderlands and Indigenous Ministries.
During the party we played Episcopal Trivia and Picnic Trivia with winners in both categories. Did you know the word “picnic” comes from the French “picque-nique” which means of small account? Clearly the PICNIC in the Diocese of the Rio Grande was of more importance than the name implies.
Despite the challenges of the COVID-Diaspora, women have connected and built Beloved Community via Zoom, and other online assets. Though some of us may have been hesitant to embrace technology, we’ve all learned to benefit from it. We will continue our ANEW2 gatherings into 2022 and plan to have a virtual option even when we return to in-person events such as our November 12-13, 2021, Women of Valor and Worth retreat led by former Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. (If you are interested in more information about the event, contact Cindy Davis at cynthiadavisauthor@gmail.com).
Submitted by Lisa Bortner
Province VII Representative, NECW