the
Goddess
A Look at Emerging Feminist, Neo-Paganism in the Church
through the Open Door of Re-Imagining
Deerfield, New Hampshire
Autumn, 1994
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
In 1993, a conference called Re-Imagining gathered some 2000 women in Minneapolis, primarily from mainline churches, to “Re-Imagine” the church, society, the family, and even God. It has been the source of conflict, pain, and controversy ever since. Evangelicals both within and outside the mainline denominations have called what happened there vivid evidence that ancient paganism has resurfaced as a virulent, new strain of old heresy in the very blood stream of the church. Some who would generally be considered ‘liberal leadership’ in these denominations have joined in condemnation or have called for considerable caution. The Presbyterians and Methodists have officially censured the activity in some form.
Meanwhile those who supported the conference have called the reaction a tempest in a teapot, a predictable patriarchal reaction to anything that lifts women up, a handful of quotations taken out of context, and even a fantasy of fundamentalist heresy hunters.
Was Re-Imagining an isolated event, a sort of creative occasion on which a number of spontaneous images and ideas found expression? Or did a deeply interconnected movement with theological coherence and ecclesiastical agenda emerge into public visibility in Minneapolis? If so what is their agenda for the church, the family, and society? Is their belief and worship at all really Christian? If this is the ‘cutting edge’ of contemporary theology shouldn’t we use this public occasion to take hard notice of what is being proposed?
What we have done in this report is present evidence for your consideration. We have done so with minimum of editorial comment. The quotations from Re-Imagining represent more than half of those who made presentations in the three days of the Conference. Several more controversial presentations such as Nadean Bishop’s (the first ‘out’ homosexual American Baptist Pastor), presentation on Mary and Martha as lesbian lovers, were not taped. We have, however, clearly chosen material which reflected the character of the controversy. We have also attempted to give a small but fair representation of some reactions. We are grateful to our sister Renewal Groups, particularly Good News, the oldest renewal group in the United Methodist Church, for their research and information which made this possible with our very limited staff and resources.
This is not an attempt at scholarship, our role is rather that of Paul Revere and John Dawes on the dark ride from Boston. We report that those who would subject the church to further tyranny of human ideology over our freedom in Christ are indeed on the march. We do expect, however, that those of you who are called to scholarship may find the array of spokespersons and the positions they hold and the items this report references a good place to begin. If you desire to obtain the full set of 24 conference tapes they can be ordered from Resource Express, 6252 137th Court, Apple Valley, Minn. 55124, 612-891-3069, (cost with shp/hdlng, $65).
It is, of course, our conviction that Re-Imagining was a bold overture by a significant movement that is rooted in three decades of radical feminist organization. We believe the quotations reveal a varied but coherent view which is indeed beyond the boundaries of our life together in our mutual relationship to our Lord Jesus Christ. We are confident that scholarly research of the journal articles and books written by Re-Imaging participants as well as a review of their network relationships would thoroughly support our conviction. Re-Imagining has simply served to give us a vivid photograph of a phenomena among us that has hitherto received relatively little public scrutiny.
Do the vast array of real Christian women in the church who know the blessed peace of Jesus Christ as savior and Lord find this emerging ideology liberating? or repugnant, foreign, insulting to their faith, and threatening to their children? Does this in fact have anything to do with authentic femininity or is this just the spirit of the age, wearing yet another deceptive disguise? Is it significant as we approach a new millennium, that the “goddesses” and their gnosticism parallel so closely the adversaries of Christ in the first century church? Does the spirit of the age NEED to come dressed in Christianity in order to deceive the heart’s of Americans? Is the attempt to change the very God we worship mean that what we have believed for 2000 years is really, really True after all and has to be assaulted if we are to be had? Hmmm?
We invite you then to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:12) before you read any further. We invite you to consider the matter prayerfully and with discernment. What make it important is that Re-Imagining is more likely a significant first skirmish in a greater struggle for the integrity of the church than an event to be quickly forgotten.
Yours in the love of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
David Runnion-Bareford
President of the Board
Biblical Witness Fellowship
WHAT THEY SAID:
“We invoke Sophia, Divine Wisdom, who chose to play with all the people of the world. Her voice has been silenced too long. Let her speak and bless us throughout these days.”
Re-Imagining Conference: Liturgy Program Book, pg 19
“Most of all, it is time to state clearly and dream wildly about who we are as a people of God, and who we intend to be in the future through the power and guidance of the spirit of wisdom whom we name Sophia.”
Liturgy Program Book, pg. 11
“Would you please put the tobacco in your hands that you received through the front door. Tobacco is used by many Native Americans for the use of prayer and that’s why we’re using it tonight. Let us bow our heads.”
Christine Roy, worship leader, who followed this introduction with a native American spiritist prayer in a Native American language
“Our maker Sophia, we are women in your image: With the hot blood of our wombs we give form to new life. With the courage of our convictions we pour out lifeblood for justice . . .
Our mother Sophia, we are women in your image: with the milk of our breasts we suckle the children withe the knowledge of our hearts we feed humanity;
Our sweet, Sophia, we are women in your image: With nectar between our thighs we invite a lover, we birth a child; with our warm body fluids we remind the world of its pleasures and sensations . . .
Our guide, Sophia, we are women in your image: With our moist mouths we kiss away a tear, we smile encouragement. With the honey of wisdom in our mouths, we prophesy a full humanity to all the peoples.
We celebrate the sensual life you give us. We celebrate the sweat that pours from us during our labors. We celebrate the fingertips vibrating upon the skin of a love. We celebrate the tongue which licks a wound or wets our lips. We celebrate our bodiliness, our physicality, the sensations of pleasure, our oneness with earth and water”
Liturgy for Worship, Program Book pgs 32 & 33
“The missionary movement came and told us that you cannot have a red dot on the forehead because that’s where the sign of the cross was put and Christians were not allowed to use the red dot. As a student it was my sign of protest against the missionary movement. When I was in the student Christian movement, I wore the red dot and I’ve always worn it. [Applause] It is a very beautiful symbol because when you go into the temple or even when you visit a home, you are normally offered vermilion powder which you take and keep on your forehead as a symbol of having been in the presence of the divine. So very clearly the divine is not only in the temple, the divine is everywhere . . . I think the red dot is a beautiful symbol of how we always are conscious of the divine in each other and we bow to the divine as you have done in the worship yesterday with the Namaste which is a symbol of bowing to the divine in the other person.”
Aruna Gnanadason, Church of South India, WCC staff
“I live in a very inclusive culture you can see that, right now as part of China in that . . . we have 722 gods and goddesses and I think for your friends it might be too much, so three is better than one at least. Why monotheism used in the wrong way can be extremely dangerous, you understand. We live in a culture with many gods and goddesses, we know other people have their own points of devotions and they are equally sacred, and divine for them just like our Jesus, our spirit, our God is very important for us. That is radical inclusivity”.
- Kwok Pui-lan, formerly of Hong Kong, Assoc. Prof. of Theology, Episcopal Div. School, Cambridge, Mass.
“I want to share three images of God so striking in Asia and how these three images of God transformed my Christianity and my theological understanding of God. The three goddesses I want to share with you are Kali, KuanYin, and Inanna. These are my new trinity - Kali, KuanYin, and Inanna. Therefore, I claim Kali as the goddess of justice . . KuanYin is ‘one who hears the cry’ . . KuanYin prays abolition of hell itself . . Inanna means mother and Inanna means earth.” Then what does it mean to bring in this trinity of goddess in my Christian tradition. How this KuanYin, Kali, and Inanna got to do with my Christian theology . . . What I do after learning about their qualities . . . is my change of perspective so we call it the fusion of different horizons.” . . .
“When I look at our history of religion, we have more than 5000 years of shamanism, more than 2000 years of Taoism, and almost 2000 years of Buddhism, and 700 years of Confucianism and only 100 years of Protestantism in Korea. Therefore whenever I go to temples, Buddhist temples and I look at Buddha, I feel so young. I came from youngest family of whole community. And when I think of Buddha, died in his 80’s and Jesus died when he was 33. Maybe my next Christology book Jesus should be called ‘Too young to understand’.” [Laughter]
. . .“I feel like my bowel is Shamanist, my heart is Buddhist, my right brain is Confucianist, and my left brain is Christian.”
. . . “The Christian church has been very patriarchal. That’s why we are here together in order to destroy this patriarchal idolatry of Christianity.”
Chung Hyun Kyung, Ass’t Prof. of Theology, Ewha Women’s Univ., Seoul, Korea, speaker at 1994 UCC “Faith Works” Conference
“All of us have mothers watching from the spirit world the things that happen to us . . they are going to make sure that the people that do us injustice, they get it back. . . . Listen more often to things than to beings . . .those who have died have never, never left, the dead are not under the earth, they are in the rustling trees, they are in the groaning woods, they are in the crying grass, they are in the moaning rocks. . . the dead have a pact with the living.”
Mercy Oduyoye, Deputy Gen. Secretary, World Council of Churches
“feel your being, this being is sacred like the earth . . When we really move in an integrated way of body and soul together we know who we are on a deeper level; and knowing who we are, we can garner that power and energy into our prayer. It becomes the full expression because we are in touch with our deep self and we release the spirit into the world. We become like Sophia, a tree of life for the healing of ourselves and the nations.”
- Carla DeSola, Conference speaker/dance leader
“some authorities would call our worship of last night verging on heresy . . . . We did not last night name the name of Jesus. Nor have we done anything in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” [Laughter and cheers]
Barbara K. Lundblad, pastor, Our Saviour’s Atonement Lutheran Church, New York City. Key note speaker at 1997 UCC General Synod, “Revival” preacher for 1998 Re-Imagining Conf.
“Very often we universalize Jesus too much . . . we cannot have one saviour. Just like the Big Mac in McDonalds - prepackaged, shipped all over the world. It won’t do. It’s imperialistic. So we cannot have a white, middle-class Jesus.”
Kwok Pui-Lan, formerly of Hong Kong, Assoc. Prof. of Theology, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA
“According to Gnostic gospel there is one great line from Jesus and what Jesus said was very interesting new way of understanding salvation. Jesus said in Gnostic gospel, ‘if you bring out what is within you what is within you will save you. But if you cannot bring out what is within you, what is within you will destroy you.’ It is what Jesus said, but this Gnostic gospel is considered as heretical gospel. So you see many good people are out in canonization process. So you have to remember what kind of Bible we are using right now.
“I taught to my friends, many times introduction to Bible class, I said, ‘you know too much uncritical reading of Bible is hazardous for your health, especially you are pregnant with these creative ideas so you better be careful to read Bible because it is a very good and dangerous book.
“And I always ask my students, ‘if you are a citizen of some nation and all these people say they are the congressmen in your place but you never voted for them and one day they got together and they made a constitution and they said you have to follow everything they said in this constitution, would you follow the constitution? and all my students say, ‘Hell, No!’ Yes, that’s right. That’s the way the Bible is constituted, you are not there. Most of the people who decided the canon was men, so if you are not represented in that process, you have to really think about this constitution. So, this morning, I want to bring our this Asian and Gnostic understanding of salvation. I’m sure as an Asian person, if Gnostic gospel is canonized as gospel, we Asians would not have much problem to receive gospel because we know what is in the light within you and what is divine spark within you.”
Chung Hyun Kyung, Ass’t Prof. of Theology, Ewha Women’s Univ., Seoul, Korea, speaker at 1994 UCC “Faith Works” Conference
“I know in my heart that the cannon is not closed, it is open. I know this because the Bible does not reconcile me with the earth and the Bible does not reconcile me with my sexual self.”
Melanie Morrison, co-founder of CLOUT (Christian Lesbians Out Together). Author of UCC’s sex education curriculum, “Created in God’s Image.”
“The worship model would look more like Latin American base communities that like high steeple churches, would look more like feminist or womanist 12-step meetings than a star-studded lecture series . . .This church would worship God herself, with the gynocentric pronouns balancing off the androcentric term ‘God’. Just oppose it to goddess and you understand very quickly, the word is in and of itself androcentric. Or of course we might find some other set of inclusive set of terms but we would avoid the androcentric language and the dominant submission theology that legitimates patriarchy with all of its violence. As an incest survivor, I can no longer worship in a theological context that depicts God as an abusive parent and Jesus as the obedient trusting child.”
[Still describing the worship of the church]: “Sin would be described as wrong relationship, as a collective system of coercion that is leading humankind toward self-destruction. ‘Salvation’ would mean turning away from the constricted attitudes of the world’s fear-driven consensus - fear and guilt driven consensus. Instead we would seek together to enter into our Christ-nature by realizing that just like Jesus every blessed one of us remains at our core or essence exactly as we were created, the express image of God’s person. To release and empower that essence would be the goal of worship. I often vision this worship community as an inter-religious community, and I know the term ‘Christ’ has proved to be acceptable to people from many other religious traditions as long as we also respect such terms as the Buddha-nature or simply the new nature.”
“So missionary efforts would target only those people who seem to have no sense of the holy, no experience of an incandescent wonder. There would be dialogue and interaction with people from different religious traditions and there would be mutual modification of the kind that Dr. Chung was discussing, but there would be no more imperialistic attempts to ‘make others such as I’.”
Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, Prof. of English, William Paterson College, New Jersey
Mollenkott is author of “The Homosexual My Neighbor”, the text most frequently promoted within the UCC for churches studying the topic of Homosexuality in the life of the church.
“I don’t think we need a theory of atonement at all [applause]. I think Jesus came for life and to show us something about life and living together and what life was all about. Atonement has to do so much with death. I don’t think we need folks hanging on crosses and blood dripping and weird stuff . . I don’t mean this sentimental gooey stuff. I mean the love that is whipping the thieves out of the temple. Passing that along and I don’t see that the cross does that. But now there is a question that we may want to bring in at this point - “If the life of Jesus is primary and the spirit should take more of our present focus, is the image of the cross still a powerful, workable functional image for the churches and women today?” I don’t know if its a powerful one for the churches or women today, but I think the cross ought to be interpreted for what it was, it was a symbol of evil. I mean it is the murder of this man, of an innocent man, a victim.”
Delores Williams, Assoc. Prof. of Theology and Culture, Union Theol. Seminary, New York, speaker at 1998 Re-Imagining Conference
“It is a new theological vision of women emerging in every region of the world that is symbolic of this presence of the feminine spirit. And I believe she is here with us. The call is for the reconstruction of some central theological symbols, for example the image of God and the significance of the cross. In a global context where violence and the use of force have become the norm, the violence that the cross symbolizes and the patriarchal image of an almighty invincible Father God needs to be challenged and reconstructed.”
- Aruna Gnanadason, Church of South India, WCC staff
From the ‘Sunday Ritual’, Apparently the Biblical reference is to the Syro-Phoenician woman who comes to Jesus (Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-30)
“In 1987, I stood in a conference of gathered United Methodist clergywomen. On a platform, not unlike this one, I was one of five voices that read several anonymous statements written by lesbian clergywomen in attendance at the conference and their feelings of being silenced, oppressed, afraid. I read those statements anonymously as well. This day I stand before you have come a very, very long way since then. This day I share this sermon with you as a United Church of Christ pastor and lesbian clergywoman. [Applause, banging, cheers] Thank you.
“I wish I could stand before you this day and tell you how inspiring I think this story of the Canaanite woman is. Her strong presence, her persistent faith, her shameless audacity. I’d like to be able to feel the full weight of joy as I experience this ancient story retold, celebrating her daughter’s healing; smugly as a woman rejoicing in the truth that this woman seems to expand Jesus ministry, his self understanding, and world view as none other seems to. Completely and thoroughly awed by the clarity of her mission.
“But as much as I can appreciate and celebrate this woman I cannot celebrate this story. It’s too filled with inequity, with dismissal, with demeaning power, with dehumanization for me to be able to feel any real comfort or ease with it. It’s so much easier to speak about her bold voice than to sense the silent rejection of both Jesus and the disciples. It is so much more comforting to recognize her quick and persuasive insight than to feel this woman’s kneeling. It is so much more uplifting and empowering to respect the faith of this woman to bring about the healing of her own daughter than to acknowledge that this woman ultimately had to beg. I’ve always found this story angering and offensive. The silencing of women’s voices is oppressive, the dismissing of women’s lived experience is dehumanizing. Forcing women to beg for the resources, power, healing, care they need in order to sustain life for themselves and their children is always an act of violence.” [Applause]
Christine Marie Smith, Assoc. Prof. of Preaching and Worship, (UCC-related) United Theol. Seminary, Minneapolis-St. Paul, ordained UCC Minister, speaker at 1996 Re-Imagining Conference and the 1996 UCC National Women’s Meeting in Boston.
Referring to the same account:
“This is the story of a woman with no extraordinary power. The disciples find her persistence obnoxious. And even Jesus is rude to her. She, however, will not be deterred. She has courage and audacity in the face of their rejection. . . she gives Jesus a smart retort and wins the argument. I think she is the only person in the Bible to win an argument with Jesus. She gets Jesus to concede because she shifts the focus of the debate away from her own status as outsider and toward Jesus responsibility for his power. Jesus refuses her because she is outside his people . . she turns the tables. The transformative power of love comes from the marginal, from those abused by the powers of domination and injustice who demand responsibility from the powerful. When Jesus is oppressed by the principalities and powers of the world, he reveals the incarnate power of God as he does through much of his life and at his death. But, when Jesus has structural power over another, he marginalizes her.
“Divine power confronts Jesus from those margins. In other words, she is the incarnation of God to Jesus. [applause] . . Jesus acknowledges this revelation when it happens with the words, ‘woman what faith you have, be it as you wish’ and often with the marginalized he says to them, ‘not I have made you whole,’ but ‘your faith has made you whole’ and this is how the transformative power of God is incarnated here and here and here and here. The power of mother-root.
“Remember, incarnation is an activity, God as verb, not a state of being. When we take responsibility we can use our power to love, to nurture, to enable freedom and willfulness of others. Incarnating the love of God. In taking responsibility, we can say the incarnation of God is here and here and here and here working where she is needed, where we are needed. The activity of incarnation is what Audrey Lord called ‘erotic power at work’.”
Rita Nakashima Brock, Assoc. Prof. in Humanities, Hamline Univ., St. Paul (at time of 1993 Conference), Chair of UCC/Disciples joint mission effort, Common Global Ministries Board 1996-1997, speaker at 1994 and 1998 Re-Imagining Conferences.
“In his brief ministry, Jesus appears as the prophet and the child of Sophia sent to announce that God is the God of all inclusive love who wills the wholeness and humanity of everyone.”
Elizabeth Johnson, Feminist Theologian
“Finally can we re-imagine Christians paying more attention to the great commandment than the great commission. You may remember the great commandment to love which is to affirm the other’s identity and diversity and I think the churches have fundamentally denied diversity and that’s why we’ve lost much of our prophetic power. ‘I shall pour out my spirit on all humanity’ says this re-imaging passage. Surely God didn’t mean all humanity, did he mean neo-pagans? Did she mean the wiccans? the Sikhs? the Muslims? the Hindus? the men and the women? or did she? ‘Your sons and daughters shall prophecy, your young people shall see visions, your old people dream dreams, even on slaves, men and women, shall I pour my spirit.’ We’re scared of saying it for fear of being disloyal to Jesus, or being too inclusive. And we’re afraid of letting the Holy Spirit come to do her work, of breaking icons and sweeping our defenses and dearly beloved ideologies away.”
Lois Wilson, Chancellor, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada, former president of the World Council of Churches.
“The idolatry of maleness is a particular sin that we need to repent from. . . . We have burned incense at the altar of the dominant paradigm . . Our structures reflect that the sacred is synonymous with the masculine and the profane is synonymous with the feminine and it doesn’t matter how many platitudes are mouthed on Mother’s Day or Women’s Day, the evidence is when you look at the pulpit, the evidence is when you look at the deacon’s board, the evidence is who gets the final say and why.”
Frances Wood, writer & educator
“ Today we are aware of the pit of patriarchy and most of us have been engaged in the struggle for re-imagining a different community in the church. We have known for a while of the pit of patriarchy. We have known that patriarchy distorts all relations in the created world and its institutions between human beings and God, among human beings themselves and between humans and the rest of creation.”
“Sisters and brothers, we have come to the center of the power, not just to have a piece of the pie. Not just to point out that we belong here too. We are not here to join the great pissing contest. We have come here in cognizance of the cries of the most vulnerable among us, to empower them and to let their voices take on a sound of their own... We are not here so much to jump on the feminist bandwagon but to upset the patriarchy apple cart.”
Johanna Bos, Prof. of OT, Louisville Presbyterian Theol. Sem.
“You should understand what is going on and why the sexuality issues are so dangerous and obfuscating - they are leading us into a moral sewer and I am enjoying, I’m sorry . . . I’m enjoying seeing the Roman hierarchy deal with becoming the pedophile capital of the world. And I am enjoying a lot of the other issues around sexuality, but be very careful women because the real victims of this - the ethnic cleansing, the leadership cleansing - will be aimed not at those who are the chief offenders but at the liberal clergy who are offenders, male, and gay men and lesbians, and that is already certifiable, and is what is going on in the churches. So I say, a moral sewer. And if we don’t start breaking the silence about this stuff! I went to Princeton Seminary, where the President of that institution is determined to see the Presbyterian Church remain ‘til death’s door a moral sewer, and I said these things and everyone in the room stood up, wept. I was hugged and blessed and someone said, ‘God, to hear someone tell the truth about this church is almost more than we can bear.’ Well folks, we’re going to have to make more trouble before we have less.”
Beverly Wildung Harrison, Prof. of Ethics, Union Theol. Seminary, New York and speaker at 1998 Re-Imagining Conference
“the church has always been blessed by gays and lesbians, witches, shamans and artists.”
Judy Westerdorf, United Methodist Minister
RE-IMAGINING
SEXUALITY - FAMILY
“My topic this afternoon is re-imagining sexuality and family and other necessary fantasies . . . I begin my look at re-imagining sexuality and the family and other necessary fantasies from a lesbian, feminist, Euro-American, middle-class, upper-educated starting point . . But it is at this conference that I speak especially as a lesbian because I think we need to be very specific about the fact that issues related to sexuality and family have been covert ways of dealing in churches with issues related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gender people . . .
• First there are lots of us lesbians here as we are always present and especially in leadership in churches and church- related circles. Let’s start with the obvious, lots of us.
• Secondly we come to this gathering delighted, with our ancestors within us, as was suggested. From generation to generation lesbian women have been part of every movement for social change. And especially in the vanguard of church related movements. And so, I honor my lesbian ancestors this afternoon.
• Thirdly, we are here not in anyone’s imagination but in flesh and blood, with specific claims on churches which have been and continue to treat us badly. I think this is important, we are not here in anyone’s imagination, we are here fully embodied in flesh and in the church.
• Fourth as my beloved, evangelical, lesbian, feminist sister Virginia Ramey Mollenkott says, ‘grace is a lesbian.’ I never thought I’d learn something so central to my own theological position from an evangelical but Virginia has taught me this. And let grace’s numbers increase as all of us talk together this afternoon about family and sexuality.”
Mary Hunt, C0-founder/Co-director, Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER), Silver Spring, MD. She is Roman Catholic.
“My name is Melanie Morrison and I am co-convener of the CLOUT Council. CLOUT stands for Christian Lesbians Out Together. [Applause] We are an ecumenical movement celebrating the miracle of being lesbian, out and Christian.
We are keenly, painfully aware that the world is not safe for lesbian women and often the least safe place is the church. We call upon all of you - whatever your sexual orientation- not to leave this holy place without wrestling with these questions. What does it mean for us to be in solidarity with lesbian, bisexual and transsexual women in this decade? And how can we together re-imagine our churches so that every woman may claim her voice, her gifts, her loves, her wholeness?
“Acknowledging that my white skin may put me in a place where there is less at stake in coming out, we invite at this time every lesbian, bisexual, and transsexual woman who is willing and able to come forward quickly, and encircling this podium facing out as a circle.” [Sustained applause, approx. 200 women came to the podium]
Melanie Morrison, co-founder, CLOUT, author of UCC’s sex education curriculum “Created in God’s Image.”
“I would like for those able to stand, to stand. Now what I would like you to do is put your hand on your diaphragm. One of the things we need to say and mean it about sexuality is NO!
. . .What I want from you is to feel your diaphragm with your breath and then say no! . . Now we have something else we need to learn. I want you to imagine something about sexuality that you would like to say yes to. Take a second, bring something to mind, we’re going to do the same thing and we’re going to say yes!”
Susan Thistlewaithe, UCC Minister, Prof. of Theology, Chicago Theol. Seminary (UCC-related) and one of the editors of “The New Testament and Psalms: An Inclusive Version.”
“Imagine sex among friends as the norm, young people learning to make friends rather than to date. Imagine valuing genital sexual interaction in terms of whether and how it foster’s friendship and pleasure. Imagine, just imagine. Imagine the many ways friends are together since not all of us have the time or inclination to go to bed together. But imagine the embodied ways of being together in all of their diversity, which would expand the focus of sexuality from our genitals to our whole being. From who does what with whom to how do they love one another . . .Pleasure is our birthright of which we have been robbed in religious patriarchy. It is time to claim it anew with our friends.
“Preoccupation with eternal truth has given way in our time to survival concerns as the defining line for theological reflection and in my imagination we will all shed the excess baggage of patriarchy and assume the interwoven stance of a people doing justice or we will die trying. This is what it means to me to be religious. Whether it is Christian or not is frankly, darling, something about which I no longer give a pope.
“My second fantasy focuses on responsible relational sexuality which I imagine as a human right for everyone. Responsible relational sexuality as a human right. I picture friends, not families, but friends basking in the pleasures we deserve because our bodies are holy and our sexuality is part of creation’s available riches. Take just a moment to use your imagination and speak aloud two or three or four or six or ten of your pleasures. And listen to what they sound like . . . Jacuzzis, orgasms, cuddling, food, jogging, and yours . . there is no pleasure for me unless there is pleasure for all.”
Mary Hunt, WATER (Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual)
“How many of you have actually talked to girls under the age of 12 about the specifics of the erotic pleasure of their bodies. Let me see your hands. Okay. Would you talk to those that didn’t raise their hands. What is it that they might give up? The comfort of silence, the comfort of ambivalence about our own bodies . . . You can correlate the constraints on orthodoxy with how people sit in their bodies . . .”
Elizabeth Bettenhausen, Women’s Theol. Center, Boston, Mass.
“Sexuality and spirituality have to come together and Church, we’re going to teach you!”
Janie Spahr, a ‘Lesbian Evangelist’ working cooperatively with the Spectrum Center for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns, Marin County, California, and Downtown Presbyterian Church, Rochester, NY, explaining how her theology was informed by making love with Coni, her lesbian lover.
“What I was planning to do was in fact a love song, because most of classical Indian dancing are love songs to God where a woman invites her friend to call her divine lover to her midst as she prepares her body, scents her body, perfumes her hair, and makes ready for her divine lover. We have lost so much of that in Western Christianity which came to us that I wish we could reclaim some of that and I wanted to, share that with you but I gave it up.”
Aruna Gnanadason, Church of South India, WCC staff
“Creation out of nothing, is not as women would do it now, a solitary patriarchal creating. How boring. Yahweh all by himself. Although of course he refers to himself in the plural form at one point to remind us, probably inadvertently, of the goddess and the earth from which he came.
“We have to re-imagine the doctrine of creation because in so much of the traditional orthodox understanding, creation is understood as determined, eternal, unchanging expression of divine will and that is downright dangerous for women’s lives.
“To say, this is the way God created us to be is a preface in church conversations and elsewhere which signals a deep power struggle and that power struggle is often around sexuality, often around race, and often around money. This is the way God created us to be, perfectly heterosexual and monogamous. This is the way God created us to be perfectly capitalist and rich. This is the way God created us to be white. How often have we heard that kind of theological use of the doctrine of creation-this is non-negotiable because God willed a certain form of coitus. [Laughter]
“We have to create out of homophobia and heterosexism. Now any God can create bliss out of nothing, but try creating it out of homophobia and heterosexism. In this situation the violence which tears the fabric of others lives is the violence which homophobic, heterosexual women have to give up, comfortable though as it is. To walk out on the street and be identified however as heterosexual . . . think of how safe your fear of loving women makes you usually feel. And there are kitchens where the rag rug lesbians of the world, the rag rug bisexual women of the world, are working away in the creation of justice while you and perhaps I sit in the comfort of fear, wrapped in whole cloth not realizing that the moths of justice are eroding us from behind.”
Elizabeth Bettenhausen, Faculty, Women’s Theol. Center, Boston, MA. Member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
THEIR DEFENSE:
“There has been widespread distorted and sensationalistic reporting on this event (Re-Imagining). Those who attended report as one might expect, various responses from inspiration to a re-commitment to Christian faithfulness to discomfort with some of the proceedings. It is important to remember that “Re-Imagining” was promoted neither as orthodox Protestant theological reflection, nor as pagan goddess-worship. It was a creative ecumenical effort to re-imagine Church, society and self.”
Mary Sue Gast, Executive Director, UCC Coordinating Center for Women
“Is it true, as some have claimed, that the Conference encouraged worship of goddesses?” No. The Conference did explore ways the Biblical concept of Sophia-Wisdom might be used to recover a feminine image for God. The Bible refers to Sophia/Wisdom extensively in Proverbs as well as in some New Testament passages such as Luke 11:49, or I Corinthians 1:24 where Christ is seen as Divine Wisdom incarnate . . . While masculine names and imagery for God have dominated most theology and liturgy, Sophia has ancient and biblical roots and is now being recovered by theologians attempting to ‘image’ God in faithful yet fresh ways.”
“Did the liturgies at the Conference attempt to replace Holy Communion as the central sacrament of the Church? NO. The liturgies used at the Conference were non-traditional for two reasons. First, the liturgies attempted to nurture the spirituality of women by linking the worship of God with women’s experience of their physical bodies and their distinctive life experiences. For most participants this was a new and meaningful liturgical experience. For some, it was a creative challenge, though at times uncomfortable. For a few at the conference, the liturgies were offensive. Because the Conference drew women from a variety of Christian traditions which do not all allow for ecumenical sharing of Holy Communion, a ‘ritual of milk and honey’ was used, not to replace communion, but as a means of drawing all participants together around a commonly shared Biblical image.” . . .
“To the extent that the Re-Imagining Conference helped over 2000 women and men discover new ways in which the ancient faith of the Church can be claimed as Good News for their lives, the Conference deserves our appreciation and our support.”
Official Response, Office of the President, United Church of Christ (For the full text of this response, you can write to John Thomas, Asst. to the Pres., UCC, 700 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115)
“It always surprises me when lifting up the feminine dimension of God creates a crisis. For centuries we have sung to God as a mineral in ‘Rock of Ages’. What is it about feminine that evokes such feelings? What message are we sending to our sisters, daughters, granddaughters, nieces and mothers?”
Kitty Polk, Regional Director, Church Women United
Church Women United is an ecumenical organization representing women’s groups from 26 denominations associated with the National Council of Churches. CWU helped support Re-Imagining
“[the criticism of Re-Imagining is] the kind of response that emerges whenever women attempt to create their own theology. However, women’s voices cannot be silenced.”
Patricia Rumer, General Director, Church Women United
“We denounce these attacks upon our sister colleagues, and affirm the absolute right of women to develop theological understandings rooted in their own realities and experiences. Re-Imagining energized and affirmed women through worship, prayer, word, song, dance, and art. The opportunity to hear speakers who represent the cutting edge of contemporary theology left participants feeling challenged both intellectually and spiritually.”
Statement issued by the Executive Staff Council of CWU.
“Questioning symbols and re-imagining God cannot destroy God.” Delores William, Assoc. Prof. of Theology and Culture, Union Theological Seminary, New York
“Controversy has also surfaced around what has been described as the ‘celebration and affirmation of lesbianism’ at Re-Imagining. The issue of human sexuality is a complex and emotional one for the Christian church. Women in particular, historically have been marginalized by communities of faith that deny them full participation.
“In 1989, Church Women United adopted a policy statement against discrimination toward lesbian and gay persons which reads in part:
‘Throughout its history, CWU has been in the forefront of the movement to eradicate all forms of discrimination from church and society . . . based on the commitment to do away with all forms of discrimination, CWU has been working against racism, sexism, and the discrimination that women suffer in the world . . . we are now faced with another area of concern to which we need to apply CWU’s commitment . . . the discrimination suffered by lesbians and gay persons in church and society at large based on fear, misconceptions and the biblical interpretation of some religious groups.’ ”
from the Official Response of Church Women United
“The heresy hunters themselves have created the goddess Sophia. She is their projection, their construction, their obsession. This fantasy of the Mediterranean fertility goddess Sophia allows them to re-legitimate the . . . concept of heresy. By itself, the “feminist/womanist/lesbian” omnibus may provide them a scapegoat, but not yet a heresy.”
Catherine Keller, Assoc. Prof. of Theology, Drew Univ., from “Christian Century,” April 6, 1994
“Organizers of the Re-imagining Conference referred to “sophia” as “the spirit of wisdom”. Sophia was invoked during the conference as a blessing for speakers and used at other points to express the feminine dimension of the Divine. Many names for God (Mother God, Father God, Abba, El Shaddai, Shekmah, Ruach, Elohim, Mystery, Weaver God, She Who Is, Sophia, Alpha and Omega, Fire of Love, Living Water, etc.) were shared throughout the conference.”
Donna Blackstock PCUSA, printed with the official CWU response
WHAT OTHERS
ARE SAYING:
“In every age the church faces temptations to imitate the world rather than her Lord, and thereby to lose the distinctiveness of her calling, . . . We believe that modern views about sexuality, one of the manifestations of the moral relativism of our age, have resulted in a serious threat to the integrity of the church’s life . . . We believe the loss of a Biblical standard for morality to be a cause of great damage to the physical and spiritual lives of all people”
Declaration of 11 Mainline Renewal Organization leaders, Louisville, Jan. 8, 1994
“Describing Re-imagining as “Neo-Pagan”, Theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg in an interview with The National Christian Reporter said it is a sign that some Protestant churches are “surrendering the substance of the Christian faith.” He went on to say that the worship of Sophia is ‘flagrantly opposed to Biblical understanding’ and that radical feminism is ‘counterproductive to women’s best interest in the church.’ ” from “Disciple Renewal” reviews of Re-Imagining
Note: “Christian Century” considers that Wolfhart Pannenberg may well be the most erudite living Christian theologian.
“The “Ritual of Sunday” (at Re-Imagining) centered on a liturgical sharing of milk and honey. While nothing in the printed order of worship states explicitly that the ritual is a substitute for the Lord’s Supper, it is not difficult to see that the ritual functioned as an alternative to the Lord’s Supper. Recognizable elements of the church’s eucharistic liturgy were modified in ways that manifested an effective “sacramental” equivalent.”
Official Statement, Office of Theology, Presbyterian Church USA, from “Christian Century,” April 6, 1994
“The Re-Imagining conference also became an occasion to reject inappropriately the most basic affirmations of the Reformed faith . . . . When various groups reshape the church’s theology and worship according to their own viewpoints or purposes, they splinter the church’s life. In this sense , the Re-Imagining conference failed in its purpose to “re-imagine” a radially inclusive church. Without shared standards, the church has no common life of service and proclamation.”
Official Statement, Office of Theology, Presbyterian Church USA, from “Christian Century,” April 6, 1994
“The treatment of early Church history by feminist scholars shows the same kind of errors which characterize their Biblical exegesis. Particularly distressing are the drawing of large conclusions from small amounts of evidence and the use of hypothesis as though they are facts. We are told by some proponents of Sophia worship that their practices were very important in the early church, yet almost no evidence is given in early Christian documents to support that assertion, and what is given is highly ambiguous.”
John Oswalt, Chair of Biblical Studies, Asbury Theol. Seminary (from Good News)
“Re-Imagining was in fact, an exercise in theological sleight of hand. Biblical Wisdom is an abstract attribute of Christianity’s triune God - like justice, love or mercy. But when conference leaders pulled this Wisdom out of their theological black hat, they produced ‘Sophia’ a personified Wisdom conjured up out of thin air and worshipped for her own sake. The Re-Imagining Newsletter offered this rationale, ‘while one could legitimately use either term, use of the name ‘Sophia’ . . reminds us that the Scriptures portray this Wisdom as a someone who walks, talks, plays, cries, eats, creates, and loves.’ Presto change-o! One goddess coming up!”
Katherine Kersten, author, staff of the Lutheran Commentator
“The people who gathered the Re-Imagining Conference desired to concoct a ‘theology’ dependent on ‘ women’s daily experiences.’ This is indeed an innovation, for how can the starting point of theology . . ever be anything but God? . . . But it is inevitably the human desire to place ourselves at the center of conversation. We want to talk about God purely on our own terms, make God into just one more thing that must revolve around our own demands. Thus, we imagine that we are speaking of God when we are only talking endlessly about ourselves. The theological scene has become cluttered with customized theologies: liberation theology, black theology, feminist theology, etc. Such ‘theology’ always produces a god of its own, one that closely resembles whoever is doing the talking.”
- Sally Nelson, Pastor, Sion Lutheran Church, Lancaster, Minn.
“What will be the consequences of angry feminism on the next generation? Will their children suffer too - from the rage, the passive-aggressive behavior, the inability to forgive, and the obsession with self manifested in this movement? Hopefully the next generation will turn to men and women who have found that self-fulfillment is not the answer, and who have found their identity and dignity in Christ. They will find that Christ breaks down the dividing walls of hostility, even between men and women, and they will then value and love each other, and themselves, as God, their heavenly Father, values and loves them.”
Diane Knippers, President, The Institute on Religion and Democracy (from Disciple Renewal)
“One reason some secular feminists are seeking spiritual dimensions for their lives is because they are burnt-out. Jean Shinoda Bolen explains: ‘It is very difficult to stand on the front lines with only outrage to sustain us. In order to sustain ourselves on the front lines, I think we really have to tap into something that truly nurtures us.’ She also thinks that feminists seek a spiritual dimension because they believe the culture can not change without a ‘feminine force’ to divinity. Women such as Bolen are seeking to be nurtured spiritually. Here is a wonderful opportunity for Christians! In the same way as spiritually needy but socially independent women were attracted to Christianity in the first century (e.g. Acts 16:12-14, 17:12), spiritually needy but socially concerned women of the twentieth, twenty-first century can find their fulfillment in the God of the Bible if that God is accurately presented.”
Aida Besancon Spencer, Prof. of New Testament, Gordon Conwell Theol. Seminary, Pastor, Pilgrim Church, Beverly, Mass., “Goddess Worship Today,” Zondervan Press, 1995
SOME HISTORIC/PROPHETIC PERSPECTIVE:
“New deities are beginning to fill the void created by soulless technology in the service of secular humanism and nihilism . . . The nothingness of existentialism is the veil of a new deity rather than this deity itself.
“Dethroning the God of the Heavens can only result in the emergence of a new divinity having its source in the depths of the earth. Naomi Goldenberg calls for a return to nature mysticism, including witchcraft. Reflecting a similar orientation, Wilhem Reich and D.H. Lawrence find the new sacred in sex ...What the votaries of pansexualism fail to recognize is that once sex is enthroned, it becomes demonic.
“I believe that we are entering a post-enlightenment period when a fascination with feeling and volition will supplant confidence in reason, when the depths of the unconscious will figure more prominently than logic and science. The trust in technology will give way to a flight into irrationality. . . . Dreams and visions will be accorded new respect, though there will always be an attempt to explain them naturalistically.
“The spirituality of the new age will have more kinship with Gnosticism and the ancient mystery religions than with either deism or scientism, the credos of the enlightenment.”
Donald G. Bloesch, Crumbling Foundations, 1984
“Marxism is a product of the Enlightenment . . . It signifies the dethronement of the gods in the name of science rather than a return to pre-Christian gods (as in the German Faith movement, National Socialism, neomysticism, and radical feminism).
. . . “It is my belief that the principal challenge to the church today is the rebirth of the gods of the earth, blood, and soil, a return to the ancient gods of the pre-Christian barbarian tribes. War, too, is coming to be regarded as an epiphany of the sacred, as was the case with primitive tribal warfare. Interestingly, Teilhard de Chardin viewed war as a catalyst in the evolutionary ascent and linked it to the glorious destiny of nations. Nietzsche, too, saw war in a positive light
. . . “National Socialism and kindred fascist movements called for the rebirth of the gods of tribalism, but the military defeat of the Axis powers postponed but did not preclude the emergence of a new religion of naturalistic mysticism, where immersion in the world supplants the ascent to God (as in classical mysticism). When this-worldly mysticism with its accent on evolution is combined with nationalism and racism, we have the myth of the twentieth century.
“This brings us again to the startling and chilling fact that the dominant issue facing the church today is idolatry. . . . The ancient gods of the Graeco-Roman pantheon are reappearing in new guises.”
Donald G. Bloesch, Crumbling Foundations, 1984
Theologian Donald Bloesch, one of the founders of BWF and primary architects of the Dubuque Declaration, is one of the most widely published and respected American Theologians in the United States. Ironically he is more widely known and respected in the Evangelical mainstream than in the United Church of Christ of which he is a member. It is startling that he should have written with such insight a decade ago!
“The living world is the womb of the high human mind. The All-Mother gives birth to Knowing, Being and Mind. The concept of mother-child is therefore, the correct expression of the God-world secret. We speak of a modern nature religion when we speak of the Mind-child God, who lives in the womb of the All-Mother. The basic religious feelings are Union, Holiness, and Blessedness. On the other hand, the Christian sentiments of Sin, Guilt, and Repentance are not really religious feelings. They are artificially engendered complexes in man.”
Professor Ernst Bergmann, German Nazi Faith Movement: 1934 (source: First Things)
“The patterns for the repression of the feminine dimension of the divine in the Christian tradition were set in the first five centuries of the Christian era. So also were the patterns for the return of the repressed. Since that time there have been few changes or variations on these original themes . . . However, something has happened in the last ten to twenty years to alter human consciousness. It is now possible to detect the patriarchal nature of the Christian tradition in a way that would have been literally unthinkable before.
“This new awareness probably has its own roots in . . . such disparate philosophers as Nietzsche and Feuerbach. However, the full impact of the absence of the feminine in Western religion did not emerge until after the promulgation of the Dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in 1950 and the beginnings of the feminist movement in the 1960’s . . . . Why this has happened now is probably as unanswerable a question as why the feminine was repressed in the first place . .. What does seem necessary is to explore and evaluate the new gestalt which now seems to be emerging. . . .
“Two aspects of systematic theology which I imagine will be most affected by the emerging consciousness are trinitarian speculation and the question of the origin and nature of evil. . . .
“. . . How is monotheism to be given image? In other words, does belief in One God require belief in only one image of God? In Judaism, traditionally that answer has virtually always been yes, and that one image has virtually always been male. The first threat to that understanding came from within Judaism itself in the form of Sophia, a female God-figure, who was described as teacher, savior, and judge. At the turn of the age, she was subsumed in both Judaism and Christianity by a male figure, the Logos or Jesus Christ. However, this transformation did not settle the question of the monotheistic image.
“. . . the doctrine of the trinity ultimately owes a great deal to the original desire of human beings to image God as both male and female. Unfortunately, this desire could not be fulfilled in an overt way at that time, although it did survive in distorted forms in the image of Christ/Sophia. Now, however, it may be possible to rectify that omission and allow the feminine dimension of God to come to expression.
. . . as that situation develops, the feminine image of God might be expressed in one of three different ways. First, it might be possible to describe one member of the trinity as feminine . . . I imagine that the Spirit would be chosen.
“A second solution might be possible: the feminine aspect of all three members of the trinity could be developed. For instance, since Sophiology plays a large part in Christology, that element could be made explicit. In an age that has begun to recognize the androgynous nature of all human beings, this alternative . . .is less bizarre than it sounds.
“A final choice, and the most radical, would be the addition of a feminine image of God and the creation of a quaternity . . . . I do foresee that some approach will be found which will assist us in lifting the repression of the feminine and permit the development of a feminine image of God. The center of that storm will probably be the doctrine of the trinity and the definition of monotheism just as it was in the early centuries of the Christian era.
“The second area of systematic theology which will be affected . . .is the question of evil. . . The character of the great goddesses of the Hellenistic age was distinctly inclusive. Among the dualities they combined were love and rage, law and chaos, light and dark, youth and age, openness and hiddenness, rootedness and wandering, earthiness and spirituality. Thus while they were described as awesome, majestic, and caring, they were also characterized as wrathful, unyielding and vindictive. They were a combination of Sophia and Folly. Because these dualities are a hallmark of the goddess, similar dualities are likely to emerge in any new representation of the feminine in the Christian trinity. Unfortunately, half of the dualities that are indicative of the feminine divine are not presently regarded as qualities of God. On the contrary, rage, chaos, darkness, and earthiness are usually identified as properties of Satan. Thus it can be anticipated that the appearance of a feminine aspect of God will necessitate a new analysis of the problem of evil.”
from The Feminine Dimension of the Divine, Joan Chamberlain Engelsman, Feminist Theologian, Dir., Women’s Resource Center, The Theology School, Drew University, Madison, NJ (at the time of writing). This amazing little book was written in 1979 (The Westminster Press, quotations are from pgs. 151-154)
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS:
“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn - both men and animals - and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.” God to Moses, Exodus 12:12
“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am jealous.”
The first commandment, Deuteronomy 5:8
“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”
Deuteronomy 5:11
“For you, O Lord, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.” Psalm 97:9
“They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. . .Search me, O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:20,23 & 24
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me . . . I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.” Jesus, John 14:1,6&7
“As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians and Molech the detestable god of the ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord . . .” I Kings 11:4-6
“So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. Do you not see what they are doing . . . the children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?”
Jeremiah 7:16-18
“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore god gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen!
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.”
Romans 1:21-26
“you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and the goddess herself, who is worshipped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.” Demetrius, a silversmith and goddess worshipper of Ephesus, Acts 17:26-27
“For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” John 3:16-20
TO THE TRUTH IN OUR TIME
RE-IMAGINING LIVES ON:
The Re-Imagining Conference of 1993 was not a singular event. In 1994 the Re-Imagining Community was incorporated and is now an international movement. Four other conferences have been held and the next is planned for October of 2000. “Faith Labs” are conducted in many parts of the country throughout the year with active recruiting from seminaries and colleges. Re-Imagining adherents and members are not only laity from mainline denominations, but often those who influence and train future church leadership—college and seminary professors and local church clergy.
Key themes recur:
1994 - Keynote Speaker: Rita Nakashima Brock, author of “Journeys by Heart: A Christology of Erotic Power”
“ The Crucifixion is a sign of what an oppressive system can do to someone whose commitment is to justice and liberation. To say the Crucifixion by those cowards was somehow necessary for us to be reconciled to God, that is an abusive claim. . . . Christ is a role that the Christian tradition has confused with Jesus’ last name. If anything, he should be Jesus Ben Miriam. So Christ is a larger concept than just Jesus, he is part of the concept but not the whole of it . . .”
1996 - The meeting room decorations: A “Goddess Wall” had over 30 images of ancient and modern goddesses, a brief history, and details on how to approach her in prayer. Among these were Ochun, a contemporary Afra-centric, pan-erotic goddess; multi-breasted Diana of Ephesus, Roman goddess of the hunt; Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of way; Queen Maya, mother of Buddha; Kale, the Hindu goddess of destruction; Lilith, the queen of the demons which is related to Iahu Anat, the original great goddess of the Semitic people; and Gaia’s children which showed a girl on horseback, honored the Greek earth goddess and emphasized ‘inter-species relationship.’ Also included was Mary, mother of Jesus, and a photograph of the planet Earth with the caption “Love your Mother.”
1996 - This Apple Ritual was introduced and has joined the Milk and Honey Ritual as a key component of each conference.
“ Eve: I was tricked!
Chorus: No, God created you to be curious.
Eve: I was fooled.
Chorus: No, you were taught.
Eve: I was seduced.
Chorus: No, you were given your body.
Eve: I was deceived.
Chorus: No, you reached for the wholeness of God.
Eve: But now I’m naked.
Chorus: And you are beautiful.
Eve: I feel ashamed.
Chorus: You’re alive, You’re the image of God.
Eve: But I feel pain.
Chorus: To feel it is the price we pay.
Eve: I had to know. I was willing to be subversive to know the truth.
Chorus: You reached for wisdom.
Eve: I had to know! I was created to know! [Chimes]
Single voice from the crowd: We invite you to honor our mother Eve who is everything to know. Let us bite the apple in celebration, for we, like Eve, are created to know.”
1998 - Mary Ann Lundy, “fired up” from her PCUSA headquarters position for her leadership role in the 1993 Re-Imagining Conference to Deputy General Secretary of the World Council of Churches.
“ We are learning that to be ecumenical is to move beyond the boundaries of Christianity. You see, yesterday’s heresies are becoming tomorrow’s Book of Order.”
1998 - Delores Williams, Prof. of Theology and Culture at Union Theological Seminary, New York City.
“ No sexuality is unclean in the context of the sacred. In the heart and soul of the deities, we are all loved, and it doesn’t matter who we are sleeping with.”
1998 - Carter Heyward, Prof. at Episcopal Divinity School, MA where she teaches a seminar entitled “Queer Theology.” UCC’s Pilgrim Press publishes a number of her books.
“ While nobody, even Jesus, is divine in and of him or herself, everybody, like Jesus, is able ‘to god.’ And I use that phrase as a verb... We are here on this earth to do just that - ‘to god.’ It is what the Jesus story is all about.” . . . “Listening week after week to the liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer is likely to be more damaging to women and girls than a sexy come-on by a sleazy priest.”
More Than Conferences
Faith Labs - “A safe place for clergy and laity to wonder and to work together. These classes are opportunities to do re-imagining in a smaller group, to meet others who share your interests, and to learn new things in an informal setting from instructors who teach using feminist principles.” A 1998 Faith Lab was held in Northampton, MA facilitated by then UCC Mass. Conf. minister Donna Schaper.
Newsletter - Quarterly publication since 1994. Past topics have been Re-Imagining Christmas; ... the Church in Society; ... Jesus, Christ, and Us; ... Family; ... Death and After Death; ... Word; ... Power.
Recent Publications
Re-Membering and Re-Imagining, edited by Nancy J. Berneking and Pamela Carter Joern (conference coordinators), Pilgrim Press (UCC), 1995. Reminiscences from the 1993 Re-Imagining Conference.
Made in Her Image: Exploring New Perspectives in the Bible and Christian History, by Carol Castle, published by Re-Imagining, 1997. A study guide relating to the feminine Divine. Discussions include God as Female, Wisdom - Sophia, and God as Mother.
Bring the Feast: Songs from the Re-Imagining Community, published by Pilgrim Press (UCC), 1998. A collection of 49 songs voicing the “feminine, divine and incarnate.”
THE RE-IMAGINING COMMUNITY can be reached at:
122 W. Franklin Avenue, Room 7, Minneapolis MN 88404-2470
612-879-8036 voice 612-879-8468 fax
web page: http://members.aol.com/reimaginin/
Editor’s Note: In 2003 – the Re-Imagining Community office closed.
Faithful Women
Find a Voice
The renewal movements in the mainline protestant churches have followed Re-Imagining closely and have moved to respond.
1994: The Ecumenical Coalition on Women and Society was formed in direct response to the growing influence of the radical feminist movement, particularly in the mainline denominations. The steering committee consists of ordained and lay women, young and old, married and single, Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox who are leaders in various mainline renewal movements.
1995: ECWS sent a delegation representing evangelical Christian women to Beijing, China for the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women.
1996: Several members of ECWS went to observe and report on another Re-Imagining Conference.
1996: Executives of over 30 organizations working for renewal in mainline and orthodox churches strengthened their long-standing informal cooperation by forming the Association for Church Renewal.
1997: ECWS published A Christian Women’s Declaration and an accompanying study guide (1999) to help women of faith to affirm and articulate traditional, Biblical theology and values.
1997: In the Presbyterian Church USA, the Voices of Orthodox Women was formed as an alternative to the radical feminist group of Presbyterian women called ‘Voices of Sophia.’ The RENEW network in the United Methodist Church continues outreach to a large and growing number of local women’s groups who are looking for biblically sound program materials and ministry opportunities.
1997: ECWS in conjunction with the RENEW Network of women programs in the United Methodist Church held an Issues Forum in Dallas, Texas. Topics included the nature of God, defining gender and human sexuality and the family, and the role of Christian women in influencing Society.
April 1998: A group of twenty evangelical women of varying ages and denominations participated in the Re-Imagining “Revival” Conference in St. Paul, MN. The goal was to listen, learn, challenge and faithfully represent Jesus Christ.
November 1998: ECWS sent a delegation to the World Council of Churches General Assembly in Zimbabwe, and the preceding Women’s Festival celebrating the end of the WCC designated Ecumenical Decade: Churches in Solidarity with Women.
A Response is Birthed!
The ECWS now holds its own annual Summit, mobilizing Christian women from a new generation of leadership to speak to their sisters with Biblical authority and authenticity. First held in 1997, participants at the Women’s Summit Conference have commented: “What a treat to hear dynamic, intelligent Christian Women. . . . Women of faith who are intelligent, well-informed and involved in solving problems instead of just wringing their hands. . . . My mind, soul, and spirit have been filled, stretched, and challenged. . . .The Lord was truly present throughout . . . an incredible spirit of oneness among the women.”
Inspired by the testimonies of those working in media, publishing, government, law, academia, ministry, and the home, the women return home from each of the Summits with renewed enthusiasm - to be servants, to work where they are to make a difference, and to love and pray for those who disagree with traditional Christian beliefs. They are also calling the church to respond to the Radical Feminists’ offering of a counterfeit affirmation and faith, complete with images, rituals, and “worship” that appeals to the often real pain women experience. “It is critical,” say ECWS leaders, “that those who know the healing love of Jesus Christ meet the spiritual needs of these women with compassion and commitment.”
Women leaders with evangelical Christian convictions issued the Christian Women’s Declaration in mid-September of 1997. The document, prepared by the Ecumenical Coalition on Women and Society, of which BWF is a supporter, gives voice to the views that are held by the majority of women in the pews of all denominations and who are concerned about being misrepresented by the unorthodox views and tactics of radical feminists.
“The Declaration is an affirmative action in a negative environment,” says Elizabeth Claver of the BWF National Office who was on the advisory team that developed the statement. “It is imperative that we have a clear understanding of what a Christian woman believes and does in order to speak the Truth in love and minister to our sisters who are searching for the spirituality and strength we have already found and know.”
Excerpts from the
Christian Women’s
Declaration
WE ARE “women of faith and principle whose Christianity is founded, not on human invention, but on divinely-revealed truth.”
WE BELIEVE “the Bible is the most effective force in history for lifting women to higher levels of respect, dignity and freedom. . . . As women we are beneficiaries, not victims, of our Christian faith, despite its imperfect outworking in history. . . . Our Christian faith has been nurtured in various denominations, but we consider ourselves to be one in Christ as members of His universal Church. . . .We affirm the Triune God . . . We affirm the authority of the Scriptures and the doctrines represented in the ecumenical creeds of the Church.”
WE ARE CHALLENGED by “detrimental cultural trends including radical feminism that are undermining the church and are demeaning to women.”
WE PLEDGE as personal priorities to “live Holy Lives, develop strong families, embrace our calling to authentic service to others and the church, to be good citizens, fulfill our world-wide obligations, and to the build the church.”
WE WILL ACT “to counter the influence of extremists within the feminist movement. We will make clear the agendas and programs that harm efforts to enhance the equality, dignity and freedom for women. And we will expose and counter extreme, radical initiatives that demean rather than liberate women, that destroy women’s lives and enslave their spirits. We will work to restore the solid foundation of American culture — biblical orthodoxy in the church and faith both as a driving force in our personal lives and as a central building block of our society.”
Contact the Ecumenical Coalition on Women & Society through The Institute on Region and Democracy, 1110 Vermont Ave. NW Suite 1180, Washington, D.C. 20005. Tel: 202-969-8430 for copies of the Declaration and other events. A Declaration Study Guide helps you use in the local church to strengthen the faith convictions of women of all ages - high school, college, seniors, and those in between. www.IRD-renew.org
Resources
Here’s a list of books which will be helpful in learning more about the Goddess movement, radical feminist theology, neo-paganism, post-modern thought, and other current challenges to the Church:
Spirit Wars: Pagan Revival in Christian America, by Peter Jones, WinePress Publishing, 1997
Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline, by Robert H. Bork, Regan Books, 1996.
The Empty Church: The Suicide of Liberal Christianity, by Thomas C. Reeves, The Free Press, 1996.
Requiem: A Lament in Three Movements, by Thomas C. Oden, Abington Press, 1995
The Goddess Revival, by Aida Besancon Spencer, et. al., contributors, Baker Books, 1995
Goddess Unmasked: The Rise of Neopagan Feminist Spirituality, by Philip G. Davis, Spence Publishing Company, 1998
A Twist of Faith: How Feminist Spirituality is Changing the Church and Betraying the Women it Promised to Heal, by Berit Kjos, New Leaf Press, 1997
Domestic Tranquility: A Brief Against Feminism,
by F. Carolyn Graglia, Spence Publishing Company, 1998