A VOW Editorial
by
Sylvia Dooling
Do you remember the story of Henny-Penny? It’s about a chicken that was
pecking at a stack of pea-straw. As she pecked, a pea fell on her head.
Surprised by the object that fell from above, she concluded that the sky was
falling without ever pausing to check out the facts.
She also decided that the king should hear about it, so she set off for the
castle. Along the way, she gathered up a host of barnyard friends who agreed
to go with her. However, along the way, they came to a fox’s hole. The fox
shoved them in his den, and ate them all for dinner. So they never were able
to tell the king.
The sky wasn’t really falling, of course! But they never lived long enough
to find out.
Today, we have among us some folks who are a lot like ‘Henny-Penny.” They’re
screaming hysterically to everyone who will listen that the sky above the
Women’s Ministry Program Area (WMPA) is falling, and that women need to run
for cover! For example, Barbara Dua, former Associate Director of the WMPA,
recently told The Presbyterian Outlook that the women of our church are
suffering “abusive words and violent actions.” And, more recently, there
have been “news releases,” letters to General Assembly Commissioners, and
paranoid declarations circulated on the Internet all designed to convince
the world that the women of the Presbyterian Church are under siege.
Beating on the same “the-sky-is-falling” drum, the Advocacy Committee for
Women’s Concerns1 (ACWC) included the following in its report to the 212th
General Assembly:
‘Since the 206th General Assembly (1994), a climate of hostility in the
church regarding women’s issues has developed to the point that currently
the Women’s Ministries program area is under attack. The ACWC, while meeting
in Louisville in January, was told by national leadership of the church that
there is now an institutional hostility towards women in the church.”
Oh really? Where is the evidence, and who is/are the national leader(s) they
are quoting? In my opinion, the statement is reckless. It is designed to
create heat, not light to bait Commissioners into believing that the last
nail is somehow being driven into the coffin of women’s rights in the
Presbyterian Church.
My point is that, all around us, irresponsible, “the-sky-is-falling” kinds
of statements are flying from individuals and groups who have pledged, at
all costs, to defend the Women’s Ministry Program Area against those of us
who have raised honest concerns.
So, what I would like you to do is to take a thoughtful look at what got all
this rhetoric started the concerns raised by Commissioners’ Resolution 99-2
at last year’s General Assembly, and the decision of the Assembly to ask the
General Assembly Council to look into them.
1. First was the fact that the WMPA’s 1999 Women of Faith Awards were
given to a self-identified Lesbian evangelist, and an outspoken advocate
of the Re-Imagining movement;
2. Second was the eight-year-long failure of the WMPA to provide proper
supervision to the National Network of Presbyterian College Women;
3. Third was the revelation that the advocate of the Re-Imagining
movement who won the Women of Faith Award had been hired as a consultant
to the planners of PW’s 2000 Churchwide Gathering;
4. Fourth was the fact that previous Churchwide Gatherings had included
seminars that supported and promoted positions on Re-Imagining and
homosexual behavior that are contrary to our church’s biblical and
constitutional standards; and
5. Fifth was the finding that in pursuing the legitimate goals of
equality for women in the church, the WMPA had too often become the
advocate of radical political and theological agendas.
These were honest concerns that were raised by the elder and the pastor who
signed Commissioners’ Resolution (CR) 99-2. And, the General Assembly agreed
that it would be prudent to look into the issues that they raised,
particularly as they relate to the matter of theological balance.
The two women Commissioners who wrote and advocated for CR 99-2 took
seriously their responsibility as ordained officers of the church. And,
their concerns were heard. In the same way, those of us women who serve the
church in hundreds of different ways also have a responsibility not to
mention a privilege to ask questions, and to seek answers about the programs
and resources produced in our name. We belong to the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.), not the National Organization of Women. And, it is neither an
expression of hostility nor abuse for us to expect the WMPA to uphold the
historic teaching of the church as taught in Scripture and interpreted by
The Book of Confessions.
Howls of protest are coming from those who are determined to retain control
of the programs and resources of the WMPA for their own radical purposes.
They want the world to believe that “the sky is falling.” And, they have a
right to be heard. But, those of us who are asking the questions also have a
right to be heard, and we intend to continue to work within the polity of
our church to see it reformed.
Don’t believe everything that you hear. Be thoughtfully skeptical, and don’t
be afraid (or too lazy) to check things out for yourself even things that
you read here. Oh, and one more thing, don’t forget to beware of the fox!
If you’ll do these things, you will discover that the sky is *NOT* falling!
___________
1. The Advocacy Committee for Women’s Concerns (ACWC) is a function of the
Office of the Deputy Executive Director of the General Assembly Council
although its staffing is provided by the Women’s Ministries program area of
the National Ministries Division. ACWC has direct access to the General
Assembly, and its chair has corresponding member status with both the
General Assembly Council and the General Assembly. The ACWC has twelve
members. Two come from the GAC Executive Committee and Presbyterian Women.
The other ten are nominated by the General Assembly Nominating Committee and
elected by the General Assembly. They are chosen based on their individual
qualifications, and they do not represent any constituencies. (Taken from
the section ‘Agency Summaries” from the commissioner ‘Reports to the 212th
General Assembly (2000)