ENCORE ISSUE

Special Resource

Celebrate the Gifts of Women

Women Called to Act

Dedicated to Rosamond Griggs Steere, my grandma, who has responded repeatedly to God's call to act and has inspired me to do the same.

Celebrate the Gifts of Women Sunday is designated on the Presbyterian Planning Calendar as June 11, 2004. International Women's Day is March 8, and many congregations choose the Sunday closest to that date for their annual celebration. However, this resource may be used whenever your congregation or women's group chooses to celebrate women in this way.

Call to Worship

One:

Our worship joyfully ascribes all praise and honor, glory and power to the triune God.

All:

In worship we acknowledge God present in the world and in our lives.

One:

As we respond to God's claim and redemptive action in Jesus Christ, we are transformed
and renewed.

All:

In worship we offer ourselves to God and are equipped for God's service in the world. Come, let us worship God!

Suggested Hymns

"Fill My Cup," PH #350
"Guide My Feet," PH #354
"Lord, Make Us Servants of Your Peace," PH #374

Prayer of Confession

One:

In sovereign love, God created the world good and makes everyone equally in God's image, male and female, of every race and people, to live as one community.

All:

But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator. Ignoring God's commandments, we violate the image of God in others and ourselves, accept lies as truth, exploit neighbor and nature, and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care. We deserve God's condemnation.

Assurance of Pardon

One:

God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation. In everlasting love, the God of Abraham and Sarah* chose a covenant people to bless all families of the earth. Hearing their cry, God delivered the children of Israel from the house of bondage.

All:

Loving us still, God makes us heirs with Christ of the covenant. Like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child, like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home, God is faithful still.
* participants may add "and Hagar" if they choose

Scripture Readings

Esther 4
Mark 7:24--30 or Matthew 15:21--28

Both Esther and the Syrophoenician woman are called to act in the name of justice for the "least of these." Esther must risk her life to address the king in the face of genocide against the Jews; the Syrophoenician woman must risk condemnation to address Jesus on behalf of her sick daughter. Esther faces a threatening political structure; the Syrophoenician faces a threatening religious structure. Persistence pays off for both--the Jews are saved and the woman's daughter is healed.

God calls women to act throughout biblical, historical and contemporary times. Like Esther, we may be called to act for justice in ways that threaten our personal security. Like the Syrophoenician, we may be ridiculed and passed over by those who think they know Jesus. This does not deter those whom God has called. Like Esther, we have a community of faith in solidarity with us; like the Syrophoenician, we have an incarnate God beside us who hears our cries and responds.

Thanks be to God!

Litany of Commitment

One:

The same Spirit who inspired the prophets and apostles rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture, engages us through the Word proclaimed, claims us in the waters of baptism, feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation, and calls women and men to all ministries of the church.

All:

In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom and peace. With believers in every time and place, we rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Prayers of the People

Holy One, in whose image we are created, we receive your gift of life with gratitude. We respond to your call with fear and with hope, knowing that you walk with us and beside us, surrounding us with your peace. Today we celebrate the gifts of women whom you have called to act for justice and peace. We celebrate Esther's bravery and the Syrophoenician woman's persistence. We celebrate women in our own community who have answered your call
[Here you may insert names.] We celebrate the countless unnamed women in scripture and throughout history, known only by you. We celebrate the women of the future who will continue this difficult but rewarding work. [Here you may insert names of girls in your congregation or community].

We pray that women called to act in our own time and place will respond with strength and faith. We pray for them in their struggles, their doubts and their fears as they face ridicule. We pray for our community of faith to stand with these women in their work for your glory. [Here you may add concerns specific to your congregation.] Amen.

Suggested Hymns

"I'm Gonna Live So God Can Use Me," PH #369
"Live Into Hope," PH #332
"Christian Women, Christian Men," PH #348
"When Will People Cease Their Fighting?," PH #401

Charge and Benediction

"The spirit of the Lord is upon me," Jesus said, "to bring good news to the poor; release to the captives; recovery of sight to the blind; and liberty to the oppressed." In the name of Jesus Christ, make this goal your own, respond to God's call to act for justice, and as you do, may the love of God, the peace of Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit guide you and sustain you, this day and forever. Amen.

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Program Suggestions

--Invite a panel of women who have acted for justice in your community to share their stories with a small group from your congregation. Be sure to invite girls and young women to hear these stories so they may be inspired to act.

--Study the resource titled Christian Attitudes Toward War and Peace---Directing Dialogue (information available on the PC(USA) Web site, www.pcusa.org/september11/warpeace). Where do you stand? Where is God calling you to act in a post-September 11th world? As an individual? As a community of faith?

--Study the Brief Statement of Faith in its entirety. The Brief Statement of Faith was adopted by the PC(USA) at the denomination's reunion in 1983. As noted in the Book of Confessions, "the Brief Statement of Faith emphasizes gender-inclusiveness. It underscores the role of both men and women in God's covenant, uses feminine as well as masculine imagery of God, and affirms ordination of both women and men" (p. 264). What specific components of the Brief Statement of Faith are important to you? Order the Book of Confessions from Presbyterian Distribution Service (PDS), 800/524-2612, item #OGA-02-017, or download it from the PC(USA) Web site, www.pcusa.org/oga/constitution.htm.

--Learn about women and war by studying Progress of the World's Women, Volume 1: Women, War, Peace: The Independent Experts' Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women's Role in Peace-building, by Elisabeth Rehn and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, published by UNIFEM, www.unifem.org. Order from Women, Ink., www.womenink.org, item # WE619, or phone 212/687-8633.

--Choose one woman "called to act" in your community and commit to praying for her on a regular basis.

--Teach high school youth about women called to act for justice. Lead a Bible study using the 2001--2002 Horizons Bible study, Esther's Feast: A Study of the Book of Esther by Patricia K. Tull. Order from Presbyterian Distribution Service (PDS), 800/524-2612. Request item #HZN-01-100.

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Try This!

In 2002, women of the Stone Church of Willow Glen in San Jose, California, chose to commemorate Celebrate the Gifts of Women Sunday with a display of quilts that belonged to women in their congregation. Hung on clotheslines strung across the church's patio area, the quilts were immediately visible as people approached or drove by the building. They were as varied as their donors---patchwork, crazy quilt, traditional designs, embroidered, feather-stitched, old, new---and made by grandmothers, aunts, mothers, friends and some by the donors themselves. Each quilt had a card attached that gave the quilt's history and named the women connected to it.

Invitations to this special event were sent to women throughout the community, especially leaders of nonprofit organizations supported by the church. Posters depicting women leaders were created and carried by young girls during a procession at the beginning of the worship service. Women participated in the liturgy and serving of Communion, and associate pastor Rebecca Kuiken gave a sermon on the day's theme.

"God is love," Rebecca preached, "but that is not as easy as its sounds. Love is not abstract, but of the earth, growing out of real life, not just out of ideas in our heads. Love is justice for the poor and love may be the gift of a quilt, the product of women's work."

Jeanette Rapp, former director of extension education at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, acquired the quilts, drew the posters and created a special bulletin cover.

--Alice Thorn, San Jose, CA

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Women from Stone Church in Willow Glen displayed their unique and beautiful quilts to Celebrate the Gifts of Women.

These middle and high school girls participated in the service, carrying pictures of women leaders during the opening procession.

Rebecca Kuiken (right) wore a robe given to her by Diana Lim, former moderator, after a PW Churchwide Gathering, where it had been used as part of the final Communion service. Also pictured are Jennifer Scott Brand (left) and Rev. Marjorie Palmer.

Notes

The Call to Worship is adapted from the Directory for Worship, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), W-1.1001--W1.1002a.

The Prayer of Confession and the Assurance of Pardon are taken from lines 29--51 of the Brief Statement of Faith, Book of Confessions (Louisville, Ky.: Office of the General Assembly, PC(USA), 1999).

The Litany of Commitment is adapted from lines 58--71 and 77--79 of the Brief Statement of Faith, Book of Confessions.
* PH---The Presbyterian Hymnal. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 1990.

Worship Notes

· Name women in your community who have responded to God's call to act for justice. What struggles did they face? What obstacles did they overcome? How did they glorify God through their actions? Include their names and their struggles in the Prayers of the People.

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