(A Sermon in Two Voices with Karen Wilcox Beiber)
Part One: (Jim’s words)
Scripture: Luke 13:5-13
This is sort of a church day for Sojourners. Receiving Brenda into membership in the church. Saying good-bye to the Copelands. And in between Karen Wilcox and I thought we would reflect on what it would mean, or look like, for Sojourners to be a feminist community. I know that’s not what the sermon title says, but the sermon title’s a little misleading (even though I take responsibility for it). It is true that Karen and I talked about Women’s History Month and decided that instead of turning the spotlight on women from the past or on large issues that are “out there”, that we would turn the spotlight on ourselves. And we agreed to each take a turn doing that. So I’ll say a few words and then turn the floor over to Karen.
This seems like an appropriate way to observe Women’s History Month, we thought. Appropriate also considering the Lenten season, which encourages us in general to turn the spotlight on ourselves. Appropriate considering that feminism refers to a set of values that Sojourners has wanted to embody from its beginning, and appropriate considering we have undertaken to look at our life as a church across the board to see how we are and are not living up to our commitments to justice and inclusivity with regard to age, ability, race, class, sexual orientation, and gender. And appropriate considering that gender justice and equality is one of the many concerns the Copelands have been committed to.
And in that regard, I have a story. You may be aware that for churches that take inclusive language seriously, the Lord’s Prayer can be a problem. There is even a little booklet written maybe 10 years ago entitled, “What To Do About the Lord’s Prayer”. The Lord’s Prayer has been a matter of discussion at Sojourners from time to time in our history—discussion and, shall we say, non-consensus. When I arrived at Sojourners, we had not said the Lord’s Prayer in worship in anything close to its traditional wording, including the Our Father part, in a long time—or at least that was the perception of some people, who told me that we hadn’t said it, and who said they missed it. What did I think, some folks wanted to know.
Sometime early on I said what I thought in a sermon. What I had to say was, I trust, a little more nuanced than this, but the bottom line was that I felt there ought to be a place in our worship for the Lord’s Prayer in its traditional form, including saying “Our Father”, and that I didn’t think it necessarily violated my commitment or our commitment to inclusive language. A few weeks later I included the Lord’s Prayer in the worship service, maybe even with a lead that said “Our Father…” Shortly after that service I received a note from Carol Copeland in which she told me what she thought, somewhat emphatically told me what she thought, which was not exactly the same as what I thought.
I was defensive at first. As I was reading her note, I found myself arguing with it in my mind, wondering why she hadn’t been persuaded by my great arguments the first time around, composing my even more persuasive arguments that I would send back to her. And I did send a note back that probably had some of that defensiveness in it. And then at some point I relaxed and said to myself how lucky I am to be at a church where I would receive such a note. At the very least it keeps me on my toes. More than that, it says that there are people here who are willing to question the church—and God knows the church needs questioning—willing to question the church even on something that is so deeply a part of the church as the Lord’s Prayer. I was not grateful for Carol Copeland’s voice on that issue, but I came to be grateful for it, and I am grateful for all voices that, like hers, make life at Sojourners less comfortable, less taken-for-granted. And that is my first answer to the question of what Sojourners as a feminist community of faith would look like. It would have lots of voices raising issues, disturbing the peace, with regard to gender justice and awareness in the church—and some of those voices, many of those voices would be men’s voices.
My second answer would be a sort of corollary to what I just said, and it would be that Sojourners having a feminist orientation would mean knowing our continuing need to be conscious of and doing something about gender issues in the church, knowing there is still a lot to be concerned about and a lot of work to be done. That may not seem like very much, but I think it’s not nothing either. It would mean saying to ourselves that having women in leadership roles at every level of church life is important, but not enough. It would mean saying to ourselves that using inclusive language is important, but not enough.
One reason, just one reason, those things are not enough is the Bible—which is not a feminist document. Of course it’s not that there’s nothing helpful in the Bible on gender issues. I have always considered the passage Carol read about the woman who had been bent over for so long and was able to stand up straight to have a feminist quality to it. I have always read it symbolically not so much as a physical healing but as a symbolic, social, emotional, spiritual liberation—this image of the woman being set free from the bending over of submission and regaining the full stature of her dignity. But even here, I have to point out and confess, that this woman is not allowed a name in the story. Being a faith community with a Christian identity but also with a feminist orientation would mean, to me, being willing to confront the Bible, and the other resources of the Christian tradition, at this level. As long as we keep turning to the Bible for good reason, we will keep being reminded that our work on gender issues in the church is never done, because we will keep on confronting the gender issues that are there in the Bible.
Another reason inclusive language and leadership is not enough is that things come up sometimes and take you off guard. This may not be the weightiest thing I could say this morning, but it’s a memory that occurred to me recently for whatever reason. Maybe you remember back in the fall when we were having our big meeting about building and location issues, and John Deckenback, our conference minister was here, and Gary Roberts, the representative of the national church on local church building was here, and Gary wanted to have a brief little ceremony in the worship service acknowledging the three-way partnership we have created among the Central Atlantic Conference, the church development arm of the national church, and Sojourners. When it came time to do this ceremony the three of us stood up front here, John, Gary, and I and I suddenly felt like I was part of something very male. Cathie Brettschneider described it to me afterwards as seeming very corporate, but maybe she meant pretty much the same thing. In any case I felt like part of a male phalanx up here, that to be sure didn’t last too long (thankfully), and that I don’t think did any lasting damage. But still…It’s not that what happened was so awful in the grand scheme of things, but it was a missed opportunity for us to witness to what we are about as a church. And if I had been more aware, more conscious of what that ceremony would look like and feel like, at least to me, I would have made sure that we did that ceremony in a much different way. Gender issues require consciousness and attention always.
Finally, just a personal word. Some time ago, I made a commitment to myself to make sure that the theologians and spiritual writers I read were not all white, not all North American or European, and not all male. Since then I’m pretty sure that at least half of my reading material has been written by women. This of course does not mean that it was all the same, that it was always obviously different from what a man would have written, that there was some “female point of view” being put forward. But I do believe that if there were more women writing theology, and if there had been more women writing theology over the years, Christian theology would have a different flavor to it. And I am sure that since I have intentionally included more women writers in my own reading, my thinking and my preaching has changed—for the better. Not that I could describe that change for you right now in twenty-five words or less. But I know it has changed. And I hope it means that the voice you are hearing when I am here preaching at Sojourners, though it is a male voice, I hope that it also contains the echoes of women’s voices I have read and listened to, and I promise to keep on reading and listening.
Part Two: (Karen’s words)
In Webster’s dictionary, the first definition of feminsm is “a doctrine advocating social, political, and economic rights for women equal to those of men.” At Sojourners, our congregation’s covenant expresses that “We are a community of faith called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk in the way of Jesus, by including all peoples in all walks and ways of life, in our life of worship and celebration, nurture and growth, love and service.” The welcome message in our weekly bulletin states that “Our congregation strives toward cultural diversity and inclusiveness of all persons in policy, practice and language, without regard to race, age, gender, sexual orientation, mental or physical challenges, or religious background,” and includes the sentiment that “we hope you will consider joining us as we seek to “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.”
In our mission statement you will find the sentence “To list human differences is to risk excluding someone,” followed in capital letters by “ALL ARE WELCOME.”
Some of the “belief statements” of the United Church of Christ are:
“We believe that each person is unique and valuable”
“We believe that God calls us to be servants in the service of others and to be good stewards of the earth’s resources. ‘To believe is to care, to care is to do.’
“We believe that the UCC is called to be a prophetic church.” As in the tradition of the prophets and apostles, God calls the church to speak truth to power, liberate the oppressed, care for the poor and comfort the afflicted.
And the last belief statement listed is:
“We are a people of possibility. In the UCC, members, congregations and structures have the breathing room to explore and to hear . . . for after all, God is still speaking, . . .
If you go to the UCC website, or to a UCC sponsored event, you will see the phrase “God is still speaking, followed by a quote by Gracie Allen “never place a period where God has placed a comma.” Underneath that statement on the website are the words “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.”
But is it enough to “not turn people away?” Is it enough to state “ALL ARE WELCOME?” even making it such an intentionally strong statement by printing it in all capital letters.
As I understand it, Sojourners UCC has held from the beginning a feminist orientation. There has been much care and consideration given to the inclusiveness that is present here:
- the use of inclusive language
- the choice of racial justice as our leading concern
- the commitment to be an open and affirming congregation (and the difficulty that choice brought with it at the Shenandoah Association meeting in April of 1996)
- the relationship with Innisfree
- the relationship with Riverdale
- the many groups who have received assistance from Sojourners through the service and missions committee
- the diversity of the music chosen and sung by the choir and the hymns we sing
- the diverse representation on Church Council and in each of the groups and committees sharing in the work of our congregation
and the list goes on . . .
During the Lenten Soup Supper last Wednesday evening, the “Invoking the Spirit Through Writing” group led us in an exercise that involved responding to one or more of a list of ten questions offered for reflection and writing. Two of the questions addressed and discussed at our table were “What is your image of God?” and “What drew you to Sojourners and what keeps you here?”
When many of us think about the image of God that we learned as children, it is one of a man in flowing white robes and with a long white beard. We may have thought of God as being someone who was out there, most likely “up” there, someone to form a relationship with, maybe even someone to be feared – yet always with the image came the message that God loves everyone. At Sojourners, there are many images of God – as many as there are people who worship here . . . and probably even a great deal more, since I can say that for myself I have developed many images of God that are everchanging. As the question of “what drew you to Sojourners and what keeps you here?” was explored, a search for openness, a diverse congregation, and a focus on social justice were a few of the things that came up. One individual responded by sharing the desire to be in a community where people were willing and inspired to “walk the walk.”
In order for Sojourners to have a feminist orientation, we need to “walk the walk.” I feel it is very important to be thoughtful and diligent about our use of language and to continually question whether or not we are “inclusive.” Sometimes, that comes in the questions raised by our members and friends, like the one Rob Van Lier raised in January of 2003 when he declined the nomination to be co-moderator because he believed if we claimed to be a diverse community, having 3 white men representing Sojourners as the pastor and co-moderators did not deliver that message.
We should continue to be sure women and men are as equally represented as possible on committees, in weekly tasks such as set-up and take-down, greeters, riverdale drivers, nursery, Sunday school, munch bunch and by participating in the weekly service through readings and song. But we also must look beyond those representations to have a feminist orientation. There are times when it is the unspoken as much as the spoken, the unseen as much as the seen that moves us toward or away from equality.
I’d like to share with you a poem written by Grace Bauer entitled “Noah’s Wife Addresses the Department of the Interior.”
Birds, though they sing sweetly, can be hell when cramped in cages.
Cats of all kinds do not take well to boats.
All primates stink, albeit they are clever.
Giraffes are a pain in the neck to feed.
Try it once, you’ll see.
Chickens are dumb and geese are mean.
Swans are not always graceful.
Bears are loners. Wolves stick with their kind,
Though elephants warm up to strangers rather fast.
The snakes weren’t half as bad as I’d imagined.
Rats – though they, too, have their place – most decided were.
The insects, I got used to, though at first I forgot and swatted a few.
Lizards are more temperamental than turtles.
Pigs make better housemates than gazelles.
Now that we just have a dog and a couple of goldfish,
the place seems kind of empty.
Of the whole menagerie, I’d say I miss the zebras most.
One dove still visits twice a year,
though considering the state of affairs these days,
he is often a bit depressed.
When I think of what we went through trying to keep that whole damned zoo afloat –
The times I sat up all night with a homesick horse,
the time all the deer and elk came down with the croup –
Of course, when the rainbow arced new hope on the horizon,
I realized it had all been worthwhile.
But now, when I see what we managed to save wiped out by what’s called progress
Well, if I wasn’t a God-fearing woman, I swear, some days I’d start praying for rain.
As I listened to this poem read in a keynote address at a research conference on gender by Katherine Allen, a faculty member at Virginia Tech who was also my dissertation advisor, she offered the following questions – Although the story of Noah and the Ark is well-known, how many of us have ever thought about his wife? What was her name? What did she endure? How did she feel? What did she know? What did she contribute to the world? Who was she as a person?
In choosing to include this poem, I realize there are some other questions that came to mind. Was Noah white or was he a person of color? Why would we assume that if he had a partner with him on the Ark that it was a woman, not a man? How did Noah’s age impact his ability to do his job? Did he take time off from his “day job” to navigate the Ark? And if so, was it considered family leave time, or did he have to use his earned vacation days? What if he was called to take this trip, but was working two jobs as a single parent and couldn’t afford to take unpaid time off from work?
I don’t think it is possible to examine gender equality without looking at the way other forms of oppression are intertwined. bel hooks, one of my favorite authors, writes about the intersection of oppressions. When she, an African-American, feminist woman, writes or speaks about race, she is clear that she cannot do so without also including gender, class, ability, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, and any other “ism” that presents itself – seen or unseen.
Since we live in a country where patriarchy and systems of power and control have been alive and well since it’s “founding” – and I put that word in quotes – we cannot avoid certain assumptions. We are all influenced by “the way things have always been,” which leaves us with many examples of institutional “isms.” Though we cannot avoid the presence of these systems, it is what we do about their presence that sets us apart.
We at Sojourners can not only answer the call to “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God,” we can place a priority on being certain the voices, lives, history, and future of women and girls are heard, respected, honored and believed. We can create a space where it feels safe to question and challenge each other when statements are made that may be degrading to girls and women. Where we are not discouraged when we consider whether or not asking the question will bring with it a discrediting or dismissing thought like “oh, come on, I didn’t mean anything by that” or “you know I am in favor of and work toward equality of all types.” We can help each other understand that sometimes a situation just “feels” oppressive though we cannot identify a particular example or reason that would demonstrate why. We can and do recognize that a feminist orientation does not mean only women have a concern for gender equality and are responsible for advocating for justice, but men are as concerned and as vocal.
Each of us makes statements that are, or may be seen, as oppressive without intending for them to be, or without realizing how they might be. We cannot possibly know each person’s life experiences or how one word or one action can trigger a past pain – real or perceived – or the fear of a future hardship. When I think about the concept of feminism that comes to mind most readily for me, it is “first, do no harm.”
Pastor Martin Niemoeller, a Nazi victim wrote:
They first came for the Communists and I did not speak up –
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews and I didn’t speak up –
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn’t speak up –
because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics and I didn’t speak up –
Because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me – and by that time no one was left to speak up.
So what does it mean for Sojourners to have a feminist orientation?
We are called to speak, both through words and action.
We can hold each other accountable, while cradling each other in caring.
“If not me, then who: if not now, then when?”
Amen.
Jim Bundy and Karen Wilcox (now Beiber)
March 14, 2004