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Welcome! The Women and Religion Movement is alive and well in the 21st Century. A grassroots project started by lay leaders in the 1970s as an effort to promote examination of religious roots of sexism and patriarchy within the UUA and beyond, UU Women and Religion officially began as a task force following the unanimously-passed WOMEN AND RELIGION RESOLUTION at the 1977 UUA General Assembly. Although the Task Force was eventually sunsetted, the movement still exists in UU communities that hold Women & Religion programs and gatherings for those who identify as women. It exists at the UU General Assembly, where UUW&R brings our Store to the Exhibit Hall and occasionally hosts a gathering. And it lives in the hearts and lives of people who have been touched by the many changes inspired by this movement.

"We do not want a piece of the pie. It is still a patriarchal pie. We want to change the recipe!" -- Rosemary Matson

Sending Out Breakthrough Vibes

With education as one main thrust for our ICUUW, International Convocation of UU Women, action plan, I’ve been recalling the discussions at the Convocation about using the UU curriculum, OWL, “Our Whole Lives”, for women’s groups worldwide.  I remember Britain’s Rev. Dr. Ann Peart at the microphone giving us a gentle warning about OWL’s content of dealing with sexuality.  She said that OWL’s content being so specific for the U.S. culture makes it inappropriate for a number of other cultures.

Cakes for the Queen of HeavenLet me suggest our substituting “Cakes for the Queen of Heaven” for the ICUUW educational use of OWL.  The evaluations I received from the “Cakes…”group I facilitated in July gave me this important idea.  (I believe it to be a “meme”*.)

I read such evaluation comments as:

“Very interesting and thought provoking – (material combined with meaningful sharing and discussion)  Found there is often more to cover than time, realistically, allows – Each one of these sessions could be an afternoon’s workshop of 3 – 4 hours.  But they’ve all whetted my appetite for more!”  Also, she said that the session about reclaiming the mother/daughter relationship was the “most healing” for her.

Then I came to an evaluation from a woman from Uruguay who said:

“Every woman should have this tremendous opportunity!  If only I had this knowledge during my formative years!  The program’s very positive and nourishing effect remains long after the sessions.  I can’t wait for the following ones!  Thank you for changing my perception of myself!”  (Reading this gave me my creative breakthrough to suggest “Cakes…” for our educational work.)

The challenge of translations to the languages required is quite an obstacle to overcome.  Also, I strongly believe facilitators must understand (as the knowledge applies to the patriarchy in their cultures) the content of both these resources:  Carol Flinders’ Rebalancing the World and David Korten’s The Great Turning. I hope my idea of taking “Cakes…” around the world is a meme for ICUUW’ers.

* In Rebalancing the World, Carol Flinders describes what a meme is by comparing it to the genes we pass on to new generations.  Human evolution has memes, also.  They, simply, are timely, meaningful ideas for the betterment of life.

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