Still hummin' from the beautiful weekend in Kenosha and Racine Wisconsin at the 29th UU Women's Connection Fall Retreat October 21-23.
The waters of the world blessing given by [retreat leader] Peggy and a couple dozen of the participants who walked the 5 minutes to the shore, was so appropriate on the ocean that is Lake Michigan ... Foot prints in the sand, tide pools teeming with life, water well-wishers collecting chips of glass and shells worn by motion and the dynamic nature of the the water's edge. No other shore in sight, demonstrating the vastness and mystery of this body of water. Curiosity and lure of the harbor fishing sites by the hotel where fishermen caught King Salmon who came to spawn; giant covered-for-winter sailboats look like icebergs from our hotel vantage point. Kind generosity of Heather Poyner and Carley Mattimore and Claudine Miller, Juli and Sage and so many other workshop leaders who had something juicy to share.
Thanks to planners and those in attendance for makng it a memorable weekend and something to look forward to next year.
Visit our Facebook group for more photos!
The Fall 2011 issue of UU World contains a letter from Rev Dr Linnea Pearson mentioning two of the foremothers of the Women and Religion Resolution, Lucile Longview and Rosemary Matson.UU World's Summer 2011 issue has an article on the impact of women ministers in the UUA by Carolyn Owen-Towle. She mentions the Ministerial Sisterhood, a group that seems to have disappeared from view. A photo of their banner is at right.
It is with great sadness that I report to you that as of our registration deadline we do not have enough women to hold our retreat scheduled for 9/30-10/2. It was our hope that becoming part of the district would free up our energies for programming at the retreat, but we simply do not have enough workshop leaders or participants to go forward.
There is another issue which I see needs to be addressed: a very small group of women have been shouldering the organizing of these retreats for many years. There has been an urgent call for new volunteers for more than two years now, and only one new person has stepped in to help.
We see this cancellation as a natural consequence of this dynamic. It is impossible for only a few to continue to have the energy, time, and resources to create value for such a large group.
New women must step forward. We have received many sincere and concerned suggestions for how we could have prevented this cancellation, but I'm left with a heavy heart wondering where was that energy and commitment when so much work (by so few) was being put into: finding a new site after Rockcraft, allying with the District, and planning /this/ retreat. It is too little, too late.
We have a tentative date for a retreat at Geneva Point Center for next year. It is not guaranteed however and may be released. The current planning committee is largely taking a step back.
The question is posed: How much do you value our weekends of connection and restoration and community?
Susan Gorman and Faith Barnes
Upon rereading our Women and Religion Resolution (within which the International Association of Liberal Religious Women, IALRW, is included), I see our yearning to facilitate peaceful influence. I call the means to that influence, egalitarian complementarity. It is the opposite of controlling, top/down patriarchal ways. It is a way for collaborative partnership when a relationship between two or more persons is based on sharing leadership power. Egalitarian complementarity has flexible “give and take” for idea creation as the situation for action specifically demands.
This decision making exchange naturally determines who assumes leadership through respectful exploration to find who has the best ideas and resources “to do the job.” It’s a liberating process, releasing human potential. Freedom for those involved to act from one’s best self for the good of all is a prerequisite. This attitude comes from each person’s heart and starts with practicing this peaceful process of creative liberation with those closest to us at home. As the ancient Chinese put it, the attitude of peacefulness then can spread to neighbors, cities and nations to finally becoming peace in the world.
