"Adventist Women and the Earth: A Response to the Ecofeminism"

Conference Date: April 24-26, 2009
Location: La Sierra University, Riverside, California
Submissions Due: Friday, February 13, 2009

Undergraduate and Graduate Student Call for Papers: "Adventist Women and the Earth: A Response to the Ecofeminism" is the theme of the 2nd Annual Young Women & the Word Conference, hosted by the Women's Resource Center and co-sponsored by La Sierra University.

This conference aims to address our responsibility to the earth/environment and to explore connections with gender justice. Ecofeminism brings together ecology, deep ecology, and feminism. Feminism seeks equality of women with men, a transformation of social relations of the ownership of the means of production and reproduction, and changing cultural patterns of violence and male domination.

Ecofeminist theologians, such as Rosemary Radford Ruether, specifically seek to assess cultural and social roots that promote destructive relations between men and women, between ruling and subjugated human communities, and the destruction of the rest of the biotic community, of which humans are an interdependent part. Ecofeminist theologians affirm that we can draw critically from the legacy of the Christian and Western cultural heritage to find usable ideas that might nourish a healed relation to each other and to the earth. The conference planners hope to lead out and show how young Adventist women care about the abuse of the earth and women; and challenge others not only to recognize this problem but to actively create and practice solutions that respect the dignity and value of God's creations.

The main topic will be addressed utilizing discussions on leadership, practical solutions, dialogue on the parallels between our ethic toward the environment and women, and so forth. Visit www.adventistwomenearth.wordpress.com for more information.

Featuring Rosemary Radford Ruether, John B. Cobb, Jr., Jared Wright, Maritza Duran, Ginger Hanks-Harwood, Somer Penington, and others.

Undergraduate and graduate student submissions should be presentable in 15 minutes and aim to connect religion, ecology, and gender issues. Please submit a paper proposal of no more than 250 words to be considered for participation. All paper proposals should be sent to the organizer of the conference, Trisha Famisaran, no later than February 13, 2009. Submissions should be sent electronically in Word format to adventistwomenearth@gmail.com and include the following:

1. Paper proposal of 250 words.
2. A separate page indicating your full name, paper title, institutional affiliation, degree program and major, class standing, telephone number, e-mail address and mailing address.

St. Paul’s Chapel, one of the first buildings to be designated an official landmark by the city of New York, stands on the Columbia University campus at the top of a hill. Walking through Harlem for the first time to get there on a November Sabbath, I was enchanted by the time we reached the 1904 structure of stone and brick built in the Renaissance Revival style, it is as impressive on the inside as the out. (But it is not to be confused with the St. Paul’s Chapel vintage 1766 that stands near the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.)

It was at the Columbia University Chapel that Adventist graduate students gathered to worship in 1968, and where the Adventist Forum chapter they formed came into being. So it was only fitting for them to return to this site for a worship service on the 40th anniversary of the chapter’s founding. As Judy Rittenhouse, one of the original members, noted in her remembrances of times past, location, location, location made the services special.

A songfest started the service. Then there was a liturgy with Scriptural readings from Judges, 1 Thessalonians, and Matthew. In his homily Dr. Les Wright drew on these Scriptures to talk about God and His Plan for the future.

Soaring musical numbers made the anniversary event a worship service to remember. Baritone Ralph Candelaria’s gentle rendition of “Give Me Jesus” brought tears to my eyes. Soprano Faith Esham, who planned the service, sang “Bist de bei mir” by JS Bach, her glorious operatic voice soaring through the vaulted space. Glazunov’s violin “Meditation” played by Lynelle Smith and Liszt’s piano “Paysage” played by Russell Chin were punctuated by original poetry by Gina Rae Foster and a reading by Jan Anderson. Don Shortslef on the piano accompanied himself singing an original composition “It Could Have Been Me.” Then it was time for chapter history. After Ron Lawson shared stories from earlier days, one member reminded him of the time limitations in the chapel, and the music awaiting. Tenor Ronoldo Appleton performed a heart-rending version of “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.” To close the service all of the soloists plus more musicians from the audience formed a chorus to sing Brahms “How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place.”

Lovely indeed was the place and the time together. Conversations, usually the centerpiece of Forum meetings, this time were reserved for the steps outside the chapel as people from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New York greeted each other.
This Forum chapter has made worship a centerpiece of their time together. Visiting with them on this special occasion demonstrated the beauty and power of the worship experience.

Bonnie Dwyer is editor of Spectrum Magazine

For more on the history of the NY Adventist Forum click http://www.mnyaforum.org/ and select the 'History' link on the left-hand-side of the page.