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COSROW invites all women of faith to come “in from the wilderness”
January 9, 2025 / By Rev. Dr. Robin Blair / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
The COSROW (Committee on the Status and Role of Women) invites all women of faith to join in a time of listening, sharing, and belonging, while we come "in from the wilderness.” And so, what is the wilderness? Good question.
Is wilderness only about 40 days and nights in isolation and temptation as Jesus experienced? (Matt 4:1) Or, is wilderness an experience with many vistas? Is it something that isolates women in ministry? Is it about relating to the Lord, listening to God and acting as God calls, claims, and equips us–to be met with institutional resistance? Such resistance could resemble a congregation expecting a male appointment as pastor, a bishop who does not see you, or a congregation who cannot adjust to your accent or skin color, or believes a woman's role is specific? Have you ever felt any of these things in your ministry?
Even though it is a broad-brush-stroke statement, women relate to the Lord the way women do and not the way men do. It is not wrong or right, but it simply is a truth. "God created Man (human beings). God made them in the likeness of God. Male and female, God created them, and God blessed them and named them Man (meaning the human race) when God created them." (Gen 5b-2). So here we all are, tellers of the tales in scripture, living into this truth by the power of the Holy Spirit. Made in God's image, we are women who listen to the whispers and shouts from the God of all creation through Jesus Christ. Praise be to God!
Some of us are ordained clergy with big formal educations, some of us are LLP's who bring gifts and graces to the body of Christ and have training to empower that call, some of us are laity with all that God has invited us to and in that trust, live the Word in witness to the Christ. And yet, we can still find ourselves marginalized, ignored, or dismissed for who we are, how we love, and what we bring to God's call.
It is unsettling when we read scripture and live into God's Word with our whole selves, to be ignored and not be respected for our journeys that are built on love. Perhaps you are loved as a person and a woman in your family and friendships–but trying to speak with authority and offer leadership in ministry has been a surprisingly bumpy road; and bumpy means painful not because you lack sincerity or qualifications. Perhaps it is simply the fact that you are a woman, not a man. If you have ever experienced any of this, you have lived with a wilderness experience.
Catch Your Breath: In from the Wilderness is an invitation to set apart a few hours to listen to Keynote speaker Bishop Peggy Johnson share what some of her wilderness experience has been–and hers has been filled with bumps, tension, love, and strength. Among the challenges for Bishop Peggy was the truth of the gender identity transition of her spouse while she was serving as a Bishop in the UMC. She wrote a book that addresses some of her journey: The Ever Expansive Spirit of God, for all those who feel left out. I found it is worth the read to hear how one faithful woman plumbed her faith, stood in love, and never left God behind.
Dr. Ashley Boggan, General Secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History, will join the virtual event on January 24 and 25. She will speak on the second evening, following a message from Retired UMC Bishop Peggy Johnson, focusing on the denomination’s efforts to address its history and theology with the LGBTQIA+ community. Dr. Boggan will also highlight newly organized resources now available at Drew University, offering participants a valuable opportunity to engage with her expertise and the ongoing work of fostering understanding and inclusion in faith communities.
We will also break into groups of women, like you, who can reflect on what their ministry journeys have seen left out or pushed aside to leave us carrying wounds–just because we are women. We can learn from one another that God has a place of belonging for each of us, and that our sense of self-identity and empowerment to enact our love for the Lord and all God's creation through one another, is a place of belonging. We will covenant that his time together will be a safe space.
About Bishop Peggy A. Johnson
Bishop Peggy A. Johnson is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and a retired bishop of the United Methodist Church. She served as the episcopal leader of the Philadelphia Area of the United Methodist Church, which includes the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference and the Peninsula-Delaware Annual Conference from 2008-2021 and as the interim bishop in the New England Annual Conference from 2023-2024. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in music education from Lebanon Valley College, a Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary. Prior to her election to the episcopacy in 2008, she served as a pastor in the Baltimore-Washington Conference since 1980. Her churches included a 4-point rural circuit in Frederick, MD, a suburban Baltimore congregation, a campus ministry at Gallaudet University and for 20 years, she was the pastor of the historic Christ UMC of the Deaf. Bishop Johnson has a particular passion for ministry with people with disabilities. During her tenure as a bishop, she served as a board member on the Commission on the Status and Role of Women and on the General Board of Church and Society. She authored a UMW “Mission U” study book: The Church and Disabilities. Recently she published a memoir entitled The Ever-Expansive Spirit of God: For all Who feel Left Out. It recounts the journey of serving as a bishop during the gender identity transition of her spouse. Bishop Johnson and her spouse of 46 years, Rev. Mary Johnson, reside in Carrollton, Virginia in retirement. They have two adult sons and two grandchildren.
About Ashley Boggan D., PhD
Dr. Ashley Boggan D. is the General Secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History. In this role, she ensures that The UMC understands its past in order to envision a more equitable future for all Methodists. Boggan earned her PhD from Drew Theological School’s Graduate Division of Religion, specializing in both Methodist/Wesleyan Studies and Women’s/Gender Studies. She earned an M.A. from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School, specializing in American Religious History. She has previously worked as staff at the General Commission on Archives and History (2012-2014) and the Connectional Table of The United Methodist Church (2014-2016). She was the Director of United Methodist Studies and Assistant Professor Christian History at Hood Theological Seminary (Salisbury, NC), an AME Zion Seminary, from 2017-2019 and was the Director of Women’s and Gender Studies and Assistant Professor of Religion at High Point University (High Point, NC) from 2019-2020. Dr. Boggan is a lay member of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference and the daughter of two ordained United Methodist ministers. Her Methodist lineage dates beyond this, back to the early 19th century when her great-great-great grandfathers were Methodist circuit-riders. Boggan is on the Advisory Board for the National Museum of American Religion and is the author of Nevertheless: American Methodists and Women’s Rights (2020); Entangled: A History of American Methodism, Politics, and Sexuality (2018); and added to the revised American Methodism: A Compact History (2022).