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Introduction
MCC dedicates this page to the
celebration of women in ministry throughout the denomination. The
purpose of our celebration of Women's History Month is to increase
consciousness and knowledge of women's history.
We encourage our churches to use the items
in our Resource Bank to further awareness of women's issues in the LGBT
community.
If you have liturgy, prayers, or resources
you would like to share with the denomination to celebrate women in
history, please send
them to us for immediate consideration.
A Brief History
In 1911 in Europe, March 8 was first celebrated as International Women's Day. In many European
nations, as well as in the United States, women's rights was a political
hot topic. Woman suffrage — winning
the vote — was a priority of many women's organizations. Women
(and men) wrote books on the contributions of women to history.
But with the economic depression of the 1930s which hit on both sides
of the Atlantic, and then World War II, women's rights went out of
fashion. In the 1950s and 1960s, after Betty
Friedan pointed to the "problem that has no name" — the
boredom and isolation of the middle-class housewife who often gave up
intellectual and professional aspirations — the women's movement
began to revive. With "women's liberation"
in the 1960s, interest in women's issues and women's history
blossomed.
By the 1970s, there was a growing sense by many women that "history"
as taught in school — and especially in grade school and high
school — was incomplete with attending to "her story" as well. And
so in the 1970s many universities began to include the fields of women's history and the broader field of women's
studies.
In 1978 in California, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County
Commission on the Status of Women began a "Women's History Week" celebration. The week was chosen to
coincide with International Women's Day, March 8 (celebrated
since about 1913). Three years later, the United States Congress
passed a resolution establishing National Women's History Week.
In 1987, at the request of the National Women's History Project (US),
Congress expanded the week to a month, and the U.S. Congress has issued
a resolution every year since then, with wide support, for Women's
History Month. The U.S. President aksi issues each year a proclamation
of Women's History Month.
More Recently
Women are now permitted to enter almost any profession. They
are protected from discrimination by civil rights laws in many US
states, across Canada, and in many parts of Europe.
In recent decades,
discrimination against individuals on the basis of race or gender has
been viewed with increasing disgust throughout North America. Societal
pressure will probably increase on those religious organizations who are
seen to follow racist and sexist policies.
However, grave injustices towards women still exist around the
world. It is for these women that we remember and continue to work
for the rights of all women around the world.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: The churches of the UFMCC, while
observing Women's History Month, are mindful that the history,
gifts and unique strengths of any group must not be relegated solely to
one month. Our commitment to Jesus Christ and our call to diversity
challenges us to celebrate the gifts of all of God's people throughout
the liturgical year. We wish to uphold Women's History Month as a
time of celebration, remembrance, and honor, while remembering that this
month is but one part of a continual commitment to diversity.
Sources:
www.about.com
www.religioustolerance.org
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