PUBLIC
LIFE
Women clergy: more liberal, more political?
IN
THE NORTHEAST
• Patricia
M.Y. Chang is an associate research professor in sociology and assistant director
of the Boisi
Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College. Her research
interests include religious institutions, women clergy, power in the church,
Catholicism and the transmission of faith. She is a co-author of Clergy Women:
An Uphill Calling (Westminster John Knox Press, 1998). Contact 617-552-1861
or changpc@bc.edu.
• Rabbi Sheila P. Weinberg of Amherst, Mass., is a senior faculty member
and director of community outreach for the Spirituality
Institute. She serves on the Steering Committee for Rabbis
for Human Rights North America and has spoken out on peace issues, gay marriage,
reproductive/abortion rights and environmental concerns. She is active in Religious
Witness for the Earth, an organization dedicated to environmental preservation.
Weinberg also is active in promoting interreligious dialogue, and she expresses
concern about globalization issues and the widening income gap between rich
and poor. Contact 413-549-4176, Shoolamit@aol.com.
• The Rev. Natalie Shiras, a United Church of Christ minister, is pastor
of The Church on the Hill in Lenox, Mass. She works with the Women's Interfaith
Institute, Pittsfield Area Council of Churches and various clergy associations
on justice issues related to public education, health access and same-sex unions.
Contact 413-637-1001, nshiras@rnetworx.com.
• The Rev. Carrie Bail is pastor of the First Congregational Church of
the United Church of Christ in Williamstown, Mass. She has been speaking out
in support of gay rights, including gay marriage, and in opposition to the war
in Iraq. Contact 413-458-4273, rev.cbail@verizon.net.
IN
THE EAST • Melissa
Deckman is an assistant professor of political science at Washington College
in Chestertown, Md., and co-author of Women With a Mission: Gender, Religion
and the Politics of Women Clergy, under advance contract from the University
of Alabama Press. Contact 800-422-1782 ext. 7494, mdeckman2@washcoll.edu.
• The Rev. Allison Stokes, an ordained minister in the United Church of
Christ, is chaplain to the Protestant community at Ithaca College in Ithaca,
N.Y. She is founding director of the Women's Interfaith Institute in Seneca
Falls, N.Y. In February 2003 the institute bought a historic church in Seneca
Falls next door to the Women's Rights National Park. Formal opening and dedication
will be June 18-20, 2004. Her books include, as co-author, Defecting in Place:
Women Claiming Responsibility for Their Own Spiritual Lives (Crossroad,
1994). Contact 607-274-3185, astokes@ithaca.edu.
• The Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson is executive director of the Clergy
Leadership Network for National Leadership Change, a new political advocacy
coalition of moderate and liberal religious leaders. Its national office is
in Washington, D.C. She is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Contact 202-554-2121.
• The Right Rev. Vashti Murphy McKenzie of Baltimore, Md., is the first
woman bishop in the African American Episcopal Church. She presides over the
Southern African countries of Lesotho, Swaziland, Bothswana and Mozambique.
She serves on the steering committee of the Global Peace Initiative of Women
Religious Leaders. Her books include Not Without a Struggle: Leadership Development
For African American Women in Ministry (United Church Press, 1996). Contact
410-418-4305, BishopMcKenzie@18thame.org.
• Louie Crew, an English professor emeritus at Rutgers University in East
Orange, N.J., who is Episcopalian, has researched statistics on Episcopal women
clergy. He posts his data here.
Contact 973-395-1068, lcrew@andromeda.rutgers.edu.
• The Rev.
Suzan Johnson Cook, who is ordained in the American Baptist Church, is an
author, speaker and senior pastor at the Bronx Christian Fellowship, which she
founded. Contact 718-537-7268, sujayc@aol.com.
• The Rev. Elizabeth Kaeton is rector and pastor of the Episcopal Church
of St. Paul in Chatham, N.J. She speaks out for gay rights, gay marriage and
AIDS education. She is program director for Integrity
USA, a nonprofit organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered
Episcopalians, and is a member of the executive committee for Claiming
the Blessing, which promotes liturgical blessings of gay marriages. Read
a transcript of a Nov. 3, 2003, MSNBC interview
with her, posted by her church. Contact 973-635-8085 (office), 973-635-2045
(home), or EMKaeton@aol.com.
• The Rev. Noelle Damico of Setauket, N.Y., is a United Church of Christ
minister who directed the national UCC's grassroots justice and peace network
on Capitol Hill from 2000-2002. She now serves as coordinator of the Justice
and Witness Ministries of the UCC
New York Conference, which coordinates justice and peace work with 300 congregations
statewide. Damico serves as the Catalyst for the School of Theology of the University
of the Poor, (click on Schools, then Theology) the educational arm of the
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. She is national coordinator for
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s participation in the Taco
Bell boycott in partnership with farmworkers from Immokalee, Fla. She is
also active in efforts of the National Council of Churches, including the Micah
6 project and the Mobilization to Overcome Poverty. Contact 631-751-7051, ndamico@universityofthepoor.
• The Rev. Sandye Wilson is rector-elect of the Episcopal Church
of St. Andrew and Holy Communion, South Orange, N.J., where she is moving Jan.
23. She is an activist against racism and for gay rights, and children’s
rights. Trained as an economist, she says she also advocates truth-telling in
corporations and social responsibility in investments. Contact 973-763-3754
after Jan. 23 or SandyeA@aol.com.
IN
THE SOUTHEAST
• J. Lee Grady
of Orlando, Fla., is editor of Charisma
magazine and author of 10 Lies the Church Tells Women: How the Bible Has
Been Misused to Keep Women in Spiritual Bondage (Creation House, 2000) and
25 Tough Questions About Women and the Church (Charisma House, 2003).
He has been an advocate of women's leadership in the church. Contact charisma@strang.com.
• James Guth is William R. Kenan Jr. professor of political science at
Furman University in Greenville, S.C., and is knowledgeable about evangelical
clergy's political involvement. Contact 864-294-2210, jim.guth@furman.edu.
• Rabbi Amy Schwartzman is senior rabbi of Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls
Church, Va. She has worked with many community organizations, including the
Religious Coalition for Reproductive
Choice, national and local housing organizations and community AIDS projects.
Contact 703-532-2217, Senior.rabbi@TempleRodefShalom.org.
• The
Rev. Bernice A. King, an attorney, serves as an elder at New Birth Missionary
Baptist Church in Atlanta. She is the youngest daughter of Coretta Scott King
and the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She has worked with troubled youth,
nonviolent conflict resolution and race relations. She helped organize coalitions
to close a pornography shop located within a mile of a high school. Contact
her through The King Center at 404-526-8900, communications@thekingcenter.org.
• The Rev. Wilifred "Willie" Allen-Faiella is rector of St. Stephen's
Episcopal Church in Coconut Grove, Fla. She has worked for gay rights and for
AIDS awareness. Contact 305-448-2601, revwaf@aol.com
or revwaf@sseds.org.
• The Rev. Donna Schaper is a writer and senior pastor of Coral
Gables Congregational in Coral Gables, Fla. She frequently provides commentary
for Newsday, the Philadelphia Inquirer and National Public Radio.
She has spoken out against the war in Iraq and the Miami police's November 2003
handling of protests during the Free Trade Area of the Americas meetings. She
also has supported the need for a state income tax in Florida and the consecration
in New Hampshire of the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop. Contact
305-448-7421, RevDonnaS@aol.com.
• The Rev. Kim Wells is pastor of Lakewood United Church of Christ in St.
Petersburg, Fla. She has been involved in the community in the areas of nonviolence,
antiwar, social justice, anti-racism, interfaith cooperation, anti-consumerism,
and voluntary simplicity. She describes her congregation as a Just Peace church
and an Open and Affirming church. Contact 727-867-7961, lucc1@juno.com.
IN
THE SOUTH
• The Rev. Lisa Hunt is rector of St Ann's Episcopal Church in Nashville,
Tenn. She serves on the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools board. Read a
July 5, 2003, article
in the Tennessean. Contact 615-254-3534, office@stannsnashville.org.
• The Rev. Felicia Fontaine of Huntsville, Ala., who is retired from the
Metropolitan Community Church denomination, leads Soulforce
Alabama, part of a national interfaith movement that promotes the rights
of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. She says most of the politically
active women clergy she knows are progressives looking for ways to be effective
in next year's election. Contact 256-883-5226, sfal@hiwaay.net.
• The Rev. Ann Deibert is pastor at Central Presbyterian Church in Louisville,
Ky. She has spoken out for peace and chaired the former Religious Leaders for
Fairness, an interfaith group promoting the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgendered people. Contact 502-587-6935, anndeibert@msn.com.
IN
THE MIDWEST
• The
Rev. Debra J. Wells is pastor of Riverview United Methodist Church in Brooklyn
Park, Minn. She recently ran unsuccessfully for a school board election in her
district. She plans to participate in the Wellstone Civic Dialogue Project on
Feb. 5, 2004, by holding at least one civic dialogue in the evening and also
hopes to hold one in the daytime for clergy. She has served on the Northwest
Hennepin Family and Children's Service advisory board, the Hennepin County Multicultural
Advisory Panel and the Northwest Hennepin Family Services Collaborative, governance
board. Contact 763-424-2825, pastor@riverviewumc.org.
• The Rev. Kaari M. Reierson of Chicago is the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America's associate director for studies, the department that formulates
the denomination's social policy. She also edits the Internet publication Journal
of Lutheran Ethics, which offers religious perspectives on social issues.
Contact 773-380-2894, Kaari_Reierson@elca.org.
• The Rev. Elizabeth Morris Downie is rector of St. Jude's Episcopal Church
in Fenton, Mich. She is active with Planned Parenthood, the Religious
Coalition for Reproductive Choice, anti-racism causes and Jubilee USA Network,
which promotes cancellation of debts of Third World countries. She says women
clergy are more at risk from a conservative backlash, and she considers the
uproar in many churches over homosexuality to be closely linked to the reality
of women having more power in civil society and the churches. Contact 810-629-0393,
edownie@voyager.net.
• John
C. Green is a political science professor at the University of Akron in
Ohio who directs the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics. His books include,
as co-author, The Bully Pulpit: The Politics of Protestant Clergy (University
Press of Kansas, 1998). Contact 330-972-5182, green@uakron.edu.
• The Rev. Angelique Walker-Smith, who is ordained in the National Baptist
Convention USA Inc., serves as the executive director of the Church Federation
of Greater Indianapolis, which has promoted nonviolent response to violence
problems in the city. She hosts Faces of Faith on PAX Television Network.
Causes with which she is involved include concern about the war on terrorism,
the war in the Sudan and environmental stewardship. Contact 317-926-5371, churches@churchfederationindy.org.
• The Rev. Jana L. Norman, who is ordained in the United Church of Christ,
is an associate director with the UCC's Council for Health and Human Services
and serves on the board of the Center for Faith-Based Leadership. She has participated
in anti-war rallies. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio. She says women clergy are
active in issues that are truly on their doorsteps, but some are moving beyond
their immediate surroundings. Others, she says, are finding platforms such as
magazines and email lists from which to effect broader, more systemic changes.
Contact 216-736-2258, normanj@chhsm.org.
• The Rev. Verity Jones of Indianapolis, who is ordained in the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ), is editor/publisher of DisciplesWorld
magazine. As a pastor in Terre Haute, where Timothy McVeigh was executed for
the Oklahoma City bombings, she led a campaign against the death penalty. Contact
317-375-8846, info@disciplesworld.com.
• Denise Ray Mueller of Worthington, Ohio, is a politically active Democrat
who has started the discernment process for ordination as an Episcopal deacon.
Mueller participates in candidate endorsement boards at the city, county and
state level, and is supporting Howard Dean for Democratic candidate for president.
She belongs to NARAL Pro-Choice
America, Planned Parenthood, MoveOn,
Emily's List and -
within the national Episcopal Church - Claiming the Blessing, a movement to
develop rites for same-gender committed monogamous relationships. Contact 614-848-3249
(home), 614-668-6036 (cell) or deniray@deniray.com.
• Melissa
Harris-Lacewell, assistant professor of political science at the University
of Chicago, has spoken about connections between theology and black women’s
activism. Contact 773-702-8059, mvharris@uchicago.edu.
IN
THE SOUTHWEST •
Pastor Julie
Pennington-Russell has served Calvary Baptist Church in Waco since 1998
and has spoken out about the role of female pastors, particularly in Baptist
denominations. When she was elected, she was thought to be the first female
senior pastor of a church affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of
Texas. Contact 254-753-6446.
• Rabbi Malka Drucker
of Santa Fe, N.M., is the author of White Fire: A Portrait of Women Spiritual
Leaders in America (SkyLight Paths Publishing, 2002). She is active with
the Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders. Contact
505-988-1860, malka@malkadrucker.com.
• Frederick W. Schmidt Jr. is an Episcopal priest and the director of spiritual
life and formation and associate professor of Christian spirituality at the
Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. His books
include A Still Small Voice: Women, Ordination, and the Church (Syracuse
University Press, 1996). Contact 214-768-2292, fschmidt@mail.smu.edu.
• The Rev. Becky Edmiston-Lange is co-minister of Emerson Unitarian Church
in Houston. She has spoken out for abortion rights and has been active with
the Interfaith Alliance. Contact 713-782- 8250, office@emersonhou.org.
IN
THE WEST/NORTHWEST •
Stacy
Friedman is senior rabbi at Congregation Rodef Sholom, a large Reform Jewish
congregation in San Rafael, Calif., and one of only a few women senior rabbis
in the United States. Contact 415-479-3441, stacy@rodefsholom.org.
• Paula D. Nesbitt is an Episcopal priest and a visiting professor of sociology
at the University of California, Berkeley, whose expertise includes gender differences
in clergy. She is the author of Feminization of the Clergy in America: Occupational
and Organizational Perspectives (Oxford University Press, 1997). Read "Women
Clergy Research and the Sociology of Religion," an article by Nesbitt
and Adair T. Lummis published in the winter 2002 edition of the quarterly journal
Sociology of Religion. Contact 510-652-0888, pnesbitt@uclink.berkeley.edu.
• Starhawk is an
author and leader in the modern Pagan religion and Goddess movement who is active
in global justice and peace movements. She has helped train protesters. She
also works on environmental and land use issues and is a founder and active
member of the Cazadero Hills Land Use Council in western Sonoma County. She
lives in San Francisco and in Sonoma County, Calif. Contact mer@starhawk.org.
• Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan is director of the Center for Women and Religion
and assistant professor of theology and womanist studies at Graduate Theological
Union in Berkeley, Calif. She is ordained in the Christian Methodist Episcopal
Church. Contact 510-649-2493, kirkdugg@gtu.edu.
• The Rev. Susan Russell of Pasadena, Calif., is president of Integrity
USA, a nonprofit organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered
Episcopalians. She also is executive director of Claiming
the Blessing. Contact 626-583-2740, revsusanrussell@earthlink.net.
• The Rev. Amanda May, an Episcopal priest, is executive director of Episcopal
Community Services in San Diego, where she is involved in many local political
issues. Her organization is a large government contractor, and its services
include AIDS work, homeless housing, Head Start and employment for targeted
populations, including ex-offenders. She is also involved in the San
Diego Living Wage Campaign. She chairs the national Episcopal Community
Services organization, a loose federation of social service providers. Contact
619-260-8100, amayexe@ecscalifornia.org.
• The Rev. Connie Jones is associate rector at St. Mary's Episcopal Church,
Anchorage, Alaska. She supports abortion and women's reproductive health rights
and serves on the local Planned Parenthood board. She has participated in anti-war
rallies as a member of Episcopal Peace Fellowship. Jones supports the rights
of gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgendered people; she has carried the church
banner in the local Gay Pride parade and preached in the church on inclusiveness.
She is active in a group working for a fair state taxation policy, such as a
progressive income tax, and has spoken at rallies in opposition to the death
penalty. She says that although it isn't true across the board, she sees most
women entering the clergy as probably more liberal than their male counterparts
simply because the women have met opposition from clergy and some congregations.
Contact 907-563-3341 ext. 13, connie@godsview.org.
• The Rev. Alison M. Dingley is pastor of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
in Wahiawa, Hawaii. She says she is becoming more active politically this election
season than she has for years; she supports the Howard Dean campaign and describes
herself as alarmed and outraged at the Bush administration. Dingley's interests
include economic and social justice, peace-making, and - having worked in the
substance abuse treatment field for about 20 years - treatment issues, including
access to treatment and criminal justice system reform. She says clergywomen
are a growing and increasingly diverse group. Dingley expresses particular concern
at the disconnect between the religious community and progressive ideas. She
belongs to the Interfaith Alliance and supports Sojourners. Contact 808-621-8662,
808-622-5594, or a.dingley@worldnet.att.net.
PUBLIC
LIFE