|
| |
| Resources are sought to help churches
develop ministries to prostitutes, the sexually exploited
Committee needs materials by September 6
by Alexa Smith, Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE - 31-July-2001 - A General Assembly committee is searching
for resources local churches can use to develop ministries to
prostitutes and other sexually exploited people.
Katheryne L. Goodman of the Advocacy Committee for
Women's Concerns (ACWC) said the committee wants churches to share
liturgies, worship services, Bible studies, interpretive writings and
bibliographies that other churches may use in developing similar
ministries.
The deadline for submitting the materials is Sept. 6.
A report on the efforts of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) to address issues of sexual exploitation and prostitution,
ordered by the 1999 General Assembly, is due next June.
"We're looking for current models of ministry,
for proposals of how individual churches can respond faithfully,"
said Goodman, who said her research has found that most women in
prostitution are survivors of incest. Other studies have shown that at
least 80 percent of prostitutes are survivors of sexual abuse, and that
nearly all are clinically diagnosed with post-traumatic stress, an
anxiety disorder common among combat veterans.
"We are changing the terminology," Goodman
said, referring to the committee's preliminary report. "We're using
the term 'prostituted women,' rather than 'prostitute.' These women are
more than a prostitute. They're daughters. They may be mothers. To say a
woman is a prostitute is looking at a single dimension of her. ... (Our
language) reveals her to be a victim, not a victimizer."
Materials can be mailed to Goodman at the following
address: Advocacy Committee for Women's Concerns, Presbyterian Church
(USA), 100 Witherspoon Street, #4609, Louisville, KY 40202-1396.
|
| |
| |
|
If you like what
you find here,
we hope you'll help us keep Voices for Justice going ... and
growing!
Please consider making a special
contribution -- large or small -- to help us continue and improve
this service.
Click here to send a
gift online, using your credit card, through PayPal.
Or send your check, made
out to "Presbyterian Voices for Justice" and marked "web site," to
our PVJ Treasurer:
Darcy Hawk
4007 Gibsonia Road
Gibsonia, PA 15044-8312 |
| |
|
Some blogs worth visiting |
|
PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
| |
|
Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
| |
|
John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
| |
|
John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
| |
|
Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
| |
|
