Presentation to Southland Gathering, November 2010, Mary McIntyre, National Convenor,
This morning I would like to share with some of my thoughts on where we have come from as Presbyterian women, where we are now and where we might be going. I am speaking as Presbyterian women in both the church and the community.
Earlier in the month I sent out a letter to you all sharing some outline information about Presbyterian women in recent years and I would like to elaborate further on these thoughts this morning. I will also leave time to answer questions that you may have and then this afternoon, speak to any queries or comments
The first thing I would like to say is that I will generally be using the name Presbyterian Women(APW) . I see our role as connecting with all Presbyterian women, not just APW members, but other women who may well be interested in different aspects of our work and involvements. I firmly believe that the future of Presbyterian Women NZ lies in being inclusive of all Presbyterian women and not limiting our links and connections to only members of an Association. For many of our members, membership of an Association is an important aspect of belonging to APW, but for most younger women this link is seen as unnecessary and limiting. This is not a criticism, just a different way of seeing things.
- From the variety and flexibility of service brought by these women to the ministry new possibilities for ministry emerged.
Feminism in the decades of the end of the 19C and beginning of the 20C was not one coherent movement but a series of reform movements that centred on women and varied from campaigns for women’s higher education to campaigns for women’s suffrage and labour reforms. I am talking here about a feminist reform being ‘the attempt to change the position of women or ideas about women’. I am not speaking about strident feminism as we saw it in the 60s & 70s. New Zealand missionary women were both examples and agents of specific elements of this wider feminist reform movement.
In 1995, in the forward to Nancy Burgess’s history of the Deaconess order, Sarah Mitchell says;
There was no place for women in the official leadership, teaching or decision-making in the early days of the Presbyterian Church as it began in colonial New Zealand. In the one hundred and fifty years of its life in this country, there have been enormous changes. In the 1990's there is now no part of the church from which women may be excluded. Women today have a legitimate place at all levels of ministry and administration.
Sarah goes on to say;
In the history of the PCANZ, the place to find women holding power has been in the APW. Having enormous influence amongst women, both within this country and overseas, and exercising a great deal of power within their own organization, little opportunity has been given to these women to make a contribution in shaping major decisions of the church. In terms of power, the APW, while encouraged to function autonomously, has been sidelined in relation to the wider church.
And so now here we are in 2010, once again working to adapt to our community and church so that we can be as affective as the original group of women in PWMU at the turn of the 20 Century, but in our own way to meet the needs of the world today. If we look at the values and objectives of the PWMU, I would suggest that they are still as relevant today as then. The language is different but the purpose and meaning is not.
Firstly,
- To support and encourage our missionaries at home and abroad in prayer, personal interest and finance.
- These days we view the role of missionaries in a different light to what was viewed then but the spirit of the objectives is unchanged.
- To stimulate vision for the missionary cause in our congregations
- These days groups share information about families and individuals they support overseas and we aim to extend the awareness and understanding of our work at the United Nations.
- To support the committees set up by our church for mission and social work
- These days issues of social justice, human rights are the business of both our churches and our communities and our affiliation to organisations such as the National Council of Women support this work.
- To work in every way possible to extend the Kingdom of God in this and other lands
- Although the ways of building bridges and relationships with other lands is viewed differently now, this is still a vital objective of our organisation and the church.
So if our purpose is still very much as it was in earlier days, what is it that we need to address to be relevant and effective now. I would like to suggest that it is how we “do” Presbyterian Women.
Let me make some comments and I would be happy to further discuss these with any of you over lunch.
- For many of our members, afternoon meetings or get togethers work well, but for others afternoon meetings mean that they are unable to participate in the time together. I would like to suggest that in some areas there is opportunity to develop a second group of women who meet maybe in the evening and who organise their time together to suit them. There maybe one or two afternoon group members who might like to attend the evening group as well as or instead of the afternoon time. We need to flexible and encouraging enough for women to develop ways of contributing to Presbyterian Women. Maybe the existing group can approach one or two younger women and ask them if they would like to be part of a group that works for them and then see what happens.
- I am hoping to speak to that group over these next months and learn what interests them about Presbyterian Women.
- What women are looking to be involved in now is very different to what it was in earlier years. When women rarely worked outside the home, organisations like APW and other denominational women’s groups, Rural Women, Country Women’s Institute and Townswomen’s Guild, provided the opportunity for women to take responsibility, learn leadership skills and experience leadership roles. These days girls have these opportunities in school and women in the workforce have the opportunity to learn and take leaderships roles in their workplace as well as attend professional training courses that cover all manner of aspects of leadership and team work. What more and more women are looking for now is a way to contribute to making a difference without necessarily needing to be office bearers and minute secretaries. Women have a strong sense of social justice and a very real interest in social issues, they often need an avenue of access to become involved in these. Presbyterian Women can provide that. It has met the needs of women in the past and I am sure that it can work to meet the needs of women today.
- I see a further development of Individual Membership as a very possible way of involving more women. Traditionally, when a Parish goes into recess or when a Parish does not have a Presbyterian Women group, women can become individual members and continue their involvement. To me, Individual Membership is another way for interested women to participate in the work of Presbyterian Women NZ. An affiliation fee would be paid directly to the National Treasurer and the member would receive copies of Gleanings. This membership does not involve attending meetings unless a choice is made to do so and women can follow areas of interest our the work.
- I would like to share with all Presbyterian Women that our organisation is part of a much wider group of women worldwide through Ecumenical Women. Our local and regional groups are of paramount importance but our effects and influence spreads much more widely than that. Pamela Tankersley has taken over the role of United Nations Convenor for Presbyterian Women and also become the Overseas Mission Coordinator for Global Mission. These roles work closely together and I know that Pamela will work very hard at promoting and supporting the work of Presbyterian Women NZ both here and overseas. Our Mission Project work over the years has made a huge contribution to both national and international causes and one that in many areas of the Church is completely underestimated and misunderstood. Our United Nations work is part of our global mission and Presbyterian Women NZ has become known and respected for our work at the Commission on the Status of Women. We will be working on making Mission Project work and our UN work more widely known throughout our own church here in New Zealand.
- I would like to say thank you to everyone who contributed to the Turakina Maori Girls’ College Appeal last year. This was run in conjunction with the National Church and reached the grand total of $60,000, a wonderful effort. This money provided boarding scholarships to assist girls to attend school at Turakina. This College has long been a mission focus of the Presbyterian Church in NZ. It offer quality education in a Maori context and nurtures the girls within a Christian environment. Turakina Maori Girls’ College is an integral part of our church’s bi cultural commitment – we can be proud of the young women who graduate and we need to work to give the opportunity to many more. Research and experience has shown that educating and empowering girls contributes to a reduction in poverty and improved family wellbeing, better family nutrition and more stability in homes and communities. Investing in girls yields dividends for the whole human family. I encourage you all to continue to support the College, the need for such support is as important today as it every has been. The roll this year stands at 102 with a number of girls unable to return to school for financial reasons, our support can make a difference.
In the words of Mother Teresa. “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one”.
At this stage I would be happy to answer any questions or queries that you may have and I would be delighted if you would like to comment on anything that I have said. This afternoon I will be speaking about the United Nation connection so will focus on that aspect of our work then.
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