Ministry Council Launches Women's Ministry Project
Diocesan Press Service. October 6, 1975 [75337]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- While the debate continues on the theoretical aspects of ministry of ordained women, the Ministry Council is launching a very practical project to help women find employment and mobility within the Episcopal Church.
The Ministry Council, a coalition of national agencies related to ordained and lay ministries, has funded the project to increase the Church's understanding of ordained women's contributions in ministry. It hopes to assist women to find positions to permit utilization of the women's talents and demonstrate the value of their ministries. The Council recognizes the need -- for the Church as well as for the women -- to look beyond the present job opportunities that are largely limited to a small number of posts in Christian education, rural, and institutional work.
Ms. Joan Bowman, a skilled lay professional from Washington, D.C., staffs the program. Working on a part-time basis through the Clergy Deployment Office in the Episcopal Church Center, New York City, she has been invited to several dioceses to help them assess their needs for "woman-power" and to help define and fill appropriate positions. The Ministry Council hopes her efforts in placing women in good positions will raise awareness of the need for creative deployment techniques until the Church becomes able to utilize full women's talents through its regular channels.
The final goal of the project is a report to the Minnesota General Convention in 1976. Then, the Ministry Council believes, the Church will have data based on experience to support decisions concerning the creative and imaginative use of the talents of trained women who feel called to the fulltime ministry.
The Clergy Deployment Office is cooperating with the House of Bishops' Committee for Pastoral Development, both member units of the Ministry Council.
For further information contact the Rev. Roddey Reid, Clergy Deployment Office, 815 Second Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10017.