Tag: abortion

Remembering the Pre-Roe Faith Movement that Saved Women’s Lives

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An Evening to Honor the Clergy Consultation Service

It’s a busy time for Faith in Women! You may remember that last fall, Faith in Women hosted more than 70 activists, faith leaders, and students for a dynamic evening with Dr. Willie Parker at Milsaps College. Building on the theme of courageous callings, next month we are partnering with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice on an evening event to honor the Clergy Consultation Service (CCS), a national underground network of clergy who risked everything to help women access safe, compassionate abortion care in the years prior to the legalization of abortion.

Event: Called to Resist

Our September event held in Jackson, MS  will feature a number of special guests, including:

  • Historian Dr. Gillian Frank
  • CCS Member Rev. Bill Kirby
  • Christian Author and Activist Dr. Willie Parker

During these turbulent times, as the future of reproductive rights becomes increasingly uncertain, there is much that we can learn from those who came before us. By exploring the legacy of the Clergy Consultation Service and its stunning example of faithful resistance, we find wisdom, hope, and inspiration as we discern our own roles in ensuring that every woman and girl lives in a world in which she is safe and free to make decisions about her body, her life, and her future.

This event will be by invitation-only. If you would like to request admission, please contact a member of our staff.  Pre-registration is required for all attendees.

About the Clergy Consultation Service

Beginning in New York City in 1967, more than 1,400 clergy came together to form the Clergy Consultation Consultation with the mission to ensure that women in their communities could access safe abortion procedures from reputable providers across the country. Some faith leaders even personally accompanied women across long distances to locations where they could obtain safe terminations. In addition to their clandestine work with women in need, members of the Clergy Consultation Service were public advocates for the legalization of abortion. To learn more about the CCS, visit RCRC’s interactive timeline featuring historic footage and interviews with several CCS members.

Hear from Rev. Finley Schaef, a founding member of the CCS, about how the movement began.

 

Highlighting Our Faith + Reproductive Justice Partners

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Everyday we’re inspired by the tireless efforts of so many advocates to improve the lives of women, girls, and families in Mississippi and beyond.  To honor that work, this month we are highlighting three of our colleague organizations working at the intersections of faith and reproductive health, rights, and justice: Exhale, the Religious Institute, and SisterReach. Read on to learn about their prophetic leadership in these areas, and how you can get involved with their ongoing work.

Exhale 

With its uniquely “pro-voice” approach, Exhale honors the breadth of abortion experiences and uses storytelling to shift the public conversation away from divisive labels and towards compassionate listening. Exhale’s Executive Director Rev. Susan Chorley, an ordained Baptist minister, preaches about her abortion experience to congregations around the country as part of Exhale’s Pro-Voice Tour.

In an interview with SELF magazine about the tour,  Rev. Chorley said, “[Abortion] feels like an area that I’ve recognized the church is lacking in terms of supporting women’s experience—not that churches have to be supportive of abortion, but more that this is a reality for some women that are sitting in the pews.” By addressing the stigma surrounding abortion from the pulpit, Rev. Chorley brings visibility to a common, but invisibilized experience that many religious women have been too ashamed to name in their faith communities.

To learn more about Exhale and how you can support their work, visit exhaleprovoice.org.

Religious Institute 

The Religious Institute advocates for sexual, gender, and reproductive justice both within faith communities and beyond them. With a network of more than 8,500 people, they equip religious leaders and people of faith to bring their prophetic voice to the public square on issues concerning gender, sexuality, and our reproductive lives.

Abortion + Faith

In partnership with the Texas Freedom Network, Just Texas, and the Afiya Center, the Religious Institute has convened a series of trainings for clergy and lay leaders in Texas called Abortion + Faith. The training develops participants’ theological, pastoral, and congregational competency in the areas of reproductive access, reproductive justice, and abortion.  Guided by theological reflection, informal presentations, and hands-on activities, the Abortion + Faith curriculum aids faith communities as they discern their call to advocate for reproductive justice in a hostile political and religious environment.

Webinars to Engage, Equip, and Inspire

Last summer the Religious Institute presented a webinar series entitled “Religious Resistance and Reproductive Justice”  that focused on four thematic areas: Pastoral Care, Liturgy, Religious Education, and Preparation for Preaching. In partnership with subject matter experts, these webinars helped maintain faith leader advocacy engagement after what had been an exhausting six months of attacks on reproductive health, rights, and justice at the federal level. Recently the Institute presented a webinar entitled “When Seminaries Aren’t Safe: Sexual Assault and Harassment in Graduate Theological Education”  that was facilitated by Rev. TiShaunda McPherson, a civil rights attorney, seminary graduate, and elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. You can view the webinars on the Religious Institute Youtube page.

To learn more about the Religious Institute’s work and to stay up to date about their latest campaigns, visit religiousinstitute.org.

SisterReach 

Founded in Memphis in 20011, SisterReach was the first Reproductive Justice organization established in the state of Tennessee. Through advocacy and education, SisterReach strives to support the reproductive health and rights of all women and young people through community conversations and engagement with faith communities.

Faith & Advocacy Toolkit

As part of their interfaith advocacy work, SisterReach has developed  free resources for faith leaders and their communities to engage them in the movement for reproductive justice. The EDUCATE! Toolkit is designed with seminarians, clergy, and other people of faith in mind while the ADVOCATE! Toolkit is for community partners that might be interested in partnering with religious organizations and their leadership. You can download these free toolkits by signing up on their resources page.

To learn more about SisterReach’s mission in Tennessee and beyond, visit sisterreach.org.

Is there another organization doing this work that we should know about?

Send us an email, and we’ll highlight them them in a future post.

Compassionate Care Training in Jackson

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Photos: Chauna Lawson, RCRC

In partnership with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), Faith in Women co-hosted and co-facilitated a two-day training called “Space for Grace: Compassionate Care for Reproductive Decision and Loss” in Jackson, MS.

The training curriculum was developed by RCRC as both an expansion and adaptation of previous training programs that historically centered on “pastoral care” and generally was offered only to clergy and faith leaders. The framework of compassionate care opens up the space for professionals across various sectors, including health care, advocacy, social work, and religion, to come together for a time of learning, skill-building, and networking.

Facilitators Rev. Dr. Cari Jackson and Rev. Katey Zeh

More than a dozen participants representing organizations from across the South attended the training to gain new skills and understanding around how to be both a compassionate presence and prophetic witness for reproductive health, rights, and justice in their communities.  Among the cohort were nurses, activists, practitioners, non-profit leaders, scholars, and clergy, all of whom contributed valuable expertise and insight from their respective disciplines.

Rev. Susan Chorley, a Baptist minister and the Executive Director of Exhale, traveled from Boston to participate in the training. “The depth of the conversation among participants was impressive and the facilitation allowed us to create connection and community in a very short amount of time,” she remarked. “I left the training feeling hopeful and invigorated by the work ahead of us.”

Like Rev. Chorley we at Faith at Women are energized by the openness and commitment to justice we witnessed at the training. Though our challenges are many, we are heartened by the number of people working to improve the lives of Mississippi’s most vulnerable women and girls.

How To Get Involved

If you’re interested in attending a future training with Faith in Women and RCRC, we would love to hear from you. Send us an email, and we’ll be in touch.

 

Faith in Women Presents

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An Evening with Dr. Willie Parker

 

Later this month Faith in Women will host Christian reproductive justice advocate Dr. Willie Parker for an evening conversation entitled “Called to Courage: Because of My Faith, Not in Spite of It” in Jackson, Mississippi.

Dr. Parker, an obstetrician/gynecologist who provides abortion care in some of the most underserved areas in the South including Mississippi, published his first book Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice, part-autobiographical and part-theological, in which he carefully and thoughtfully weaves together his moral grounding as a medical provider and a Christian helping women in need of his care during their reproductive journeys. You can read an excerpt of his book here.

“I learned a black-and-white faith, but I am not a black-and-white person.” 
–Dr. Willie Parker, Life’s Work

 

Event Details

Our time with Dr. Parker will build on conversations that Faith in Women hosted over the summer during our first ever virtual book club in which faith leaders and people of faith across the state of Mississippi read Life’s Work together and explored their own moral questions related to reproductive justice in community with one another. One of the book club participants commented:

“It was really helpful to hear other people’s perspectives, especially since I am very new to learning about Christian perspectives in favor of reproductive health and abortion care. It’s such a controversial topic that I don’t always feel comfortable bringing it up with other Christians but knowing that this group consisted of people who opted in to reading and discussing the topic made it a safe place to voice questions.”

Interviewing Dr. Parker is Katey Zeh, a strategist, writer, and educator who works with nonprofits and faith communities on organizing for social change. She holds a Masters of Divinity from Yale University and is the author of the forthcoming book Women Rise Up, which will be published by the FAR Press in March of 2018. 

Zeh and Parker are friends and colleagues in their work on the board of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. Expect their conversation to be rooted in faith, justice, and a shared understanding of the sacred worth of women.

Registration Information

This event will be by invitation-only. If you would like to request admission, please contact a member of our staff.  Pre-registration is required for all attendees.

 

 

June Partner Highlight: RCRC

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Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

This summer we will be featuring a number of our partner organizations working in the reproductive health, rights, and justice movement. The first organization in our partnership series is the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC).

Brief History of RCRC

RCRC has its roots in the Clergy Consultation Service, which was a network of mostly Protestant ministers and Jewish rabbis that helped connect women with affordable, compassionate abortion services in the years prior to the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade when the procedure was illegal. In 1973 members of these clergy networks formed a coalition, then called the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (RCAR), to ensure that access to abortion remained available to all women who needed it.

Mission

Today the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (renamed in 1994) is “a broad-based, national, interfaith movement that brings the moral force of religion to protect and advance reproductive health, choice, rights and justice through education, prophetic witness, pastoral presence and advocacy.” RCRC’s programmatic work includes engaging scholars in creating new theological frameworks, organizing and mobilizing in southern states, and training faith leaders to provide pastoral care to those struggling with complex reproductive decisions.

Connection with Faith in Women

In 2015, Faith in Women members participated in the RCRC’s Pastoral Care Training for Reproductive Decision-Making and Loss, a valuable opportunity for helping faith leaders and spiritual caregivers understand the complexities of reproduction and everything that encompasses. RCRC staff spent a full day with half a dozen Mississippi clergywomen and clergymen from small towns and larger cities across the state, on how to serve as a compassionate presence for the women and families in their communities as they discern their reproductive destinies and grieve reproductive losses of all kinds.

The experience was a rare safe space to explore difficult topics like infertility, stillbirth, unplanned or traumatic pregnancy, abortion, and adoption from a religious framework that offers compassion, love, and judgment-free support for women. By the end of the training, the pastors reported feeling stronger and more comfortable in their roles as caregivers for women making reproductive decisions. Faith in Women continues to be an ally of RCRC as we work together to increase the participation of people of faith in the movement for reproductive health, rights, and justice.

Photo Credit: Helen Parshall
Opportunities to Connect

Next month RCRC will be launching a web-based series called “Sacred Crossroads” hosted by Rev. Dr. Cari Jackson and Rev. Aaron Payson. These 30-minute videos will feature thoughtful and accessible conversations with clergy, practitioners, and scholars on a range of reproductive health, rights, and justice issues. The series will kick off with discussions around grief and reproductive loss. To be notified when the series launches, please follow RCRC on Facebook and Twitter (@rcrchoice). You can also sign up for their newsletter at rcrc.org.

May Resource Review: Books We’re Reading

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This month we are excited to pilot our first ever Faith in Women virtual book club! Some of our fantastic Mississippi-based faith leaders and activists are currently reading Life’s Work by Dr. Willie Parker. Together we’ll be engaging in some dynamic group discussions via video conference this week. To celebrate our latest endeavor, this month we’re highlighting five of our favorite faith + justice books for activists, clergy, and parents. (Don’t have time to pick one of these up? Not to worry! Check out our other posts on podcasts and documentaries we recommend.)

 

Sex + Faith: Talking with Your Child from Birth to Adolescence by Dr. Kate Ott

Does talking about sex with your children make you squeamish? It doesn’t have to! Written for parents and caregivers this book discusses how to talk about sexuality with kids at every stage of development. Readers will gain tools for incorporating faith values in their ongoing dialogue about sexuality in a way that is inclusive and supportive of sexual differences.

 

Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta J. Ross and Rickie Solinger

Have you heard the phrase “reproductive justice” but you’re not exactly sure what it means? This book serves as a primer for anyone wanting to gain a better understanding of the intersectional approach of reproductive justice. Written for scholars, activists, and everyone in between, Reproductive Justice covers the history of the term,  examples from the field, and strategies for taking action today.

 

Good Christian Sex by Bromleigh McCleneghan

If you’re looking for an exploration of sexuality from a Christian perspective that doesn’t hinge on extremes, consider picking up a copy of McCleneghan’s Good Christian Sex: Why Chastity Isn’t the Only Option–And Other Things the Bible Says About Sex. Pulling from the insight of theologians and practitioners, this book is a refreshing change of pace from other takes on the bible and sex. Her nuanced, thoughtful perspective will engage both your head and your heart.

 

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

The United States currently incarcerates over 2 million of our citizens in public and private prisons. Why do we imprison so many people–and why are so many of those incarcerated people of color? Alexander traces the legacy of segregation laws that shapes today’s legislation and feeds into our system of mass incarceration. Both a much-needed history lesson and a call for justice, this book dispels the cultural myth of “colorblindness” once and for all. 

 

Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice by Willie Parker [Faith in Women Book Club Pick!]
When Dr. Willie Parker trained as an obstetrician and gynecologist, he never intended to become an abortion provider, but over time he realized that his Christian faith called him to help women in need of this particular form of medical care. Part memoir and part theological reflection,  Parker weaves together his faith, study of scripture, scientific training, and experience as an African American living in the South to make a moral argument for supporting women’s access to abortion.

Is there a book you’d like for us to feature in a future Faith in Women book club discussion? Would you like our help in starting a book club of your own featuring one of these books? Please send us an email. We’d love to hear from you!