Women encouraged to name brokenness
150 women gather at Laurelville to discuss path to healing, spiritual friends.
by Anna GroffPrint Article Email to a Friend
At the April 11-13 Women in Conversation conference “Daring to Let Our Spirits Soar,” Carolyn Holderread Heggen recalled the time she sat through a church business meeting in which the head of elders said women could not speak from behind the pulpit. The only exception was to lead singing.
In a workshop, Elizabeth Soto Albrecht shares a carving of a woman and baby, which could symbolize Mary and Jesus. Soto Albrecht said she views it as symbolizing God holding her. Photo by Anna Groff.
After the meeting, she and other women gathered in the parking lot. They were angry at the rule and ashamed they had not protested, especially since their children were in the meeting.
Holderread Heggen, keynote speaker for the conference held at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, Mt. Pleasant, Pa., shared this grievance and encouraged the women to “acknowledge our wounds and grieve our losses” as part of the journey from brokenness to healing.
She listed several other injustices she mourns, including the absence of early Anabaptist writings from women, the limited vocational choices women face and the lack of articles and letters written by women in Mennonite publications.
Holderread Heggen, who is currently working on the Transforming the Wounds of War project in Oregon, provided these additional suggestions for the 150 women gathered:
First, listen to your own inner longings and desires. The church and our culture make women feel more virtuous when we defer to others.
“We are more attuned to the needs of others than the longings and groaning of our own hearts,” she added.
Second, learn to forgive yourself and others.
“[Forgiveness] is a strategy that’s very powerful in moving beyond bitterness,” Holderread Heggen said. “It’s a gift we give ourselves.”
Third, reject theology that devalues females and is contrary to the teachings and example of Jesus.
“The church hasn’t always been as affirming of our feminine bodies and souls as Jesus has been,” she said.
In a workshop, “From Suffering to Soaring,” Elizabeth Soto Albrecht from Lancaster, Pa., spoke of two types of crying: a pitying cry that does not liberate and an open cry that makes us stronger.
“The pity cry hinders true healing,” she said.
When crying that way it is important to question why you are crying and try to name it directly; otherwise the tears could justify the suffering, she added.
The conference was cosponsored by Mennonite Women USA and Laurelville Mennonite Church Center. A second gathering took place April 18-20 in Wichita, Kan.—Anna Groff
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