NNPCW
Leadership Event agenda
By Paula R.
Kincaid
The Layman
Online
Wednesday,
August 4, 1999
"Fearfully
and Wonderfully Made: Health, Healing and Wholeness with Women of Faith"
is the theme of the 1999 National Network of Presbyterian College
Women's seventh annual leadership event.
Organizers of the August 4-9 event have created controversy by closing
all but two and one-half hours of the conference to press and observers,
in violation of the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s open meeting policy,
approved by the 1997 General Assembly.
According to the event brochure, main themes include:
- "Created in the Image of God - Identity Formation and Body
Image. Introducing a spirit of gratitude for being created in the
image of God and pronounced 'good,'
- "A Fallen People - Violence and Abuse Against Body. A
confession of our individual and corporate sin of violence against
and the abuse of our bodies.
- "Honoring the Body of Christ - Holistic Health and
Wholeness. Turning to God for strength, healing, guidance, and
redemption as we seek to honor the body as 'the Temple of the Holy
Spirit.'"
The three programmatic goals are:
- "To introduce basic issues related to health, healing and
wholeness
- "To worship God as our Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, and
partner on the path of health, healing, and wholeness, and
- "To turn faith into action through a site visit to the
Church of Mary Magdalene, a congregation of homeless women in
Seattle."
Quoting Psalm 139:14, the mission and purpose statement says, "Because
we, as young women, are fearfully and wonderfully made, our Christian
faith calls us to:
- "Educate ourselves to better care for our physical,
emotional, and spiritual health, thereby better serving God,
- "Protect ourselves from physical violence and social and
cultural pressures that are harmful to us; and
- "Honor our bodies as the 'temple of the Holy Spirit.'"
The event is open to college women, from rising freshmen to
graduating seniors, and space is limited to 40 students. |