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A few months ago I joined three fabulous women in an intergenerational panel discussion to discuss the topic of why Mary Magdalene’s Easter Proclamation matters. We each shared what it is about this woman that inspires us in our lives and ministry, and how necessary it is to keep telling her authentic story.
I don’t remember when I first learned about Mary Magdalene, but I do remember always liking her. So many women’s voices are missing from our Sacred Scriptures, but Mary’s isn’t. Through Mary of Magdala’s story we have an example of a strong, courageous woman who was close to Jesus. We have an example of a woman spreading the Gospel. We have an example of a woman whose voice was not silenced, but heard.
And yet despite the importance of her story, throughout history Mary has been threatened to be silenced time and time again. By the ways she has been portrayed in media, to only having a feast day for less than ten years, to the exclusion of her Easter Proclamation in the Sunday Lectionary, Mary of Magdala has certainly not always been celebrated.
But the Spirit will not be quenched, and neither will the legacies of our strong women of faith.
So each year on July 22nd, we celebrate the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. This year, FutureChurch invites you to our Mary Magdalene Celebration: “I Have Seen the Risen Christ: Women Witnessing to the Divine in Our Midst.” In this beautiful prayer service and testament to the importance of Mary Magdalene, we will hear from three women in ministry as they share stories of their experience of the Risen Christ in their midst. Together we will lift up the voices of women today who continue to encounter Christ in their work and ministry, and in doing so celebrate the legacy of one of our great foremothers in faith.
Please, join us.
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| Join FutureChurch for the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene |
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July 22, 2024 | 7:00 PM EST
Join FutureChurch on July 22nd at 7pm ET as we honor and remember the Apostle to the Apostles, and pray in gratitude for the ways in which we have all encountered the Risen Christ. We will be joined by three remarkable young women who will share their own witness to the Risen Christ with us.
Vickey McBride is Chair of the FutureChurch Board. She most recently served as Vice President for Mission at Saint Martin de Porres High School (Cristo Rey) in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2023, she received the Michael Pressley Award for Excellence in Catholic Education.
Yunuen Trujillo is a Catholic lay minister, a faith-based Community Organizer, and an Immigration Attorney. As a lay minister, she has served in Young Adult Ministry for more than 15 years and she is one of the leading figures for inclusive Catholic LGBTQ Ministry in the United States. Yunuen is a member of the FutureChurch Board.
Ariell Simon (she/her) is a healthcare chaplain living and ministering in central Missouri. Ariell has served as a healthcare chaplain in hospitals and nursing facilities in three states. Ariell also coordinates FutureChurch's Sunday evening online Liturgy of the Word.
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Just Word
Today Ryan Felder invites us to explore the parables of the sower and the mustard seed through an ecoliberationist lens; engage the history of English religious reformers who reclaimed common land for the people, according to the laws of Christianity; and embody the freedom and liberation of all beings with a reflection on “The Destruction of Palestine is the Destruction of the Earth” by Andreas Malm.
"The reign of God, in which the captives are set free, the oppressed liberated, the lost saved, and the unwhole made complete, is simply following the wisdom of God made evident in Creation, and aligning ourselves as the sower who allow’s God wisdom to take root in our lives and liberate us all."
Ryan Felder (they/them) is a graduate from Union Theological Seminary (MDiv), Yale Divinity School (STM), and will be pursuing a PhD at Union Theological Seminary in Theology. They have worked as a worker-cooperative organizer, community worker, and are currently pursuing ordination in the Episcopal Church.
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Catholic Women Preach
Preaching for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Kathleen O'Brien offers a reflection on basking in God's abundance:
"Whether you are in the beginning stage, budding stage, or at the end, Jesus reminds us that God is always present along the journey and abundance is always before us– let us be surprised by abundance! It’s natural for us to want to be in control and cling tightly to the imagined end result. But Jesus challenges us to give up control and to be present to God in this unfolding."
Kathleen O'Brien currently lives in Berkeley, CA where she works for the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers in the Mission Formation Department. After serving three years as a Maryknoll Lay Missionary teaching English in China at Jilin Agricultural College and Jilin Catholic Seminary, she attended Catholic Theological Union in Chicago where she obtained a master's degree in systematic theology.
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| Pentecost Project |
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"Pax Priory Imagines its Next 50 Years in the City"
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With the fire of Pentecost and emboldened by the Holy Spirit, we at FutureChurch are engaging in a new project to recognize and celebrate communities that are embodying the mission of Pentecost. Over the next several months, we will be highlighting communities that have been emboldened to live the Gospel in new and creative ways. Today we introduce you to Pax Priory.
Excerpt: During that first era of Pax Center, the community responded to needs that they encountered–beginning a soup kitchen in 1974 that continues as Emmaus Ministries and includes the soup kitchen, food pantry, and other services that provide a more sustainable response to the needs of the city than a doorbell ministry ever could. Pax members created movements for peace and justice that helped shape the thinking of the larger community. As the services and witness provided by Pax became more mainstream and as the community demographic shifted, so has the Pax community itself changed.
READ MORE...
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Working Together: Feminist and Queer Theology in Conversation with Mary E. Hunt, Ph.D.
Last Tuesday, Mary Hunt, Ph.D. kicked off FutureChurch’s Pride Month series with a presentation on “Working Together: Feminist and Queer Theology in Conversation.”
Dr. Hunt’s presentation names the current lived reality for women and LGBTQ+ people in the Catholic Church, explores the histories and intersection of both feminist and queer theologies, and offers practical suggestions and principles for working together toward justice in the world and church. Dr. Hunt then engages in conversation with several participants.
Click the link below to view the presentation and for a reading list for further exploration.
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| Continuing FutureChurch's Pride Month Series |
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June 18, 2024 | 7:00 PM EST
Throughout church history, Catholics and other Christians have turned to the saints as sources of hope, inspiration, friendship, and community. How have queer Catholics turned to a similar spirituality of saints and ancestors to sustain them in their faith and justice? How have stories of queer saints been a source of inspiration, but also a site of contestation? During this talk, we will have a chance to learn about how queer Catholics have retrieved stories of queer saints and queer ancestors, and will also together begin some practices of feminist reimagination of the saints and their presence in our lives.
Flora x. Tang is a doctoral candidate in theology and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame, where she writes and researches about post-traumatic theology, queer theology, and decolonial Asian theology. Flora has previously worked as a hospital chaplain, a campus ministry fellow, and a service-learning program coordinator for college students. Her theology and preaching draw from her complex faith journey to and within Catholicism: from becoming Catholic at age 19 after living and serving with Catholic sisters, to deconstructing her faith while living in Palestine, to discovering her own queer Catholic expressions of faith. Flora is committed to reimagining God’s love while standing on the margins of the Catholic faith.
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| More Upcoming FutureChurch Events |
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July 2, 2024 | 7:00 PM EST
FutureChurch welcomes Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns who will host a listening session on Women in the Church to help her prepare for the October 2024 Assembly of the Synod on Synodality. Dr. Bailey Manns will offer opening remarks regarding the conversations and discernment thus far and then welcome your questions and input, which she will bring with her to Rome.
Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns is one of four lay people from the United States who were appointed by Pope Francis as the first lay women and men voting delegates to participate at the first general assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality this past October and again in October 2024. Dr. Bailey Manns is the Director of Adult Learning at Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Community in Minneapolis. She holds a Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Direction from the Graduate Theological Foundation in Florida and currently serves as Adjunct Faculty at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
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July 9, 2024 | 7:00 PM EST
FutureChurch welcomes Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns who will host a listening session on Lay Leadership to help her prepare for the October 2024 Assembly of the Synod on Synodality. Dr. Bailey Manns will offer opening remarks regarding the conversations and discernment thus far and then welcome your questions and input, which she will bring with her to Rome.
Dr. Cynthia Bailey Manns is one of four lay people from the United States who were appointed by Pope Francis as the first lay women and men voting delegates to participate at the first general assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality this past October and again in October 2024. Dr. Bailey Manns is the Director of Adult Learning at Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Community in Minneapolis. She holds a Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Direction from the Graduate Theological Foundation in Florida and currently serves as Adjunct Faculty at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
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July 17, 2024 | 7:00 PM EST
Join FutureChurch for a conversation on feminism and the Catholic Church as we welcome Professors Julie Hanlon Rubio and Natalia Imperatori-Lee, who have both recently written critically acclaimed books on the topic.
In Can You Be a Catholic and a Feminist? Julie Hanlon Rubio explores the enduring but newly urgent question, arguing that a Catholic feminist identity is only tenable if we frankly acknowledge tensions between Catholicism and feminism, bring forward shared concerns, and embrace the future with ambiguity and creativity.
In Women and the Church: From Devil's Gateway to Discipleship Natalia Imperatori Lee examines the history of Christian feminism as a response to patriarchy, the ways in which women have been portrayed in scripture and women's hermeneutical strategies, and the contributions of women to the subfields of systematic theology.
Julie Hanlon Rubio is the Shea-Heusaman Professor of Christian Social Ethics and Associate Dean at Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California. She previously taught in the department of theological studies at St. Louis University for nearly two decades. Her research focuses on family, feminism, sex, and politics.
Natalia Imperatori-Lee is professor of religious studies at Manhattan College in Riverdale, Bronx, New York. She teaches in the areas of Catholic ecclesiology, gender studies, and Latinx theologies. Imperatori-Lee holds degrees from Fordham University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Notre Dame.
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| Development Director, Pax Christi USA |
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Pax Christi USA is the national Catholic peace and justice movement that works for a more peaceful, just and sustainable world through prayer, study and action. The position is full-time and can be done from the home office in Washington, D.C. or remotely. The Development Director strategizes and oversees all aspects of Pax Christi USA fundraising and development in collaboration with the Executive Director.
Learn More/Apply Here.
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| Program Director, Mercy Center Burlingame |
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This role is responsible for the creation, development, and oversight of all program functions, and ensuring quality programming in the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy charism and Mercy Ministry Corporation values. The Program Director will further the mission of Mercy Center Burlingame through program design, implementation, and evaluation while collaborating with current staff to promote retreats and programs.
Learn More/Apply Here.
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| Beyond Rights: The Theological Case for Women |
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July 22, 2024; 12PM-3PM ET | In-Person or Zoom; Simboli Hall, Boston College- Brighton Campus
Join the Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry for the 15th Annual St. Mary Magdalene Celebration!
Has speaking of rights and social justice in relation to women become ineffective in our polarized environment? Theologian Cecilia González-Andrieu situates us in la realidad (the reality of our present moment), to explore how the power of theological insights arising out of the Christian tradition and read in a Latina liberationist key may help reinvigorate the conversation. The longed-for goal is to promote and enact women’s full participation in the church and in the world as required by the Reign of God.
Register Here.
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| Teresa of Ávila and Peacemaking in a Nuclear Age: A Contemplative Conversation |
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July 15-18, 2024 |Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN, 46556
Keynote Speakers Include: Mary Frohlich, RSCJ; Mary Ann Hinsdale, IHM; Maria Teresa Morgan; Margie Pfeil; and Lori Stanley. For more information about the event, contact Dan Horan at dhoran@saintmarys.edu.
Young Adult Scholarships Available!
Register Here.
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| We seek changes that will provide all Roman Catholics the opportunity to participate fully in Church life and leadership. |
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FutureChurch is a national 501(c)(3) organization and your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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