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As we prepare to leave for Rome in just one more week, the team at FutureChurch is prayerfully preparing how we will carry Mary Magdalene with us on our pilgrimage. See below for the first of many entries into our Synod blog:
They didn’t have synods, back then.
But even if they did, she wouldn’t have been there anyway.
I bet she would have wanted to–
To speak truth to power,
To proclaim the resurrection,
To be the church,
Like she was all those years ago.
But she wouldn’t have been there.
A woman’s place wasn’t in the meeting rooms,
or in the places where decisions were made.
It was in the kitchen. Or at the water well.
Or in the yard, hanging the laundry.
Some things have changed since then.
There are women in the room now– 54 of them, actually.
They are speaking truth to power
Proclaiming daily resurrections
Taking up the space that they have never before been given.
But much, sadly, remains the same.
Most of the women will not be in the room.
We will be outside– praying for more space at the table.
Shouting for more voices at the pulpit.
Singing for more women in the room.
I don’t know if they do a roll call on the Synod floor.
But out on the streets of Rome, we’ll be doing our own.
Because this year, at this synod, the excluded woman will not be forgotten.
“Mary Magdalene?”
¡Presente! ¡Presente! ¡Presente!
For more reflections on our journey towards Rome, and updates on our experiences outside the Synod, check out our "Mary Magdalene Goes to the Synod" blog.
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| Mary Magdalene is Going to the Synod! Whom will you send with her? |
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This October, FutureChurch will be traveling to the Synod to continue our advocacy to expand the Lectionary to include Mary Magdalene and some 30 other biblical women on Sundays. While in Rome we will:
- Deliver our open letter asking that all of John 20:1-18 be proclaimed on Easter Sunday to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
- Host a Mary Magdalene celebration in honor of all women hidden by the lectionary
- Bring the art of Mary Magdalene of scripture to Synod delegates and the people of Rome through prayer cards, postcards, banners
- Engage in direct service with vulnerable women and members of the LGBTQ+ community
- Collaborate with friends and partners in the church reform movement
And we need your help! Please support this important work with a donation today!
Donations in honor of Kathrene Blish Houlihan and Sister Theresa Kane, RSM will double your donation until October 5, 2024 (up to $10,000 for a total of $20,000) to fund our vital work to expand the lectionary. We invite you to donate in honor of the ancestors you want to send to Rome in spirit! We will lift them up in prayer during our Mary Magdalene celebration and throughout our travels around Rome (unless directed to keep your honoree anonymous). Thank you for your support!
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September 22, 2024
Today Liam Myers invites us to explore the decolonial mission of Jesus, with the help of Frantz Fanon; engage the importance of children in our politics and religion; and embody decolonial love with the help of poems from the children of Gaza.
"I wonder what went through Jesus’ mind after hearing the disciples argue about their greatness. Here He is, emptying Himself unto death for His followers, meanwhile they are arguing about their own importance, their ego? Rather than striving towards personal success and greatness, Jesus’s call to his followers, then and now, is toward justice and liberation in this world."
Liam Myers is a freelance writer, an adjunct professor of religious studies, and member of the Catholic Worker Maryhouse in NYC. Liam finds beauty in the everyday; in a slow walk through riverside park, in a good bowl of potato leek soup, and in playing his saxophone with friends.
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Catholic Women Preach
Carolyn A. Wright preaches for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, encouraging us to participate in the continuing unfolding of God's plan:
"Let us deeply grasp that we are on a journey with God and others and because of our relationship with God, let us each contribute to the fullness of the realization of God’s Kingdom through our one precious life in real and substantive ways."
Carolyn A. Wright serves on the faculty of Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri and teaches in the area of spirituality and ministerial formation. She directs the Theological Field Education program and the Masters of Arts in Pastoral Studies - Catechesis of the Good Shepherd degree program. She holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in Christian Spirituality from Washington Theological Union, a Master of Divinity degree and a Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Direction from Aquinas Institute of Theology.
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| Pentecost Project |
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Benincasa Community: The Evolving Fruit of Strong Roots
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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 the Benincasa Community.
Excerpt:
"When Karen Gargamelli-McCreight discerned that vowed religious life wasn’t her calling, she set out to find another way to form a sacred community through which she could live out her ideals as an integrated Catholic person of faith. In the heart of New York City, Karen and her friends knocked on door after door in search of an unused rectory or convent that could become a home."
READ MORE...
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| Upcoming FutureChurch Events |
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| October 17th at 7:00pm ET |
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| Catholic Women Preach Year C Virtual Book Launch |
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This October, we celebrate the publication of the third and final volume in this ground-breaking and award-winning series from Orbis Books.
- Carmen M. Nanko-Fernández, D.Min., Professor of Hispanic Theology and Ministry and the director of the Hispanic Theology and Ministry Program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, will offer the invocation.
- Kristin Heyer, Ph.D., Professor of Theological Ethics at Boston College and past President of the Theological Society of America, will offer remarks on the significance of Catholic Women Preach and the importance of women's voices.
- Natalia Imperatori-Lee, Ph.D., Professor of Religious Studies at Manhattan College in the Bronx, NY, will reprise her preaching for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and offer reflections on preaching for Catholic Women Preach.
- Andrea Hattler Bramson, President of the Loyola Foundation, will offer a toast to all the women of Catholic Women Preach.
Come celebrate this historic moment with us! This virtual event is free and all are welcome, but registration is required.
Purchase your copy at Orbis Books Online.
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| Thursday, November 7th & Tuesday, November 12th at 7:00pm ET (via Zoom). |
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| Courage in the Spirit: Translating Synodal Talk into Action |
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Night One: Thursday, November 7 at 7pm ET
Bishop John Stowe, O.F.M. Conv.
Keynote Presenter
FutureChurch is honored to welcome Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv., the Bishop of Lexington and the Bishop President of Pax Christi USA as our keynote presenter. Bishop Stowe has been a courageous and consistent ally to those marginalized and excluded by both Church and society, including women and the LGBTQ+ community.
Night Two: Tuesday, November 12 at 7:00pm ET
Deborah Rose
Louis J. Trivison Award
FutureChurch will present the 2024 Louis J. Trivison Award to Deborah Rose in gratitude for her decade of joyful and prophetic leadership at FutureChurch and in celebration of her innumerable contributions to the cause of Church reform and renewal.
Kayla August
CHRISTINE SCHENK AWARD
FutureChurch will present the 2024 Christine Schenk award to Kayla August in celebration and recognition of her powerful living witness to the importance of women’s preaching and for her efforts to uplift the voice of the laity and marginalized in every area of Church life, leadership, and ministry.
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| January 8, 2025 | 6:00pm ET |
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“The Mystics Would Like a Word” with Shannon Evans
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Is there a Christian spirituality that embraces the entire reality of womanhood? In her new book, The Mystics Would Like a Word, Shannon K. Evans suggests the answer is an emphatic 'yes.'
There is a spirituality that meets us in every part of our lives, developed by the women who came before us. Six mystics—Teresa of Ávila, Margery Kempe, Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, and Thérèse of Lisieux—revealed a faith big enough to hold the female experiences of sex and desire, the yearning for bodily autonomy, the challenges of motherhood and identity, as well as life with male authority and—sometimes—violence. These women, self-determining, stubborn, and unapologetically themselves, asked questions in their time that are startlingly prescient today, and fought for women’s experiences to be heard, understood, respected, and recognized as holy.
This event will be followed by a month-long weekly book club where participants can register to participate in discussion and reflection in community with one another. More information coming soon!
Shannon K. Evans is the spirituality and culture editor at the National Catholic Reporter and the author of the books Feminist Prayers for My Daughter: Powerful Petitions for Every Stage of Her Life and Rewilding Motherhood: Your Path to an Empowered Feminine Spirituality.
With interest in ecofeminism, social change and contemplative practice, Shannon leads workshops and retreats across the country that spark curiosity and compassion. She has partnered with the Jesuits of Canada and the U.S. and is a frequent contributor to Franciscan Media.
Having previously lived in Indonesia for two years, Shannon loves to travel, but is happiest at home on the Iowa prairie with her family and beloved chickens.
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| Other Opportunities and Resources |
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| September 25, 2024 | 1:00pm ET (via Zoom) |
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| “The Impact of Women’s Ordination on the Episcopal Church Fifty Years Ago and Now” |
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WATER celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the momentous ordinations in the Episcopal Church by asking what it meant and what it means. Join WATER in welcoming Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, recently elected Vice President of the House of Bishops; the Rev. Dr. Carter Heyward, one of the 1974 ordinands; Darlene O’Dell, author of the book The Story of the Philadelphia Eleven (50th anniversary edition); and Margo Guernsey, director of the documentary film The Philadelphia Eleven for a thoughtful conversation.
It is highly recommend that participants read the book and/or watch the film before the event though it is by no means obligatory. The book is available through Church Publishing. Information on viewing the film for $5 will be provided to those who register.
Register here.
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| September 26, 2024 | 7:00pm ET (via Zoom) |
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| Restoring Orders: A Conversation with Phyllis Zagano |
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The role of women in the church, and the question of ordaining women to the diaconate more specifically, has emerged as a leading concern of the ongoing Synod on Synodality. Join Today's American Catholic as we discuss this issue with Dr. Phyllis Zagano, widely considered the world’s foremost expert on the restoration of women to the ordained diaconate in the Catholic Churches. Using Dr. Zagano’s latest book, Just Church: Catholic Social Teaching, Synodality, and Women (Paulist Press, 2023), as a jumping-off point, we’ll look at the historical and theological arguments surrounding the women’s diaconate, examine where the church fails to uphold its own Social Teachings with regard to gender equality, and investigate the nature of holy orders and the relationship between ordination, baptism, and the universal priesthood. We’ll also chart the evolution of the “synodal church” from its origins in Vatican II through the present day, and some of the ways Pope Francis has both advanced his “ecclesial dream” of a more participatory church and hedged against more aggressive reforms.
Register here.
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| A New Publication from New Ways Ministry |
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| CORNERSTONES Sacred Stories of LGBTQ+ Employees in Catholic Institutions |
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Cornerstones: Sacred Stories of LGBTQ+ Employees in Catholic Institutions is a new anthology of 12 stories of faith, sacrifice, joy, and pain by LGBTQ+ people who have been employed by Catholic parishes and schools.
The collection was edited by Ish Ruiz and Mark Guevarra, two gay Catholic men who themselves have been church employees, and is published by New Ways Ministry, a Catholic outreach that educates and advocates for equity, inclusion, and justice for LGBTQ+ persons.
The anthology’s stories are grouped in three categories: LGBTQ+ people fired from Catholic schools, LGBTQ+ people fired from Catholic parishes, and LGBTQ+ people who continue their employment in Catholic institutions with support from their employers.
Order Here.
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| Interested in Joining The Fireplace Community? |
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The Fireplace is seeking new members for its residential community! Applications will be reviewed and accepted on a rolling basis.
Founded in 2021, this May The Fireplace Community became an independent organization. As we build out our operations, we are especially looking for residents with experience or interest in co-ops, intentional community, faith leadership, or nonprofit boards.
Learn more about The Fireplace Community here.
Apply 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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