Report of the Committee on the Status of Women
Meeting in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, May 4-7, 2005

All members were present, as well as Margaret Rose and Kim Robey from the Office of Women’s Ministries

Major work for this triennium is drawing to a close with the deadline for the Blue Book    We will fulfill A-025 on the Trafficking of Women, Girls and Boys by the sending of materials to every congregation raising awareness of the seriousness and proximity of the problem, providing access to further information about it, and giving parishes ways of getting help to people involved with trafficking and the sex slave trade.

We are convinced that the two resolutions we submitted to the 74th General Convention, passed without funding, are worthy of re-submission with a request for adequate funding.  Baptismal parity and open dialogue on difficult issues are even more relevant than they were three years ago as we continue to see women’s rights, especially in the area of reproductive health, continue to erode and religious and political attitudes harden.  The Windsor Report calls for dialogue on the subject of human sexuality, specifically homosexuality, and the Church needs to find ways to both ensure that it happens and to provide a safe place and format for this discussion.

We are pleased to note that the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music is calling for a calendar revision and we will be offering names of women and men to be added. 

The Office of Women’s Ministries, in consultation with the CSW has a firm commitment from both Kanuga and Jean Houston to do a conference on women, leadership and mentoring Oct. 1-6, 2006,  and we applaud the work of the Office of Women’s Ministries with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.  Focus groups on inclusive and expansive language and women’s leadership in the church among young adults have been occurring and will continue between now and General Convention.

We will be submitting a resolution calling for the development of a standard curriculum on domestic and intimate partner violence and requesting that all clergy be required to go through such training. Increasingly HIV-AIDS has become a woman’s issue and we will be publishing a resource paper about the subject, available at the General Convention.

We continue to work on ways we can celebrate the ordination of women to the diaconate and priesthood and the seating of women deputies at General Convention at the 75th General Convention.  We believe that this 36-36-30 year anniversary is an important one to celebrate through image and presence, and we are developing a logo for this celebration.  We have a time-line of significant dates in women’s history in the Episcopal Church, available for individuals to enter their own names or those of others.  We trust that the liturgies at the General Convention will reflect the tremendous gifts that women have given to the church since 1970.

    Submitted by the Rev. Barbara Schlachter, convener