02/27/09

Unitarian Universalist women and other progressive women of faith are being summoned to Houston, February 27-March 2, 2009, to share and learn ways we can work together to improve women’s lives around the world. This will be the first major gathering of UU women since WomanQuest in 1990, and the first ever gathering that specifically includes international UU women.

INTERNATIONAL CONVOCATION OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST WOMEN
By Rev. Dr. Dorothy May Emerson, Co-Convener, UU Women & Religion

Unitarian Universalist women and other progressive women of faith are being summoned to Houston, February 27-March 2, 2009, to share and learn ways we can work together to improve women’s lives around the world. This will be the first major gathering of UU women since WomanQuest in 1990, and the first ever gathering that specifically includes international UU women.

SouthWest UU Women are providing the major leadership for this unique event, which is supported by an initial grant from the Fund for International Unitarian Universalism. UU Women & Religion are co-sponsors, and many other UU organizations are represented on the Advisory Committee, including UUWF.

A convocation is a gathering in response to a summons. The word comes from the Latin convocare "to call together," from com- "together" + vocare "to call," from vox "voice." We are being summoned to respond to a hurting world, to gather as women of faith to share and learn ways we can improve women’s lives. We are coming together in recognition of the need for action.

The call we hear today is not unlike the one issued nearly a century and a half ago, by our Unitarian foremother Julia Ward Howe:

Arise all women who have hearts…
Say firmly: “We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies…
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let us meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let us then solemnly take counsel with each other as the means whereby the great human family can live in peace.

The goals of the Convocation are:
• To take stock of challenges that lie before all women around the globe
• To showcase programs that serve as models for achieving equal rights, opportunities and security
• To explore and learn from women’s accomplishments in the past and how their work has improved women’s lives
• To discover common interests, emergent ideas and priorities for the future
• To worship together and connect spiritually with our individual and collective power, caring and humility
• To adopt an action plan that will engage UU congregations and women’s groups to form global partnerships and move forward together toward women’s equality, social justice and world peace.

We are planning for 1000 women to attend the convocation in Houston, but even if you are unable to come in person there are ways to participate in the Convocation process. We are developing a Global Literacy Project for congregations and women’s groups. The six sessions, which will feature profiles of UU women from around the world, will introduce participants to major issues in women’s lives and how they are being and can be addressed, as well as outlining ways groups can become involved with the Convocation process. One of the key ways groups can support the convocation is by raising money for travel funds and scholarships, particularly for international women.

You can learn more about the convocation and begin participating in the Convocation process by visiting the website at www.icuuw.com. Check back often as new information will be posted as it becomes available. Major events of the Convocation will be broadcast live and available as podcasts.

We hope those who participate in the Convocation process will benefit from new friendships and connections among women from different countries. We hope you will all join in creating and supporting new and strengthened global partnerships and a renewed commitment to action.

For more information and to make a donation, please contact Laura Nagel, Convocation Coordinator, at convener@icuuw.com.

Written for the UU Women’s Federation, April 2007

FYI: Rev. Emerson will be visiting Houston October 6th-8th and we hope preaching in one of the Houston UU churches. Stay tuned for more information.