Exploratory Conversations about Women, Spirituality and Leadership

Calling all women of faith and spirit! You know there is something important about this moment in human history. You know it from your rich experiences in the world — from a place of deep wisdom within.  Your unique pattern of knowing is part of a larger pattern of feminine wisdom which may have the potential to powerfully animate the spiritual leadership of women in service of humanity. We are excited about the possibilities that lie before us  and are deeply curious to learn more about the pattern of women’s spiritual leadership in at this moment in time.

We, the organizers of Women of Faith and Spirit, attended the Parliament of the World’s Religions in December 2009 and in our explorations to date have observed:

• While there are currently many initiatives focusing on women’s leadership, most do not emphasize the spiritual needs and issues unique to women and that may indeed represent some of the most significant barriers to activating their authentic leadership.
• While there are many diverse initiatives and networks for spiritual women, there exists in this moment a powerful opportunity to build a larger field of collaboration, passion and action by building bridges of understanding to connect these diverse networks in a web of spiritual presence.

You are invited to join us for a series of four ‘Exploratory Conversations’ hosted as conference calls from April through July 2010. Focusing on a series of questions, this inquiry will allow us to explore together the pattern of women’s spiritual leadership.

May 20 ~ Thursday                5 – 6 p.m. Pacific/ 8 -9 p.m. Eastern
Topic: What is the special contribution of women to spiritual leadership?

June 17 ~ Thursday                 5 – 6 p.m. Pacific/ 8 – 9 p.m. Eastern
Topic: How might we animate women to claim their voices/roles as spiritual leaders?

July 15 ~ Thursday                  5 – 6 p.m. Pacific/ 8 – 9 p.m. Eastern
Topic: What is waiting to be birthed in the community of women and spirit?

Simply RSVP to any one of us by email and indicate your interest in any or all upcoming conversations. We will send you the conference call information once we hear from you.

We would be happy to answer any questions you might have and look forward to an exciting year of listening to the wisdom of the women of faith and spirit.

In gratitude,

Kathe Schaaf  – Women’s Spirit Council at:   katheschaaf@cox.net

Kay Lindahl – The Listening Center at:  thelisteningcenter@yahoo.com

Guo Cheen -Compassionate Action Network:  thecompassionnetwork@gmail.com

Click here for more information

Social Networks have become a major phenomenon this decade, picking up hundreds of millions of users around the world.  During the development of the 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia, our planning Council has made use of a variety of social networks to spread the word about the importance of interreligious work.  Here’s how you can connect up:

• If you only join one online network, it should be PeaceNext.  Specially built for the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions, PeaceNext is the premiere online site for the interreligious movement.  We’ve added over 500 members in the last week!  To join up for free, click here.
• There are also two Facebook entities associated with the Parliament.  Our Facebook Group was created specifically for the Melbourne Parliament and already includes more than 3500 members sharing photos, videos, conversation and more.  We also maintain a Facebook Fan Page for the Council with over 1000 members and access to our deep archives of photos and videos from prior events.  We have also recently created a Myspace Group.
• Last but not least, we invite you to Follow PWR2009 on Twitter for timely, spontaneous, and bite-sized updates on all things interreligious.

As you may have noticed, the main page of the Parliament of Religions has been recently energized by a series of images and questions. That’s why we’re so happy to see that our partners at Patheos.com are taking on compelling questions on their own website.

The Public Square is the center of vigorous interfaith conversation at Patheos.com.  With a different subject assigned each week, members are able to wade deep into issues of serious social, political, cultural and theological import.

This week’s discussion revolves around the role of religion in democracy and vice versa. The page offers an overview of the subject (“Does Democracy Need Religion?”), a forum to discuss and blog about the question and survey snapshots and visuals to graphically distill a religious perspective into a tangible format. Finally, a drop down menu on the Public Square page offers viewers the opportunity to access arguments written from within specific faith traditions.

At the Council, we’re betting you have both informed and articulate opinions on the current question of politics and religion. Why not click over to Patheos.com and join the conversation?