June 22,2006

Day two of the meeting! This morning I woke up early to upload this blog. I had to add the photos and figure out how to do it but I managed to get it done before the meeting at 8:30. This means I had no time for the treadmill or breakfast. Breakfast was eaten during the gathering music at the event.

Today was a Celebration of Sisterhood. We shared our dreams with our neighbors. It turns out that my neighbor had had two bypass surgeries so we both shared dreams of good health and cures for diseases.

Then there was a wonderful bible study of Genesis 2:46-3:26 by Marti J. Steussy who is the MacAllister-Petticrew Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Christian Theological Seminary. She is also a story teller. Her interpretation of this passage is so good you have never heard it spoken that way. I purchased the DVD of this bible study so that I can share this with you. To be brief she has a different story of Adam and Eve based on interpretation from the Hebrew. I will not call it feminist but it does make Eve the equal of Adam and not his slave.

Then there was a discussion of the history of women leaders in both churches. To sum it all up the women who because leaders in the early years of the church did not “Act well behaved” in other words take the status quo for granted. In the Disciples of Christ Church they founded a women’s missionary society and were able to send a missionary to Jamaica after only one year of saving about a penny a week. It took the men eight years to accomplish the same feat. It was said if all the UCC women and Disciples women would save 11 cents a week and donate it to Missions, they would have more money than they would know what to do with. I think we ought to think about saving 11 cents a week for missions (SOS or the Board of World Fellowship). Think about it, you would never miss it.

We prayed for the workers here in the hotels and in the convention center who are serving our needs so that we can be here in comfort. The conference will be giving these service workers in the Convention Center a tip and we were encouraged to do the same in our hotels.

We heard greeting from the Rev Sharon Watkins General Minister of the Disciples of Christ and John Thomas General Minister of UCC. John Thomas was kidded for being a man with all those women. He was going to drive a golf cart to help women who have trouble walking the halls of the convention center.

I have no photos of the morning because my battery was dead. I had forgotten to check it after I down loaded the photos last night. I went back to my hotel before lunch to get the spare battery.

At this meeting we have lunch and dinner together. They are able to feed 3000 people buffet style. The food was OK not great, but OK.

After lunch was choir rehearsal. I have sung in the choir in Synod and the choir directors were more organized than this person was. We spent the first 15 minutes getting music and they ran out of music. Then the choir director was singing the music by heart which did not correspond to the music on the page. She was leaving some things out. The two pieces we are doing are in Gospel style. Tomorrow I am going to a Discovery Group about Gospel music; I will see how I do. I have a feeling it is not for me, but I am open minded.

The next Discovery Group was to meet three African missionaries one from Kenya, Botswana and Angola. The woman from Angola was speaking in her second language as the language of Angola is Portuguese so I did not understand much of what she was saying. The other two women were fluent in English. All of the African countries are struggling with HIV Aides. They also wan to empower women so that they are working with their young girls.

The music at the evening worship service was sung by the Indianapolis women’s chorus. They were good. We had a stirring sermon by Rev Nancy Wood-Lyczak who is the Chaplin of the Indiana women’s prison. There have been tours of this prison at this meeting.

These meetings are long. I returned to my hotel at 9:00 and I could have gone to the hospitality suite to network, but I chose to write this blog and upload it tonight so that I can do my regular routine in the morning.

I wore my Eracism tee shirt today and everyone commented about it. They wanted to know where they can get one. I will put a notice in the conference newsletter about it.

June 23,2006

6/25/2006 3:24 PM

Day Three of the Conference. You will note that I am writing this on Saturday because I was just too tired to write last night. The meetings go non stop from 8:30 AM to 9:00 PM and I like a dummy was there all day! Today Saturday is my last day as the Amtrak train #50 The Cardinal leaves from Indianapolis at 1:38 AM tomorrow morning and I will be on it. There is only a half day on Sunday and I needed to leave when there was a direct connection and not have to go back through Chicago.

OK What happened yesterday? Well a lot happened.

Awaken to God’s Dreams! That was the theme yesterday. Remember the ribbon donation on the first night of the meeting? Well we found out that two women are actually weaving these ribbons into a cloth. One woman is spinning the ribbons into a thread and the other is weaving. I don’t know when they expect to show us the finished product either tonight or tomorrow. I have ordered the highlight DVD so I will have the photo of it later.

We then celebrated the work of Secretaries who work for the church. Some of the women were there at the meeting and their photos were shown on a video. The photos were also on a wall in the convention center. I will take a photo of that wall. This was so nice to celebrate the work of the people who represent the church when no one else is there.

The bible study this morning was conducted by a Native American woman from Oklahoma Rosemary McCombs Maxey. She is a national leader in the UCC and Acting Director of the Eagle Butte Learning Center, a ministry of the UCC’s Council for American Indian Ministries. The bible passage was Luke 8:42b-48 The Good Samaritan. I missed most of this because I ran back to get a camera battery. (Today I will remember to take the spare with me.)

Next there was a discussion of Blessing Boxes. It turns out that the Disciples and the UCC have blessing boxes. These are little boxes in which you place money to count your blessings. Remember the 11cent a day for mission that I talked about yesterday? Well this would be a good way to save that money. The money goes for mission. I think the Board of World Fellowship should adopt this idea as a way to get money for SOS!

The Disciples women held a business meeting and I worked on a prayer shawl while they were meeting. You will note I am wearing the pink conference tee shirt. Yesterday was pink and purple day. Everyone was supposed to wear pink or purple, the conference colors. I needed to wear the shirt for the choir since we were going to sing that night.

Renee Bondi who is a disabled singer and inspirational speaker gave her faith story and sang some of her songs. She became disabled due to a fall out of bed on her head. She is a quadriplegic who has regained some movement and is now able to sing again. She was selling her book and cd’s the proceeds of which pay for her care. She was good.

I had lunch with some Central Atlantic Conference women that I met here. It is hard to find UCC women here, they are mostly Disciples. Most of the women UCC staff are here though

The entire afternoon was taken up with Choir rehearsal. First we rehearsed and then we went to the stage to be placed in our seats and for a sound check. I had expected to go to a Discovery program on Gospel Singing but I was singing it instead. I also want to go to the Red Tent which is a room set aside for rest and relaxation but I did not have time for that either. We are singing two gospel pieces “Order My Steps” and “I Will Sing Praises” I like “Order My Steps” I have the music for Holly to look at and decide about. She probably knows about this music given her history and expertise.

The worship service was interesting. It was a mix of upbeat gospel singing and a fire and brimstone sermon given by Daisy L. Machado Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Lexington Theological Seminary. She is a native of Cuba. She changed us to get out of our rocking chairs and work for peace and justice. The worship service ended with a healing prayer service. We could write our prayers, request them via a microphone, request privately at prayer stations with healing oil or light a candle. What calm after an exciting beginning to worship. All 3000 women left the hall in silence after the benediction!

I walked out after this in the cool twilight evening. I was tired, but it had been a good day.

Saturday June 24, 2006

6/24/2006 11:45 PM

Day Four of the Conference

This was a very interesting day. The 8:30 Gathering music was sung by the Light of the World Christian Church Choir. I believe this is a local African American church and the choir was the youth choir. They sang lively renditions of gospel music and an arrangement of spirituals. It was great as I was yearning to hear spirituals sung! I was sorry that I was late. I had intended to get to the Plenary at 8:30 for a change and eat breakfast there but I stopped to take some pictures and some people stopped to chat and so it goes. I heard the last two songs. I also did not get my “usual” seat as I usually sat in the front of the bleachers on the left side of the auditorium. That was so I could get up and move around to take pictures or to move with the music as the spirit moved me.

Last night they took up a collection for women’s ministries in both denominations, they collected almost $28,000 for this purpose which shows the power of women when they get together! Also at each meal there is a collection box for the family program for the women in the India polis Prison. They run a summer camp for the children and scholarship money is needed for the children who have to be fed and housed by local families because they live in other parts of the state. They have been collecting $800 per meal on average for this purpose.

There was a dedication of the monies collected by congregations in both denominations for Bread and Letters and Hunger Action projects. This includes not only monetary donations but working in the Food Bank and donations of food and providing meals for the homeless in our congregations.

The followed a long session while sisters (missionaries) from the Middle East told their story. Our own Rev Lucy Brady from St Marks UCC in Baltimore read a letter that her church women had written to sisters in the Middle East.

Remember that scarf exchange? Well it sort of didn’t happen for me. I did not bring a scarf but I was going to donate an especially knitted prayer shawl. Well the women around me exchanged shawls and then someone noticed that no one had exchanged a scarf with me. Someone in front of me offered me her scarf which she had just received. I made my offer and showed her the prayer shawl and tried to explain what it was, but she refused. I hate to play the race card, but all around me were white people and she was white. Possibly I hope that was not the reason. One of the young women gave her a scarf because they had extra and asked me who I was going go eat lunch with as that was a part of the program. I said I would find someone and walked off. There are many times I wish I was not alone here. I went alone to the two UCC women’s events but there I met UCC women and I think there were some CACUCC women that were there, Ina for one that I could touch base with. Here I am alone among strangers mostly Disciples women, they have a gathering like this every four years, unlike the UCC women. In fact since the reorganization there may never be another UCC women’s event. If they are thinking about it, someone should be planning it now! I can’t volunteer as I am already overcommitted! I will make my opinions known to the powers that be though. They will be sent this blog.

Having said the above, I went to the conference office to get the demographics of the MIX, number of UCC women and where they come from. They said they have the numbers and will publish it in the next daily newsletter and on the web. It is my opinion that possibly a maximum of 25% of the meeting is UCC women aside from the staff who are here en mass.

Lunch was good, as far as the conversation was concerned. We had an equal mix of UCC and Disciples women. (Come to think of this they could have organized the meal table so that that could happen, but here I am micro managing the event.) The food was the usual terrible mix; I wonder who planned the meals? I have had better meals in college dorms because there was a variety which you could pick and chose. Here there was only a vegetarian option and the usually stuff. Back to the table conversation. Someone besides me finally asked what the history of Disciples was and what their polity is. They are a congregational group, which means any member of a congregation can go to their national meetings and vote! That does not happen with UCC at synod it is a representational body. The delegates are elected by their associations according to a formula, racial and gender diversity and age diversity. Congregations have input in the decisions by making their feeling known to their UCC representatives who in turn pass it on to the Synod delegates for what it’s worth. The delegates can vote as they please. Also in Disciples churches there is no creed, (we don’t use one, but I did use one in the church in which I was confirmed). Deacons and Elders can serve and give communion. I believe you have to be ordained in the UCC to conduct communion but I think (Chuck help me about this) Deacons can serve communion to the sick that has been blessed.

Disciple’s churches like UCC Churches are individual and the religion started when Presbyterians moved west and started their own church. Some Disciples churches are O & A and some are multiracial or all white or all Black just like UCC. This was a very interesting conversation, too bad it happened on the last day for me.

After lunch I went to a Discovery Group, I changed from choir to “Women Dancing in Our Power and Joy” conducted by Pamela Bro. Rev Bro had been associate pastor of the UCC church in Yale when the senior pastor dissolved the church without consulting the Association or John Thomas! Maybe Julie knows about this! Now she is starting new church in Virginia Beach that will be O & A, and multicultural multiracial. She is ordained both UCC and Disciples and both denominations don’t want her to start this church because she might draw people from existing congregations. She does not think so because of liberalism in her church only like minded people will be drawn to her church. She read a story to us and then led us in circle dances. It was fun. Some of the dances were Israeli and some were Native American and Buddhists. Then she told a cute Native American Story. I wish I had a tape of that story because it was so cute,

Since we were going to have a concert Saturday night we had the choice of twelve different worship services conducted by different groups. I chose the “Service of Celebration in the African

American Tradition” I chose this because it was conducted by Katrina Survivors from Gulf Coast although there were other services that would also have liked to attend. This service was so good. They videotaped it so I will purchase the DVD. They honored 6 women who kept the mission of the church going on the Gulf coast of Mississippi even though there was no help. They said after the storm they had nothing, no food, no home, no clothing, no false teeth, no medicine no nothing. This was a Disciples church and they were expecting help to come form Fema, or the Red Cross or someone but the only help that came was from the church. They expressed their gratitude for the church members (white) who came to help and for the tractor trailer full of clothing that they searched through for something to wear. This was one of the first times I was able to look into the faces of women who had experienced this tragedy and survived! We sang and gave praise to the music of a karaoke machine and there was a liturgical dancer something that I have wanted for Christ Church. The Rev Ann Pickett preached the sermon which was followed by the alter call to take Christ as your personal savior. No one came up to do this at this service, but this is traditional in African American churches even UCC churches. The service ended with communion. They had a unique communion cup that I had never seen before. It was a plastic cup in which there was a wafer on top separated by foil from the “wine”. I could not get mine open properly so someone helped me. First we took the wafer and then drank the cup. It was a very moving service.

Dinner followed and again I wound up at a table with interesting dinner companions. They were mostly UCC and we discussed how our church differs and was the same in the UCC. They had gone down to Biloxi MS to work before Katrina, as that mission spot was a work camp before Katrina. They had wanted to take train but it was too circuitous a root for them so they drove. The members of a UCC church in Naperville IL which is a white suburban community told how they are beginning to increase their African American members. They think it is because they became O & A and they also have many corporations like Lucent and IBM there. This is something for Christ Church to think about as we have the major corporations like Schering right in town. I came to Summit to work at CIBA so how many other young single African Americans can we attract into our church.

That evening was a concert entitled “The Sound of Collaboration” it was performed by three women folk singers and activists Bernice Johnson Reagon (of Sweet Honey and the Rock), Holly Near, and Carrie Newcomer. It was a wonderful concert of music that was written by them. Bernice Johnson
Reagon was great but I guess I have a bias. She is a professor of history at Spellman College; I need to contact her about my history project. She said something about women should think about doing something that would survive them for the future generations. I think my book falls into this category. This is why I am happy to write this blog, the only way you become a writer is to write and so this is a beginning.

Holly Near stirred up a controversy among the Disciples women. I overheard this in a conversation when we were leaving the concert. She stated that she was an atheist and they took it that she disrespected their God. She also sang a song that stated essentially leaders should not exert their powers in the name of their god that are to the detriment of life. I took this to mean the actions of the president and other leaders but others took it differently. Oh well! The concert ended with the encore piece “Balm in Gilead” lead by Bernice Johnson Reagon.

All of the artists were going to be available for book signings and record sales after the concert, but I had to leave to pack since I expected to take a train early Sunday morning.

Speaking of people named Bernice, I ran into Bernice Powel Jackson as I was leaving. She had given the first sermon and I assumed that she had given her sermon and left. She said she is now living in Florida and has been tapped by John Deckenback to attend the Annual meeting of the CACUCC next year. That should be a great meeting. We will have to make sure that our Antiracism Task Force is active at that meeting.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

When I left the concert, I expected to take the train to Trenton at 1:38 AM when it was scheduled to arrive. But knowing Amtrak I checked the train status on the web and found out it was late at would arrive at 2:20. The next time I checked I found out it was four hours late and scheduled to arrive at 4:45 so at 1:30 I decided to sleep in my room until 3:30 and then about 4:00 I went down to check out and have the clerk escort me to the train station which was right behind the hotel. I arrived at the station when the clerk was apologizing for the delay and the train was now scheduled to arrive at 5:15 AM! Had I known that I would have gone to bed at 11 and gotten up at 4:00 which I have sometimes done routinely. This way I had only 2 hours of sleep. Oh well I sat on a bench in the waiting room and went into neutral until the conductor came to collect tickets. The new crew went up to meet the train followed by the passengers. I was the only passenger with a sleeper. When I got on the train the bed was down, but not ready for me. There had been another passenger who had just gotten off the train. So I had to wait while the attendant made up the bed. I went to bed and slept till 8:30 got up and showered and got to breakfast before they stopped serving.

I spent the rest of this trip writing this blog and listening to the “Dream on, Sisters” musical mix cd. It is really a good CD I expect to use it when I do shawl ministry this fall. There is a book of meditations that go with this CD that we can use. I also have the sheet music that I will let Holly look at. There is one piece that would be good for the youth choir.

The train is running consistently four hours late so that I am glad I did not park my car at Princeton Jtc. I would have not way to get to it. If we arrive in Trenton at 2 Am I have to be picked up by my poor housemate. I am glad I bought her a present.

Monday, June 26, 2006

6/26/2006 7:32 AM

Guess what folks; I’m still on the train, somewhere outside of Washington DC. We sat last light for two hours from 2:00 AM to 4:00AM then about 5:00 AM they told us we are going to be bused to our destinations because of flash floods. It turns out the tunnels between here and Washington is flooded and so is the Baltimore tunnel. So we are sitting here waiting to be bused. I called my housemate and released her from picking me up. It turns out she had a business meeting to go to. I called my old friend Dan Dombroski who lives in Trenton to pick me up. He also works in Trenton so I am going to call his cell phone whenever I get near.

Meanwhile, I amused myself by watching the DVD that I have been carrying with me “Are We There Yet” It was a cute movie comedy about an African American man who falls in love with a divorced woman and volunteers to bring her two kids to Vancouver for a holiday. She had flown there to work. It is really very funny the things that happened to them.

About Amtrak. This is only the second time in all my trips that a delay like this has happened to me. I will write them and I expect that I will get some sort of compensation for the delay. A free trip would help as I have others planned. I just overheard a woman on this train say that flying would not be any better in this bad weather. She is a frequent Amtrak traveler like me. And so I am here writing this blog. I suppose I could do more, but now I think I will finish the book I brought with me. I always have something to do on a train. Worse come to worse, I can work on my prayer shawl!

I did manage to sleep last night on the train. That is the advantage of having a sleeper. About 10:00 PM I told the attendant to put the bed down. He put it down and put a sheet over the seats and I had the blanket. This is not the usual arrangement, because there is usually a mattress that is put over the seats, but neither of us knew how long I would be there. I slept until 2:00 fully clothed, I usually put on night clothes but again who know how long this would be. I woke up got a drink of juice and went back to bed until 4:00 when I decided I had had enough sleep so I got up and had a cup of coffee. In fact the coffee woke me up, the attendant Will had made a fresh pot of coffee. He is so nice. So here I am. Book time

At about 7:00 AM when we were outside Alexandra VA Will came by and said they were going to bus us home as there were flash floods so we should pack up our things. I did so and he put everything in the vestibule ready to depart. Then nothing happened. Then the Café attendant came by and said she was going to find something for us for breakfast. It could be last night’s pasta. We said OK. When we went in for breakfast, she had found some breakfast platters, omelet and sausage and yes the pasta. I lucked out and got the breakfast platter and Will found some orange juice after having said they were out of juice.

Then the decision was made that the train was going through to Washington DC, change engines as usual in DC from diesel to electric and then go on to the destination. The water had receded in the tunnel.

When we got to DC the other woman who was getting off at Trenton and I got off the train for some fresh air. It was then I heard the reason for our two hour stop. It seems the train had almost hit a fallen tree and the driver stopped the train abruptly. I usually feel that but I guess I was really asleep and what woke me up was the lack of movement of the train. While we were discussing this the train driver came by wearing a tee shirt that said “Crazy Guy who drives a train”. Wow he saved our lives!

Amtrak put 150 lunches on the train and then took off for our final destinations. I guess the coach people had not had breakfast because they would have to pay for it so Amtrak decided to feed them free.

The train arrived in Trenton at 12:30 PM 13 hours late! I had called my friend Dan who lives in Hamilton to pick me up and he took me to a retirement party for someone where he works before taking me home. He had signed up for it and someone had canceled so there was a place for me. And so I got home safe and sound and just a little late!

Epilog

When I went to church the following Sunday and showed the bags that had been made by the Bolivian women, two women wanted to buy them. I gave one to our Associate Minister Julie Yarborough and I told the other women I would try to see if there were any for sale. It turns out that both the Disciples and UCC split up the things they had for sale and would be selling them on line.

You can get them from the Disciples”

The are $25.00 each. Shipping is $5.00 for 1-2 bags and $10.00 for 3-5 bags. Check may be made payable to Mix-in “06 and sent to;

Claudia E. Grant, Coordinator

Mix in”06 Women’s Event

Disciples Center

130 E. Washington St.

Indianapolis IN 46204

I suggest that I start a list of women who want the bags and we send in one order. It will be cheaper.