RCA Women’s Stories Day at NBTS

RCA Women’s Stories Day at NBTS – Part 1 – Livestream video

RCA Women’s Stories Day at NBTS – Part 2 – Livestream video

9:30am registration and welcome, coffee/tea and light refreshments
10:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Women have been part of the life of the Church as long as there has been a church, and the stories of what women have been doing in the church is an integral part of our history. On Thursday, May 11, at New Brunswick Theological Seminary, the Reformed Church Center at New Brunswick Theological Seminary will host its first Women’s Stories Day, in partnership with RCA Women’s Transformation and Leadership.

Jennifer Reece will give the Hazel Gnade lecture: “Women’s Work for Creation: Reformed Church Women’s Missions and the Beginnings of the Environmental Movement.” Monica Schaap Pierce, RCA  Ecumenical Associate, reflects on what the Accra Confession means for women, justice and creation care. Clara Woodson will share her story of breaking barriers in the church. Liz Testa, RCA leader for Women’s Transformation and Leadership will lead an interactive session that encourages us all to honor our stories.  Lynn Min, ministry associate at Middle Collegiate Church will be our preacher of the day.

The day begins at 10:00 and ends about 2:30–there will be coffee, tea and fellowship for folks as they arrive, beginning at 9:30.

Staff members from the RCA Archives will be available all through the day (beginning at 9:00 am) to record stories of women’s lives in the church, to be included in the Archives’ growing oral history resource. Anyone who is interested in recording such an interview should mention that in the RSVP to jbrumm@nbts.edu.

Registration is free, but there is a suggested donation of $15.00 for lunch (free for seminarians).

RSVP to jbrumm@nbts.edu by Monday, May 8.

Jennifer Reece, the first-ever Hazel Gnade fellow, is a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, with degrees from Union College, New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and Princeton Theological Seminary, where she was awarded the Ph.D. in American Church History in 2002. She has pastored RCA and Episcopal congregations in New Jersey, New York, and Maine, and taught at Bangor Theological Seminary and the University of Maine at Machias. She currently serves asPriest-in-Charge of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rangeley Maine, where she lives with her dog, Beatrix.
Monica Schaap Pierce is the Ecumenical Associate of the Reformed Church in America and a Ph.D. Candidate in Systematic Theology at Fordham University. She is an adjunct professor, teaching in the areas of Women and Religion and the Reformation. When she is not teaching, writing, or serving the church, Monica loves to garden, hike, and explore the wild beauty of the East Coast with her husband and her two young daughters.
Lynn Min is the minister of care and community life at Middle Collegiate Church in New York and a mental health counselor in private practice. Most of her free time is spent enjoying her most significant creations: Isabella, Isaiah, and Ilyana, all of whom are age five and under.
Clara Woodson is a retired RCA minister in Brooklyn, New York, and a former Synod Area Minister on the staff of New York Synod. Prior to her ordination as a Minister of the Word & Sacrament, Clara served the church as elder, deacon, and Sunday School teacher, and, during her career, she has been active in assemblies at every level of the RCA.
Liz Testa is the RCA leader for Women’s Transformation and Leadership. Prior to her work for the RCA, Liz served as minister for hospitality at Marble Collegiate Church in New York, and, prior to that was a professional actress.