Women Who Stay
The Women Who Stay: Women of the Bible and Tradition
The Women Who Stay series is open to women and men of any tradition and any level of engagement with the Church, with the intention of forming community, gaining knowledge, and deriving spiritual inspiration for our call of discipleship today. Participants can join at any time and for any length of time. There is no cost to attend. At this time, all programming is via Zoom.
The Women Who Stay is a feminist scripture series born out of women’s experiences of exclusion and marginalization in the Catholic Church, with a hope that the series can inspire a vision and empowerment for the future of our Church. The Women Who Stay taps feminist biblical scholarship, art, imagination, and the experiences of participants to prompt spiritual reflection on the often overlooked and misunderstood women of scripture and the Christian tradition.
Co-facilitated by Holy Trinity parishioners Anne Koester of Georgetown University and Liz McCloskey of the 5 Theses initiative, each weekly presentation begins and ends with prayer, usually includes a reading of scripture or another text, a short visual and spoken presentation on the topic (often summarizing insights gleaned from feminist scholarship), and proposes questions to prompt further reflection and discussion.
Winter 2022 Women Who Stayed: Women Who Seek Wisdom
For our winter series, we will welcome three speakers and for the fourth week we will gather in a hybrid manner (hopefully!). The first 3 weeks will continue as Zooms at 5:30pm. The final week will be an opportunity for participants over the past two years to gather at 7pm in McKenna Hall in person or via Zoom to reflect and pray together. Register
February 28: Mary Schaffer (Watch)
March 7: Dr. Jaime Waters (Watch)
March 14: Sr. Mary Forman (Watch)
March 21: Gathering the Graces & Wandering in Wisdom
Fall 2021: Women Who Weave in the Spirit past speakers
- September 13: Jody Roy
- September 20: Barbara Aston
- September 27: Germaine Little Bear
- October 4: Mona Susan Power
Summer 2021: Women Who Give Voice past speakers
- June 7: Dr. Michele Connolly
- June 14: Dr. Cristina Lledo Gomez
- June 21: Andrea Dean
- June 28: Maeve Heaney
Winter 2021: The Women Who Advance Justice past speakers
- February 8: Women Who Stay with Sr. Carol Keehan
- February 22: Women Who Stay with Ellie Hidalgo
- March 1 : Women Who Stay with Meghan Clark
Fall 2020: The Women Who Endure
All are welcome to join the four-week fall series "The Women Who Stay: The Women Who Endure" as we celebrate the enduring contributions of some of the most preeminent women in the field of theology. Our guests are among the finest Catholic scholars in scripture, liturgy, spirituality and theology whose contributions illuminate a way forward for our Church. We have invited them to reflect on their experiences as an early generation of women scholars, what they have endured, what they have learned and how they have flourished.
- October 19: Women Who Stay with Carolyn Osiek, R.S.C.J.
- October 26: Women Who stay with Diana Hayes.
- November 2: Women Who Stay with Sandra M. Schneiders
- November 9: Women Who stay with Catherine Vincie
Past Sessions:
The Women Who Stay sessions to date have explored women in the Hebrew scriptures, in the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, and in Paul’s letters. While presentations are not included for all events, we have provided links to articles discussed during the sessions.
The Women Who Tell Our Stories- July 2020
Dr. Shawn Copeland Discusses Henriette DeLille and What It Means to Be Holy
Dr. Copeland speaks about what it means to be holy while discussing Henriette DeLille, the 19th century founder of the order of African-American Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans based on her book: The Subversive Power of Love: The Vision of Henriette Delille: The Madeleva Lecture in Spirituality (Paulist Press, 2009).
Watch the July 27 Presentation
Breathe & Fire (Commonweal)
Black Theology and a Legacy of Oppression (America)
Sr. Cristine Schenk Discusses Women's Authority in the Church
Sister of St. Joseph Christine Schenk spoke about women's authority in the Church, presenting from her award-winning book about the evidence from catacomb and tomb art for women's leadership in the first centuries of Christianity: Crispina and Her Sisters: Women and Authority in Early Christianity (Fortress, 2017).
Watch the July 20 Presentation
Archacology & Female Authority in the Early Church
Robin Smith Discusses "Come Walk in My Shoes"
Robin Smith, a Holy Trinity parishioner, spoke with Liz McCloskey on July 13 about her transformative experiences in the making of the civil rights documentary, Come Walk in My Shoes. Robin shared how the faith and freedom music of Dorothy Cotton and of other women leaders fueled-- and continues to fuel -- the civil rights movement. Robin has made the film available to participants for a limited time
View the conversation between Robin & Liz
The Great 50 Days of Easter: Women’s Wisdom
- Mary of Magdala
- Mary of Clopas
- Mary of Nazareth
- Women of Greece
- Egeria, A Pilgrim woman
- Sophia, the spirit of God
The Women Who Stand Up—Winter 2020
- The Bent Woman
- The Woman who Anointed Jesus
- Peter’s Mother-in-Law and the Servant Girl
- The Samaritan Woman at the Well
The Women Who Proclaim Meaning—Fall 2019
- Deborah
- Esther
- Priscilla
- Phoebe
The Women Who Act with Resolve—Summer 2019
- Judith
- Ruth And Naomi
- Anna
- Lydia
The Women Who Persist—Winter/Spring 2019
- Miriam
- Hannah and Penninah
- The Canaanite/Syropenician Woman
- Martha and Mary of Bethany
The Women Who Bring Life—Fall 2018
- Elizabeth
- Sara/Hagar
- Shiphra and Puah
- Mary of Nazareth
The Women Who Stay—Summer 2018
- Mary of Nazareth
- Joanna/Junia, Susanna and ‘the other women’
- Mary of Clopas and the ‘other Mary,’
- Mary of Magdala