United Nations Church Center Chaplain, Kathleen Stone (standing on the center right) with New Seminary Staff, Board Members and Alumni at the first Sacred Women’s Circle we sponsored in 2006 as part of The Committee on the Status of Women. Also in the photo are TNS CEO, Dr. Mike Festa (center left), and TNS Executive Director, Rev. Jay Speights (far right)
In 2006, 2007 and 2012 and 2013, The New Seminary (TNS), sponsored Sacred Women’s Circle at the annual meeting of the United Nations Committee on the Status of Women. TNS alumni, faculty and students sponsored the circles for those attending. The Circle provides women from various faiths and cultures a safe and nurturing space in which to share, bond and heal. Our last circle attracted 40 participants. Next March, we plan to have more than 300 in attendance because we have several high profile women who are known for their advocacy work on women’s issues. We have already attracted a lot of interest. For example, Sundance Film Festival Winning Film Producers Deatra Harris & Alrick Brown of Visigoth Pictures.(http://www.visigothpictures.com/). In addition, Actress Jasmine Guy, who has teamed with Brown and Harris on “What About Us“, a highly acclaimed documentary on missing and women and girls will also speak. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasmine_Guy). (https://www.facebook.com/iam.j.guy) Other potential speakers who have been invited are actresses/activists Queen Latifah (http://www.queenlatifah.com/) and Rosario Dawson (http://rosario-dawson.net/).
Participants at our past Sacred Circles spoke and offered words of hope from their faith and cultural traditions about empowering and raising the general status of women worldwide. Women from all over the world, Africa, China, The Caribbean, Europe, South America, and The Middle East have participated in our past three circles. We were pleased to sponsor The Sacred Women’s Circle as part of this official UN activity, because it allowed us to bring groups from diverse cultural and faith traditions together and demonstrate that common core values can be a source of uniting and not dividing the global community.