Women share talents, theological insights under Red Tent

Miriam Brown of Winnipeg knots a comforter at the “Gifts of the Red Tent” conference. Conference participants completed five comforters, which are to be shipped overseas. Photo: Kevin Docherty

The biennial Women Doing Theology conference, coordinated this year by Mennonite Central Committee US Women’s Concerns, took place May 16–18 at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va. Called “Gifts of the Red Tent: Women Creating”, the conference attracted 200 participants from across the United States and Canada. Women of all ages and walks of life came together under their own “red tent”, created with shimmering fabric hung from the ceiling. Through three main presentations, responses and workshops, participants were challenged to view themselves as central characters in their own stories rather than as marginal figures fulfilling back-up roles.

Inspired by themes in the book The Red Tent, a fictionalized re-telling of the biblical story of Dinah, the conference explored wonder, welcome and wandering as elements of women’s experience and creativity. In the novel, Dinah and her relatives rejuvenate themselves and create a community in a red tent reserved for women. “The red tent is a metaphor for the intergenerational activity of women,” explained Mary Lou Weaver Houser of Lancaster, Pa., a member of the conference planning committee and creator of the conference’s own red tent.

Malinda Berry, a doctoral student at Union Theological Seminary, opened the conference Friday evening with a presentation on the “Theology of Wonder”. This theology, she explained, “involves approaching our faith and beliefs in ways that allow us to be stirred by . . . astonishing and wondrous claims.”

Reta Halteman Finger, New Testament professor at Messiah College, Grantham, Pa., presented the “Theology of Welcome” on Saturday morning. She noted how the early church built community through a shared daily meal organized by women, and urged audience members to stretch their definition of hospitality.

The final presentation was from Iris de Len-Hartshorn, director of MCC US Peace and Justice Ministries. She discussed a “Theology of Wandering,” using the example of Sarai’s slave Hagar and drawing on her own indigenous heritage. “Wanderings are spiritual. Finding the places of rest, places to meet others along the way, and having faith to see the possibilities are all part of the journey,” she concluded.

Rather than using a traditional academic model where one respondent prepares feedback for each presentation, the conference planning committee opted for a “dialogical” response. After each presentation, four women – Maria Magdalena Vallejo De Len, Katie Funk Wiebe, Dorothy Gish and Yvonne Platts – discussed their insights on the respective topic.

An artistic respondent also performed a piece on each presenter’s theme. After the first presentation, Heidi Beth Wert of Lancaster, Pa. shared a monologue in which she took on the persona of an older Mennonite mother wondering about cultural and generational changes and reflecting on her right to wonder.

Ingrid De Sanctis of Elgin, Ill. performed a drama titled “First Five”, where she imagined hosting the five people in the world with whom she least wished to share a meal. A recurring line in the drama – ”Is there room at the table for me?” – was timely for conference planners, who had sought to enlarge the Women Doing Theology “table” by increasing the number of presentations by people of colour.

Michelle Armster, of Lancaster, Pa. complemented the “Theology of Wandering” presentation with a poem: “Drink sister . . . from the well of the living one . . . drink cool spring of balm and rest.”

The conference also included two workshop sessions on Saturday afternoon. Participants chose from nearly a dozen options, including the spirituality of birthing and midwifery, caregiving, dance, creating sacred spaces, drumming, dollmaking and papermaking.

Other conference events included a celebration of the 30th anniversary of MCC US Women’s Concerns and an open-microphone coffeehouse in which participants were invited to share their talents. Quilting frames were set up for conference participants to knot comforters to be sent overseas.

Conference organizers sought to welcome participants without prior experience at formal academic conferences. Responses to the conference revealed a mix of those who were more interested in an intellectual approach to theology and those who prefer to “do theology” with their hearts and hands. While some participants would have preferred more time for informal interaction and discussion, overall response to the conference was positive.

The next Women Doing Theology conference is scheduled to take place in Canada in two years.

—Kristine Sensenig