Watch: UCC officers honor women in church and beyond

From March 3 to 9, the United Church of Christ is commemorating UCC Women’s Week this year. That includes a special webinar, “Embodying Women and Gender Justice Year-Round,” that will be held Wednesday, March 6 at 3:30 p.m. ET. March also marks Women’s History Month, and Friday, March 8 is International Women’s Day.

The UCC’s two denominational officers, who both identify as women, are sharing video messages to honor and uplift women within the UCC and beyond.

Watch the full videos below.

UCC Women’s Week

General Minister and President Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson highlighted the history of advocacy for women that is vital to the UCC.

“This is a time when we celebrate and lift up the rich diversity and expansiveness of women around the world,” she says in her message. “UCC Women’s Week is a longstanding tradition we have upheld for decades.”

Women’s History Month

Speaking on Women’s History Month, Acting Associate General Minister Rev. Shari Prestemon pointed to the work the UCC has done with the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women, which will convene for its annual gathering March 11 to 22.

“Engagement with the various agencies of the United Nations is an important part of our vision to create a just world for all,” she says. “The UCC has long advocated for gender equality, and participation in the Commission on the Status of Women is part of that calling.”

Past, present, and future of women in the UCC

Both officers spoke to the past, present, and future of women in the UCC in a final video.

Prestemon remarks that the UCC continues its legacy of support for women “through our work for reproductive justice, commitment to gender expansive language, ending gender-based violence, and uplifting the connection between sexism and racism.”

 “This work is local and global, personal and societal,” Thompson says. “Today and every day, the United Church of Christ will celebrate and center those who identify as women.”

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