This Lent we have chosen to offer our daily reflections through the lens of a Lenten discipline of sacred resistance. Today — International Women’s Day — we are putting our reflection into a day of action in support of A Day Without A Woman — a one-day demonstration of economic solidarity.
“In the same spirit of love and liberation that inspired the Women’s March, we join together in making March 8th A Day Without a Woman, recognizing the enormous value that women of all backgrounds add to our socio-economic system–while receiving lower wages and experiencing greater inequities, vulnerability to discrimination, sexual harassment, and job insecurity. We recognize that trans and gender nonconforming people face heightened levels of discrimination, social oppression and political targeting. We believe in gender justice.”
In response, All Saints’ rector Mike Kinman sent this last week to our staff:
As we live in a society that undervalues women in nearly every respect, this action deserves our full support and participation. So I am inviting all women who work at All Saints Church to participate in this action by not coming to work on Wednesday, March 8 – without loss of pay or personal day.
This will be a disruption in our routine and will require some significant adjustment on behalf of the men who work at All Saints Church … but that is appropriate since the point of the action is for us to get a sense of how crucial women are to our everyday lives. This will not be a day of business as usual. For me, I am happy to preside at the noonday Eucharist, work the desk instead of Stasia during the day and take a Building & Grounds shift for Alicia that night. It will be good for me to get a sense of how much work those jobs are.
So today, these are the signs that are hanging on the doors and in the cubicles of our women staff members at All Saints Church.
The work and witness of All Saints goes on with our male colleagues taking on more than their share for this one day in solidarity with women around our nation and our world who labor under the yoke of inequality 24/7. Today is a day we put our Sacred Resistance to systemic sexism in action in a small way as we continue to build the movement that will make Galatians 3:28 not just a verse we read in our Bibles but a reality we live in our world: There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one …
Today’s Lenten Reflection was written by our Senior Associate for Communication, Susan Russell … a day ahead and scheduled to post today because today at All Saints is #ADayWithoutAWoman
