Entries by waterstaff

Ann-Cathrin Jarl: Volunteer in Global Service at WATER

February 16, 2012 in /by

by Mary E. Hunt and Anne Lacher


“Never a dull day at the WATER office!” The frequency of this comment’s appearance here at WATER has increased drastically in the last week or two, and it seems to be directly related to the appearance of Ann-Cathrin Jarl.

Hailing from Uppsala, Sweden, the Rev. Dr. Ann-Cathrin Jarl was the Director of the Diocese Conference Center in Stockholm for four years. She served most recently as Chaplain to the Archbishop of the Church of Sweden [Lutheran] before her retirement in 2011.

Feminist Studies in Religion as Bread and Butter

February 14, 2012 in /by

by Mary E. Hunt

Feminist studies in religion are a hot commodity in the current political turmoil. So-called women’s issues are front and center in the debates. The long settled question of contraception has been snatched from mothballs for conservatives’ purposes. But there is such a dearth of feminist religious voices, so little room in masculinist journalist and clerical discussions to get a word in edgewise, that almost anything we add to the conversation is useful. Whoever expected that our training would be so valuable?

Three Must-Read Resource Reviews

January 17, 2012 in /by

By Mary E. Hunt

I want to eat for breakfast whatever Joan Chittister eats. She pumps out books at lightening speed, or else she has a lot of elves out there in Erie, PA who help. Three recent ones include “40 Stories to Stir the Soul,” “A Monastery Almanac,” and “Songs of the Heart.”

Progressive Religion to the Rescue

January 13, 2012 in /by

By Mary E. Hunt

The happy hoopla surrounding the lifting of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell had a shadow side. Close inspection revealed a lot of partners and spouses of LGBTIQ military people who had been cloaked in secrecy and euphemism (“Meet my cousin”) for years. Now they, too, can come out. But they remain second-class citizens whose marriages don’t count because of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Women and Children First

January 10, 2012 in /by

By Mary E. Hunt

Human trafficking is a mega-billion dollar global industry unregulated by any country or international body. It is a criminal activity ignored and/or tolerated with devastating consequences for the person involved, most of whom are women and children.

Trafficking ranks just behind drug and arms trading as the most lucrative forms of commerce. Religiously informed social justice groups need to add this unspeakable activity to our agendas and bring the resources of our religious traditions to the task of eradicating it. I only wonder why it has taken some of us this long to focus our attention on an all too common phenomenon.