Rev. Sarah Swandell

Editor’s Note: Rev. Sarah Swandell is the winner of the RCWMS 2020 Essay contest.  They said the mothers were lullabying, Hands up please don’t shoot me, hands up please don’t shoot me, all of them in shirts the color of caution signs, a line of gold against a line of police. A wall of women, […]

On October 15 and 16, nearly eighty women gathered virtually to “Preach Like Pauli,” during RCWMS’ ninth annual Homegrown: NC Women’s Preaching Festival. Over a day and a half, an intergenerational group of women gathered from across denominations to worship, learn from each other in workshops and lectures, and get inspired by watching phenomenal preaching.  […]

“Friendship is being conceited for one another,” my friend suggested as three of us stretched out on her lawn, enjoying a socially distant picnic and the June heat. Her newly concocted definition was a response to the confidence that the other friend and I professed in her ability to achieve her wildest dreams. Sub-five percent […]

It began with young men, beer, and the Honk ‘n’ Holler in Stillwater, Oklahoma. As I tend my grief around the loss of the inestimable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I find it comforting to learn more about her journey to battle gender discrimination. In her role as an attorney for the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, Ginsburg […]

In 2009, the hour-long documentary Meinrad Craighead: Praying with Images was produced by the Resource Center, and Minnow Media. This documentary film chronicles the life and work of Meinrad Craighead, a remarkable artist, mystic, and teacher whose sometimes startling work spans centuries and continents. Weaving together elements of Catholicism, Native American shamanism, and ancient mythology, her […]

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is best known for his groundbreaking memoir How to Be an Antiracist, one of the books the Resource Center’s “Reading Race” group has tackled in recent years.  In it, as former RCWMS Trustee Marcy Litle notes, Kendi “clearly marks the distinction between racist and antiracist, and among assimilationist, segregationist, and antiracist.” […]

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi It is August in North Carolina, when mosquitoes come around at noon and trees laden with figs offer their abundant sweetness. It is also August, 2020, just a few short months before we are given the chance to exercise our right to VOTE.   […]

Stirring WATERS: Feminist Liturgies for Justice is a balm for these times. I could imagine gathering a few friends, going through a liturgy together, and having a soulful and connecting experience. It surprised me how much reading this book felt like coming home: like I mattered and belonged as a woman, as a feminist, and […]

Thank you to everyone who has donated to our summer fundraising campaign! Your generous gifts surpassed our $5,000 goal, and we are so grateful. Your donations will help us continue building community and offering resources, while many folks are either stuck at home or working on the front lines of health care and racial justice. […]

We have several new workshops this July, and a couple favorites returning by popular demand. Here are a few highlights below. Make sure to head over to our calendar for a complete listing and to register. Mindful Journaling for Transformation with Jen Johnson – 4 Thursdays via Zoom July 9 @ 1:00 pm – 2:30 […]

Every summer we ask you to support the work of this vibrant womanist and feminist community. Although many things are different this summer, I know one thing hasn’t changed: your generosity. This spring, when the stay-at-home orders began, we knew this community would need extra spiritual support and methods for connecting with one another. We’d […]

RCWMS is committed to supporting all women as they find their voices and make them heard. In addition to our writing classes, workshops, and retreats, we run an essay contest in most years. Our 2020 Essay Contest opened for submissions on June 15 and is open through July 31, 2020. THEME: Essays should focus on the […]

Who will you serve?What priorities will you hold in front of yourself?How will you show up?How fully can you love?–Leo Babauta, Zen Habits Babauta’s words provide a useful frame as we all figure out how to navigate through these hard times. We are sad, outraged, and committed. Join us on the path. Take time for […]

Our quarterly print newsletter, South of the Garden, went to the printer just before Memorial Day. This issue is now available online, and you may see it in your mailbox later this week. In it, we share stories and reflections on adjusting to life in quarantine, as we explore how life has changed and notice what remains […]

It’s July of 1981. I’m six weeks old. I feel safe in my mother’s arms, but she must be terrified as she clutches me tight and gingerly takes each step down the fifteen-foot dock ladder to the boat. Along with my three-year-old sister and dad, we make it safely to Cumberland Island, Georgia, for the […]

Editor’s Note: This week we welcome guest author and former RCWMS Board Member Rachael Wooten. RCWMS Executive Director Jeanette Stokes joined Wooten via Zoom last month to discuss Wooten’s new book about her journey of discovery with Tara, the female Buddha. Twelve years in the making, this book is timely, as Rachael notes that “Tara […]

We arrived at the farm in the early afternoon, hours before our hosts were due to arrive. They had said to make ourselves at home, and the gentleman who gave us a ride from town was unsurprised to be taking strangers to the Dring place, for John Dring and his family welcomed newcomers all the […]

The pandemic is taking an extreme toll on our energy. Therefore, we are feeling tired, depleted, unbalanced, cranky, depressed, and anxious. We are falling into old patterns in our relationships, some that are not beneficial to our wellbeing. For introverts, this may be an easier adjustment. (That doesn’t mean in any way that it is […]

It’s hard to believe it’s May! We continue to Zoom along and we have lots of new workshops starting up this month. That’s in addition to some of your favorite workshops from April, which are back by popular demand. Here are a few highlights below. Make sure to head over to our calendar for a […]

I remember staring at the original Earth Day poster above my brother Jerry’s desk. My small-town, Kansan, seven-year-old brain was mystified. Why set aside a day to protect the earth? The earth as I knew it was filled with turtles and thunderstorms and babbling Colorado streams. Jerry was an early activist and already knew there […]

This week, the RCWMS staff reflects on daily life in quarantine. What are you experiencing, feeling, thinking about, learning? Email your snapshots of daily life to rebecca@rcwms.org by Wednesday, April 22. Maximum 200 words. We’ll include some in a future blog post.  The last in-person meeting I had was Wednesday, March 11. Ethel needed help […]

For several years now the RCWMS labyrinth has been installed at Binkley Baptist Church in Chapel Hill for the community to walk during Holy Week.  Ensuring our safety through physical distancing measures means we don’t have the opportunity to be together in that way this year. Interestingly, the labyrinth itself was designed for those who couldn’t […]

We’re excited to launch all new online programming next week at RCWMS. It’s been an adjustment and an adventure retooling our typical workshops for virtual community-building. We’re think you’ll like the results! Here are some highlights of what’s coming up. See our calendar for complete listings, and let us know if you need some help […]

Rachel Sauls, a UNC senior, is our Anita McLeod intern this spring. Like most college students around the country, Rachel is finishing her semester remotely, and she continues to work for RCWMS remotely as well. From the time I was three months old until I was four years old, a local mom cared for me […]