Sacred Women's Circle

As part of its continuing mission to promote Interfaith Collaboration, The New Seminary sponsored The Sacred Women's Circle at the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, which met at the UN Church Center from February 27th through March 11th of this year.

Participants in the Sacred Circle spoke and offered words of hope from their cultural and faith traditions, about empowering and raising the general stature of women worldwide. In addition to addressing issues of gender equality, education, abuse, etc., the Millennium Development Goals were discussed, as well as ways in which interfaith collaboration can help promote them. They were from all over the world, Africa, China, The Caribbean, Europe, South America, and The Middle East. We were very proud that the women from the newly selected Iraqi Delegation to The UN were present.

It was called the Sacred Women's Circle because the participants were seated in a circle as presenters spoke. Reverend Jay Speights, The New Seminary's Main UN Representative said, "We were pleased to sponsor The Sacred Women's Circle as part of this official UN activity. It provided an opportunity for us to bring groups with varied cultures and religious traditions together to demonstrate that religion can be a source of uniting and not dividing the global community."