May 18, 2011

A book of Bible studies written by church women from the Caribbean has received an enthusiastic welcome at a book launch event in Jamaica.

Righting Her-Story: Caribbean Women Encounter the Biblewas launched on Tuesday at the United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI) in the Jamaican capital, Kingston. Over 200 people gathered for the launch of the book that had received considerable advance publicity in Caribbean media.

Faith Webster, a Jamaican government official, told the crowd that the book is "poised to contribute much to the consciousness of critical reality given the patriarchal context that exists in the religious world."

Webster, who is Executive Director of the Bureau of Women's Affairs, hailed the book as the "first ecumenical book of Caribbean feminist and ‘womanist' post-colonial Bible studies."

The book of Bible studies and biographies of pioneering Caribbean women theologians is published by the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) – a global network of Reformed, Presbyterian, Congregational and United churches known for their commitment to mission, church unity, and justice. The head of WCRC's Justice and Partnership Programme, Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth, was the editor.

Righting Her-Storyincludes a Bible study training guide, outlines for worship services, 20 Bible studies with accompanying stories and poems from Caribbean women, as well as resources for a campaign on violence against women.

Paulette Brown, a Jamaican-Canadian theologian and pastor who represented Sheerattan-Bisnauth at the event, commended the Guyanese Presbyterian pastor for her role in organizing key women church leaders from the Caribbean, Geneva, Canada, the United States, Africa and Asia to contribute to the book.

"Rev. Pat is resolute about Caribbean women reading the Bible alongside Caribbean men in the context of violence against women, and for the sake of transformation," Brown told the crowd.

All the writers are lay or ordained women from Baptist, Congregational, Evangelical, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Reformed and United traditions. While most are from the Caribbean region, two are from the Caribbean diaspora in North America and two from Asia and Africa. Sarojini Nadar of the School of Religion and Theology at South Africa's University of KwaZulu-Natal, was the featured speaker at the book launch. The African academic has published extensively on gender, spirituality and theologies in Africa.

In her address, Nadar endorsed the book's diverse representations of Caribbean women. "It is not all about sisters or sisterhood ... for beyond sisterhood, there is racism, colonialism and imperialism," she declared. Nadar concluded her remarks with a challenge to the crowd: "What is left to be done?"

WCRC was created in June 2010 through a merger of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC). Its 230 member churches representing 80 million Christians are active worldwide in initiatives supporting economic, climate and gender justice, mission, and cooperation among Christians of different traditions.

World Communion of Reformed Churches