Horizons: January/February 2023
January/February 2023
Addressing Violence Against Women and Children
This issue examines violence against women and children—the realities of experiencing violence as well as how survivors of that violence and their allies are working to turn the tide. Some of the articles or images may touch on violence that has impacted you personally. Or you may come to this issue with an already heavy heart and feel despair at the ways that God’s children hurt. Acknowledge all of those feelings and realities and engage with this topic when you feel ready.
In recognition of the crisis of violence against women and children, Presbyterian Women’s Board of Directors voted to address this pervasive issue during the 2021–2024 triennium. You may have already participated in one of the many ways to help educate, advocate and alleviate the suffering that results from violence.
This magazine hopes to present particular, timely issues of violence and open up responses that you might not have considered—looking at violence with a new perspective and raising this awareness in others, praying for everyone caught up in the cycle of violence, engaging with ministries that offer support to survivors, and above all, listening to and believing those who tell you of their hurt.
In a society that has long tried to control or even suppress what women can do or be or express, Meta Herrick Carlson’s “On Being Bullied” from her book Ordinary Blessings (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2020) beautifully embodies Presbyterian Women’s commitment to standing with survivors of violence and building a more peaceful, just world:
You deserve to be
heard
believed
affirmed
safe.
God delights in your value,
your voice, and your body.
That is all the permission you need
to take up space in this life!
When the powerful tell you to
change
avoid
thicken
hide
they are only protecting
the unhealed parts of themselves and
that is wrong.
It can take a multitude to override this fear,
to challenge power,
to illumine what is true,
to seek justice that releases shame
from each spirit and stops the harm.
I cannot promise perfect transformation right now, but
I pledge a multitude to stand with you
in the resistance until you are
heard
believed
affirmed
safe.
We echo God’s delight for you, a sound to help you hold this space until the wound is mended.
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Features
Ending Violence Against Asian Women
Hsiu-Fen Lin describes the heightened risk of domestic violence that Asian and Asian American women face in the United States. She offers insights into culturally-specific resources and programming to support survivors and highlights how congregations and groups are addressing this crisis.
The Good Stranger: The Story of the Good Samaritan, Retold Through the Lens of Domestic Violence
Esther Barnes’s retelling of the Good Samaritan story challenges us to consider what an appropriate response is to those who experience domestic violence. While noting that domestic violence can happen to anyone, she identifies risk factors and ways that congregations can be life-saving supports.
A Faith-Based Protest of Reproductive Violence
Rev. Dr. Rebecca Todd Peters outlines the cultural, physical, emotional and economic violence resulting from the banning and curtailing of abortions following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Citing denominational statements that recognize abortion can be a moral decision, she invites readers to consider the impact of diminished access to abortion.
PW Resources
2023 Birthday Offering of Presbyterian Women Recipients
2023 Birthday Offering of Presbyterian Women Dedication Service
Anna H. Bedford Bible Study Resource
Danelle Crawford McKinney offers reflections and questions for use in studying Lessons Seven and Eight of the 2022–2023 PW/Horizons Bible study, Celebrating Sabbath: Accepting God’s Gift of Rest and Delight by Carol M. Bechtel.
2022 Horizons Index
Departments
Devotion
Overcoming
Cecilia Amorocho Hickerson
Unpacking the Theme: Scripture Study
Responding to Violence in Jesus’ Time and Now
Kate Ott
After the Offering
Delivering Hope, Nutrition and God’s Love
Heather Macaulay
Faithful Parenting
Honoring Our Feelings
Melanie Marsh
Supporting Mission
Never Too Young or Too Old: A Reading Mission
Bonnie Thompson
Books
Pages Worth Turning
Mosaic
News and Information about Presbyterian Women and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Stories from the Ages
Recharging and Reflecting
Hillary Moses Mohaupt
Building Inclusive Community
Beloved
Micah Rose Emerson