Eight panelists spoke at MCUSA’s Women’s Summit on Monday. Read more about the Women’s Summit here.
Laura Pauls-Thomas, Sarah Wenger Shenk, Daniela Lázaro-Manalo and Cyneatha Millsaps. (Photo by MacKenzie Miller, Anabaptist World.)
The MC USA Women’s Summit on Monday featured two panels where the attendees heard from eight women and gender-expansive people about their experiences in leadership.
Moderated by Abby Endashaw, a member of the Women’s Summit planning committee, the panelists discussed moments when they felt truly seen and heard, rest and resilience, building collective power, how their self and community care practices contribute to collective liberation, claiming power under patriarchy and lessons they’ve learned in their leadership journeys.
Chris Hoover, a spiritual director, kicked off the first panel by sharing about her experience giving birth.
“I knew that what was before me was rupture and pain, and I said the words, ‘‘I can’t do this.’”
The midwife by her side immediately countered the negative voice inside her brain, saying, “Yes you can — push.” She provided Hoover with the exact thing she needed in that moment, and Hoover learned later that midwives are specifically trained for this situation. She felt seen and held by the generations of women who understood exactly what she was feeling.
Joanne Gallardo, conference minister for the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference, talked about learning to recognize the power she holds in her personal life and claiming the agency that comes with recognizing that power.
“[Power is] like electricity,” Gallardo said, “it’s neither good or bad, it’s just a source. I have agency and power that can be used in such a way that’s bad, or I can use the power I have within me for good.”
Hyacinth Stevens, executive director of MCC East Coast, said that lately her tagline has been “breath and beauty.” She practices self-care by taking deep breaths and making her space beautiful. She says that these practices encourage her to slow down and rest.
Sarah Ann Bixler, associate dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary, recharges her soul by keeping the traditions of her ancestors alive, through things like gardening, baking and tending to baby chicks.
“As I engage in these practices, I remember that I’m not alone,” Bixler said, “and that there is strength that’s been instilled in me for these kinds of tumultuous moments in the journey.”
Laura Pauls-Thomas, a volunteer active transport activist and communications director for MCC East Coast, said that one way to build collective power is by bicycling within your community — Not only is it a fun and healthy way to get around, but Pauls-Thomas said that bicycling is “a way to put into practice all the things we usually talk about in metaphor,” like taking up space, building accessible and safe communities and resisting capitalism by rejecting car culture.
Cyneatha Millsaps, the executive director of both Goshen College’s Center for Community Engagement and Mennonite Women USA, said that one way she resists patriarchy is by using her leadership positions to lift up those whose voices aren’t represented in order to form the next generation of leadership.
“If nobody else is making room to put the other at the table,” she said, “that is our responsibility to do it. Part of my role as a leader is to make sure that I am caring for the ones that are coming behind me.”
Sarah Wenger Shenk, former president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary and theologian, spoke about the inspiration she draws from Deborah, the oft-overlooked judge and “a mother of Israel” from the book of Judges who demonstrates the importance of leaders with a sense of moral authority and good judgement.
“She had empathy,” Wenger Shenk said, “she shared power and found a way to liberate her people.”
A major theme of the Women’s Summit was “rest as resistance,” an idea popularized by author Tricia Hersey. Daniela Lázaro-Manalo, racial equity education coordinator at MCC and part of the planning committee for the summit, reminded the attendees that sustainable rest is only possible in community — When one person takes a break, someone else needs to pick up the slack. And rest is difficult to cultivate in situations of systemic oppression.
“What would bring me bone-deep relief is release from the fear, anxiety, frustration and anger of constantly feeling systemic violence,” she said. “That’s the real rest that I want, and that’s collective.”
Written by Greta Lapp Klassen for MC USA.