#076: “Dear Joan Chittister”: Letters to Openness in Womanhood (with Jessie Bazan) - a podcast by National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM)
from 2019-11-11T14:00
Today on the podcast we speak to the women who minister in today’s church. We, as women, lead some of the most critical aspects of church life….although we do not lead in some of the highest forms of responsibility and influence. This is not an episode that will debate whether this is right or wrong, but it is a challenge that women face in ministry, among other things.
Enter…Sister Joan Chittister.
Sister Joan Chittister is a Benedictine nun from the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania. Sister Joan is an international lecturer on behalf of peace, human rights, women’s issues, justice, and contemporary culture.
I find no better way to introduce Sister Joan than by our guest today, Jessie Bazan. Here are the words from the introduction of her book, “Dear Joan Chittister”:
?“Halfway through the inaugural Joan Chittister Institute for Contemporary Spirituality (JCICS), ten millennial Catholic women crammed onto a raised platform for a panel discussion on hopes, struggles, and the future of the church. We traveled from across the country—and even Australia—to learn from Joan Chittister and connect with other women asking similar life questions. The two weeks we spent with the Benedictine Sisters of Erie ignited our hearts—and the publication of this book.
On the first day of the Institute, Joan mandated us to “speak our truths.” As we grappled with our truths and found the courage to speak them to ourselves and then to each other, we began to dream of offering them to you. This book, Dear Joan Chittister, is a collection of our truths.”
(Chittister, Joan. Dear Joan Chittister: Conversations with Women in the Church. Twenty-Third Publications.)
Today we talk to Jessie about “Dear Joan Chittister” and what we, as women in the church, can take as hope and inspiration from a lady like Joan.
Further episodes of Ministry Monday
Further podcasts by National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM)