| | | | Dear WATER Friend, As 2025 comes to a close, hold onto HOPE! Many people are weary from lies, war, illness, inequality, abuse, and injustices of all forms. They yearn for signs of hope. Pauli Murray, U.S. civil rights activist, priest, and legal scholar wrote in their poem “Dark Testament”: “Hope is a song in a weary throat.
Give me a song of hope
and a world where I can sing it.” | | |
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| | | You give HOPE. Thank you for helping to write “a song of hope,” and for joining us in creating a world where we can sing it anew. Despite, or perhaps because of the world’s woes, you have enabled a remarkable year at WATER. Staff and talented interns have developed challenging, strategy-shaping programs. Your support empowered us to embrace more fiercely the radical work of feminist, spirit-infused social change. | | |
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| | | WATER Interns give HOPE. The vibrant young women of WATER share skills and commitments. They learn program planning, fundraising, social media technologies, and community outreach at WATER. Vera Logose (right), 2025-26 WATER Intern with Brethren Volunteer Service, carries on the legacy with her excellent social media work and strong administrative support. | | |
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| | | The Feminist Liberation Theologians’ Network gives HOPE.
Mary E. Hunt (right) gathered the Feminist Liberation Theologians’ Network at the AAR/SBL in Boston to recognize the deadly consequences of current U.S. government policies worldwide. Kwok Pui Lan (Episcopal Divinity School), Rita Nakashima Brock (retired from Volunteers of America), and Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite (emerita at Chicago Theological Seminary) brought abundant wisdom and strategic thinking. Tracy McEwan and Kathleen McPhillips (Australia), Rosemary Ganley (Canada), Monica Maher (Ecuador), and Ulrike Ernst-Auga (Germany, left) offered country-specific reports. Pui Lan put her finger on it in her Substack: “Feminist liberation theology has a bright future if we continue to listen to the cry of the oppressed, the sigh of the earth, and the prompting of the spirit for freedom.” | | |
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| | | You give HOPE. Thank you for helping to write “a song of hope,” and for joining us in creating a world where we can sing it anew. Despite, or perhaps because of the world’s woes, you have enabled a remarkable year at WATER. Staff and talented interns have developed challenging, strategy-shaping programs. Your support empowered us to embrace more fiercely the radical work of feminist, spirit-infused social change. | | |
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| | | WATER Programs give HOPE. WATER Programs offer hope as well. Recent WATERtalks included: “Bending Toward Justice” with Christine Schenk, CSJ, on the usefulness of canon law to gain justice; “Interns Shaping WATER” with Former Interns and Staff, naming how WATER continues to influence their lives; “Voices from the Silenced: Pre-Roe Abortion Stories” with Victoria Rue and Martha Boesing; “Philosophia: Women Inspiring and Encouraging One Another” with Jennifer Rycenga; and “Charlotte Bunch in Conversation with Mary E. Hunt.”
WATERrituals, WATERmeditations, and so many other WATER activities – retreats, weddings, memorials, lectures, consulting, spiritual direction – are our ways to meet the moment. Count on WATER to resist, create, uplift, connect, and spark hope in the New Year. | | |
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We invite YOU to give more HOPE.
Your donation to WATER assures that our collaborative work to do justice will continue. We gratefully ask you to support WATER’s efforts. Please give what you can to spark hope through feminist work in religion. Thank you for sustaining our common, vital justice work. | | |
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| | | Gratitude and hope for the holidays, peace and justice for the year ahead! | | |
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| | | | Mary E. Hunt Diann L. Neu Emily Neufeld Anali N. Martin Vera Logose
Co-Founders & Co-Directors Staff Associates | | |
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Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER) 8121 Georgia Avenue, Suite 310 Silver Spring, MD 20910 - USA Telephone: (301) 589-2509 |
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