Women-Church Convergence.

Coalition of autonomous Catholic organizations committed to the egalitarian and self-governing participation of women in the Church. The Women of the Church Coalition was formed in May 1977 around the idea of including both laywomen and women religious in working together for women's issues. The founding member groups included Chicago Catholic Women, the Institute of Women Today, St. Joan's Alliance, Christian Feminists, Las Hermanas, the National Black Sisters Conference, and Priests for Equality. The coalition quickly grew to include many other organizations. One representative from each member groups attended meetings twice a year and presented her group's concerns and agenda. The coalition would then endorse timely actions with signatures and personal commitment. These bi-annual meetings lead to an international conference in 1983 entitled Women-Church Speaks: From Generation to Generation held in Chicago. Following the 1983 conference, the sponsoring groups decided to stay together and change the name to Women-Church Convergence. Groups from across the country were invited to be part of this new movement. Today, W-CC consists of women and men who gather in their community to worship and act and a discipleship of equals. In addition to working for recognition, empowerment, and development of women, W-CC is committed to the egalitarian and self-governing participation of women in the church. To this end, W-CC sponsored two conferences since the original: Women-Church: Claiming Our Power (1987) and Women-Church: Weavers of Change (1993). Each focused on women's spirituality, sexuality, and equality and provided a forum for women to share, network, envision, take action, and support their collective work to live Gospel values and create a world without militarism, poverty, racism, and sexism.