Office of Women's Affairs/Center for Women and Religion

Agency History

The Center for Women and Religion, the oldest center for women in theological education, was founded in 1970 as the Office of Women's Affairs by Bay Area women in religion, including some GTU women, who recognized "that seminary women at the GTU schools needed a channel, an advocate, an office through which to express their needs and concerns." (CWR Newsletter, Summer 1978, pg. 10) It operated originally out of Unitas, the campus ministry program at the University of California, Berkeley. Soon, OWA became affiliated with the GTU, though the process, complicated by discussions about and differing expectations of funding, sponsorship, and support, was not smooth or simple. By 1977 or 1978, the name was changed to the Center for Women and Religion. For a short period, both names were used for various events and functions. After affiliation with GTU, OWA/CWR had an office at the 2465 LeConte Building (then the administration building for the GTU), expanding later to an office in the GTU Annex at 2452 Virginia and the CWR House at 1730 Scenic.

OWA/CWR conceived that the foci of its work would be in the areas of research, the status of women in religious structures, and community building for women students, faculty, staff, and spouses moving to the goal of ending sexism and promoting justice in and through religion. It worked to accomplish these goals through the distribution of resources, offering GTU courses, and through various sponsored conferences, programs, events, and groups. Early publications include Women and the Word: Toward a Whole Theology an anthology of women's writings; Women in a Strange Land: Search for a New Image, a collection of writings about women's experiences of isolation during the period of early feminist theological scholarship; and Woman: A Theological Perspective, 1974, a bibliography on women and religion compiled by Clare Fischer and Rochelle Gatlin, and an updated Breaking Through: A Bibliography of Women and Religion, 1980. CWR has published a newsletter since 1975, and since 1981, the Journal of Women and Religion.

By 1985, CWR was able to express its purpose thus: the Center is "an international network of members committed to mutual support, education, and action. It is an ecumenical community whose purpose is: (1) to transform theological education through curriculum, faculty development, and pedagogical transformation pursuant to a feminist perspective, and through research and resource development; (2) to affirm and support equal and just participation of women within religious institutions; (3) to affirm and support ministry by CWR and by women beyond the traditional structures of church and theological education; and (4) to develop seminars and extra-seminary funding sources." ("Proposal to Attend the UN Decade for Women in Nairobi, Kenya, July 1985")