Benefits tend to make up around a fifth of the average women’s incomes as
opposed to one tenth of men’s – yet almost 2/3rds of the public-sector
workforce in the UK is female.
Economic empowerment of women and girls doesn’t always look like an
equal paycheck. It can also be achieved by ensuring access to things like
good, affordable healthcare and education. We need only look at a hospital
bill in the US to understand how fortunate we are in the UK to have the NHS.
Access to good reproductive healthcare is hugely important to women
worldwide. Again, looking to the US, the defunding of Planned Parenthood
will have a significant impact on the lives of women.
In 10 days’ time, I will graduate from the University of St Andrews with a
degree in International Relations. My tuition was entirely paid for by the
Scottish Government, because I was resident in Scotland prior to starting my
degree. Another aspect of my privilege. Many of the stories and experiences
shared at the Commission do not even begin to come close to how fortune I
and many of my peers have been. There are girls across many parts of the
world with no access to education simply because men in positions of power
don’t think they are worthy of that education. When will they understand that
femaleness is not a design flaw?
At the Commission, there were also continued discussions surrounding the
UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which are 17 global goals intended to
be achieved by 2030. These are important within our church context, as
these goals reflect deep biblical themes of mutual responsibility for living well
together, seeking the equality of all people created in the image of God, the
responsibility to care for God’s earth, and God’s concern for the vulnerable
and marginalized. If you are not already familiar with the SDGs, I would
urge you to do so, and think about ways in which they could be discussed
and worked towards within your church context.
Our delegation this year was almost entirely different from last year. But
again, I found that even though we came from different parts of the world,
our churches are facing similar issues. Women are often not included in
decision making that affects our churches and our communities. Our
delegation again looks forward to the day when ACC Resolution 13.31,
which affirms the goal of “equal representation of women in decision making
at all levels of the church” becomes a reality. I want to reiterate my
comments from last year in saying that young people are not the future of
the church – they are the present. Talk to the young people in your
churches. Find out what they are passionate about, what they care about.
See how you can help make their hopes a reality. And talk to each other.
Find out and talk about what your hopes for God’s kingdom on earth are and
think about how you can contribute to this.
So where does the church fit into all this? What is not often acknowledged is
our role as vital partners in civil society. As a church, we are often uniquely
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