Christian Women Concerned was the first explicitly religious feminist organisation in Australia. It was founded in 1968 by a small

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

group of feminist scholars that included Marie Tulip,

Dorothy McRae-McMahon Dorothy McRae-McMahon (born 1934) is a retired Australian Uniting Church minister and activist, formerly Minister at Pitt Street Uniting Church—known for its human rights work and local "street level" activism. McRae-McMahon has been a feminist ...

and Jean Skuse. The organisation played a significant role in the establishment of the Commission on the Status of Women in the Church by the Australian Council of Churches and published the

Christian feminist Christian feminism is a school of Christian theology which uses the viewpoint of a Christian to promote and understand morally, socially, and spiritually the equality of men and women. Christian theologians argue that contributions by women and ...

magazine ''Magdalene'' from 1973 to 1987.

History

Christian Women Concerned was formed in 1968. It was one of a number of Christian feminist groups established between the late 1960s and the early 1990s, that included

Women and the Australian Church Women and the Australian Church (WATAC) is an Australian ecumenical religious organisation that was founded in 1984. It was originally a Catholic initiative, being a national project of Australian religious men and women. It is now an ecumenic ...

(1982) and the

Movement for the Ordination of Women The Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW) was the name used by organisations in England and Australia that campaigned for the ordination of women as Deacon#Anglicanism, deacons, Priest#Anglican or Episcopalian, priests and bishops in the Angl ...

(Australia) (1983). It sought to bring women together and make feminism more generally acceptable in an environment where the

women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resulted in g ...

was seen by some as a threat to families. Christian Women Concerned started as a social justice group, and was actively involved in programs for social change, advocating peace, justice for Aboriginal people, and the elimination of poverty, prejudice, and violence against women. Arising from

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

traditions, it soon became interested in how Christian teaching contributed to women's oppression. Many of its founders, including Marie Tulip,

and Jean Skusehad prominent roles in the church over the next decades, challenging

gender discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is in ...

in the

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost a ...

and beyond. It has been noted that this was "the first time that there was a discrete Christian feminist voice articulating women's oppression in mainstream Christian churches and tying that oppression to others in a systematic analysis." Christian Women Concerned began publishing ''

Magdalene (newsletter) ''Magdalene: A Christian Newsletter for Women '' was an Australian Christian feminist magazine published by the Sydney group Christian Women Concerned. Fifteen volumes of the title were published over a 10-year period, Volume 1 (May 1973)-3/4 19 ...

'' in 1973. Marie Tulip was the editor of the magazine which ran successfully until 1987. Australian academic and sociologist of religion, Kathleen McPhillips, described ''Magdalene'' as "a powerful forum for discussion, change and creativity reflecting the early challenges of second wave feminism and its extensive social justice program." In the early 1970s Christian Women Concerned influenced the Australian Council of Churches' decision to establish the Commission on the Status of Women in the Church. It invited feminists of international renown such as Rosemary Radford Reuther to its major conferences and was generously funded by the

Whitlam government The Whitlam government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when Labor defeated the McMahon government at the 1972 Australian federal elect ...

during

International Women's Year International Women's Year (IWY) was the name given to 1975 by the United Nations. Since that year March 8 has been celebrated as International Women's Day, and the United Nations Decade for Women, from 1976 to 1985, was also established. History ...

in 1975. Many members of the group already had associations with the

Women's Movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and women. Such issues are women's ...

in Australia during the 1960s. Christian Women Concerned would also give rise to the first Australian

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

women's activist group, Anglican Women Concerned, which formed in 1975.

References

External links

Magdalene (newsletter) on JSTOR Open Community CollectionsUniversity of Divinity Digital Collections

Mannix Library Mannix Library is an academic theological library located in East Melbourne, Australia. The library specialises in the areas of theology, philosophy, biblical studies and associated disciplines, and supports teaching and research at Catholic Th ...

{{authority control 1968 establishments in Australia Organisations based in Australia Religious organisations based in Australia Christian organisations based in Australia Organizations established in 1968 Religious organizations established in the 1960s