"Women Together" reaches another Milestone

Excitement was in the air at the recent gathering of St. Paul’s women and their guests. We met in the Great Hall on March 1st and enjoyed a delicious catered Italian dinner. The room was all ‘a buzz’ waiting for our speaker! But more on this later.

Our (almost) monthly meetings this year have sparked quite an interest in learning more about the spirituality we have in common, and about diversity of other faith traditions. We are finding ourselves caught up in a surprising learning momentum; the quality of our speakers and the content of their programs have been beyond expectations! So far this year we’ve heard a wide range of programs on the spiritual continuum, from “Celebrating the Holy in the Ordinary” to “Buddhist Meditation”. Our speakers range from authors, clinicians, and professors, and even a Buddhist nun.

I said earlier we’re learning more about the spirituality we have in common. We’re exploring the elements of our shared faith experience while opening ourselves up more to the diversity that exists all around us. It’s pretty awesome. This happens in the context of women eating supper and visiting together, listening to an enlightening speaker, and discussing the program afterwards. And, we’re in and out in about 1½ hours.

Here are some of the written evaluation comments from recent meetings:

• “Enjoyed the mix - socializing, food, and content of meeting.”

• “Wonderful! Very professional and thought provoking.”

• “Another great presentation. I so appreciate the opportunity to come together with other women.”

• “So glad to find out about this group of faithful women.”


• “Wonderful, as usual. I look forward to this every month.”

• “This meeting is always a calming, centering experience. I look forward to it.”

None of this would happen without the dedication and commitment of many volunteers. They handle everything from publicity to sign-ups to ordering and serving meals and greeting guests with warm hospitality. They work with the speakers ahead of time, and analyze the evaluations afterwards. Our volunteers are making a significant contribution to ensure the continuation of this ministry. 

Earlier I mentioned why the room was all ‘a buzz’ before our last speaker.  We had a great opportunity to hear our Cathedral’s own, Dr. Elisabeth Koenig, speak to us about a 14^th century mystic known as Julian of Norwich. The milestone I referred to in this blog post title is that 65 women attended this meeting, and couldn’t wait to hear about this lesser-known mystic. The room was absolutely quiet during the program; so much of the information was brand new to us. We were delighted!

That’s how it’s been with all of our meetings! I want to be sure you know about this wonderful ministry. We hear these great speakers, enjoy a lovely dinner, and spend time with amazing women. All women are welcome, whether St. Paul’s members or not. Check out our webpage at http://www.stpaulcathedral.org/women-together . Even if you don’t want to make a meeting reservation, you can use the ‘comments’ box to ask questions or give us ideas.

See you on campus, and maybe at our next meeting! We won’t meet in April because of Holy Week; our next meeting is May 3rd when we’ll hear an interesting perspective on C. S. Lewis. Watch for details in our publicity.

Warmly, Nancy Tarbell