CSW delegates suggest ways to build up the church and be responsive to the needs of women and young people

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NEW YORK — An event at the Church of the Covenant brought people from around the country together for an intergenerational conversation and sparked several ideas for improving the greater church.

The event, consisting largely of small group discussion, was part of the itinerary for a Presbyterian-led joint delegation in town for the 69th session of the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women.

The Presbyterian Ministry at the U.N. and Presbyterian Women recruited nearly 70 delegates, ranging from their teens to their 90s, and have been walking alongside them during CSW69, a global event focusing on gender equality and women’s rights.

“Faith, Gender, and Advocacy: An Intergenerational Conversation” was planned by young participants from the Presbyterian delegation as a CSW-adjacent event.

“We hope to show the wider church community that the church is still alive, active, involved and youthful, regardless of individual age!” Clare Balsan, Advocacy Associate for PMUN, said during the leadup to the event.

The delegates’ voices filled the fellowship hall as they sat at tables and discussed things like how the church has evolved, what the church should be putting its energy into and what young people need most from the church.

After the small-group chats, participants came back together to report on what they had heard. Some of the suggestions for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) included:

• Be more vocal about its stances on social justice, including being loving and accepting.
• Put more resources into education and travel experiences for young people to participate in the worldwide church.
• Encourage young people to take leadership roles and to express their opinions.
• Update the image of Presbyterian Women to attract younger people and show that the organization’s scope includes advocacy.
• Address budgets and more resources for young people and women specifically.
• Be more open to people from different parts of society; don’t critique what people are wearing.
• Make sure there is diversity in the leadership ranks; see that marginalized people and people from other countries can be empowered to lead the church in a different direction.

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Participants also discussed realities, such as fewer families attending church together, and areas where the church is doing well, such as being more environmentally conscious and embracing the LGBTQIA+ community.

Although much of the report-outs focused on the church, participants reflecting on the event talked more about the interactions with each other.

“It was a wonderful discussion,” the oldest delegate, Betty Jones, 96, said after chatting with 19-year-old delegate Ada Ritchie.

Over the years, Jones has strived to be a mentor and supporter to less experienced delegates. After meeting Ritchie at an earlier event, “I made a point to make sure that she's involved, that she has her place at the table,” Jones said.

Delegate Kennedy Perry, a recent graduate of Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, said the intergenerational conversation caused her think about cherished relatives from her own family and the challenges they’ve experienced in society and how she’s been able to excel in education.

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“I think about generationally as a whole, for myself, the importance of having those conversations,” she said.

In a post-event interview, Perry also spoke of the importance of being an influence, noting that the church is the people, and mentioned that faith and the church have been involved in many social issues and movements.

Delegate Margaret Ruthven, a student at Princeton Theological Seminary, said she found the overall conversation to be “extremely valuable,” noting that “we had a wealth of knowledge at our table from multiple generations.”

The conversation also reminded her of this lesson: “Something that I've noticed in my church and that I felt was appreciated here in this conversation was that honoring and appreciating the wisdom of those who come before us while also including … younger adults and hearing both sides … it’s really important.”

During the interaction, Ruthven, who’s under the care of the Presbytery of Tampa Bay, heard about some young adult programs that she’d love to see brought back.

“I was like, ‘Wow, I didn't even know those existed,’” she said. This event was a great opportunity to learn “that I don't have to reinvent the wheel. I can just add to it or make it a little bit better.”