(COSROW) Status and Role of Women, Commission on the

Women now make up the majority of worshiping members in local congregations and an increasingly high 1 percentage of elders, deacons, local pastors, and local church leaders, yet women’s unique concerns are not always adequately addressed. For this reason, COSROW is tasked with “[Functioning] as an advocate with and on behalf of women individually and collectively within The United Methodist Church…to redress iniquities of the past and to prevent further inequities against women” (¶2102). The UNY COSROW team 5 has developed a three-step plan to achieve this: reporting, advocating, and connecting. By researching 6 and reporting the realities of the present and past injustice, advocating for a more equitable, inclusive

7 and reconciled future, and connecting disciples who are women together in solidarity along the way, 8 COSROW empowers the women of Upper New York to live out their respective callings without historical 9 and present sexism and prejudicial barriers that keep women from their full capacities as Christ-following leaders.

We can report that there were 842 registrants for our Annual Conference that was held virtually October

13 6 - 8, 2022. Of the registrants, 464 identified as female, 372 identified as male, and six identified as 14 nonbinary. As expected, the split of clergy to laity 15 was about 50/50 (Appendix A). A whopping 91% of registrants identified as white (Appendix B). While we do not ask speakers to identify their age when they speak on the floor of Annual Conference, it was a required field at registration. Only 28 young adults and one youth registered, meaning nearly 97% of registrants were older than 35 (Appendix C).

No demographics were provided by speakers during the clergy session, laity session, or ordination, so the remainder of this report will 27 discuss the plenary sessions. There were 91 unique speakers across the plenary sessions. Only 40% of speakers provided their race, gender, and membership status in their introduction, and nearly 50% did not provide any demographics (Appendix D). While more women registered for Annual Conference than men, almost 10% more speakers identified as men than women. Speakers who identified as clergy or laity were a relatively even split at 29% and 21%, respectively (Appendix E). In line with registration numbers, speakers were overwhelmingly white with only seven speakers identifying as non-white (Appendix F).

Demographics were not collected during registration for Annual Conference in 2021, so no comparisons can be made. Compared to Annual Conference in

2021, fewer speakers identified their demographics last year. In 2021, 67% of speakers provided their race, gender, and membership status in their introduction, while only 40% of speakers did in 2022. Proportionally fewer women spoke during Annual Conference in 2022.

In 2021, 29% of speakers identified as female, and only 20% of speakers identified as female in 2022.

There was a more even split between clergy and lay speakers in 2022 compared to the 46% to 29% ratio in 2021. While fewer speakers identified as white, there was less representation for speakers of color 1 as well.

Although, historically, UNY COSROW has been limited to reporting speaking breakdowns at Annual 4 Conference, our ministry has broadened and grown considerably over the past year. Our own research 5 found that women in UNY desired more opportunities for spiritual renewal, self-care, and sabbath- keeping. To advocate for these concerns, COSROW created two new ministries. First, we created a care 7 package ministry which connects COSROW to women attending women’s retreats at our various 8 conference Camp and Retreat Centers. COSROW care packages are delivered to each woman in 9 attendance, and they include a postcard describing what COSROW is and what it can offer women of UNY, 10 gourmet chocolates, and encouraging, hand-written notes from our COSROW team members. The notes 11 remind the women how much they are loved by God and inform them that the COSROW team is praying for them during their retreat. In the past year alone, we distributed packages to over 150 women and each retreat organizer relayed to us how folks in attendance felt loved and cared for by our packages! 14 Many had never heard of COSROW before receiving our packages and were happy to make the connection.

In 2022 we launched a second ministry: hosting our own women’s retreats. This past Fall, our first event in a series of retreats called “Catch Your Breath” was brought together. Our first retreat was conducted 19 over Zoom over the course of two evenings and was attended by 43 women. The title was “Wisdom-

Seeking Women.” Bishop Susan Hassinger was our keynote speaker, and we were also blessed with reflective moments led by Rev. Heather Williams; Rev. Theresa Eggleston; Rev. Nancy Dibelius; and

Carmen Vianese. Each equipped attendees with spiritual practices they could use in their everyday life to find sabbath and spiritual renewal. Our primary goals were to give women a chance to experience retreat, 24 rest, and renewal and also to connect with one another. This is the start of our effort to create a network of ministry in Upper New York. We are now in the process of planning our next

Sept 29 and 30 from 6:30 pm - 9 pm For more information go to

One area of concern for UNY women, based on our research, is addressing sexual harassment in our churches. COSROW has been in conversation with the UNY Communications Team, and together we are developing ways to address and report the reality of sexual harassment in UNY. This will be a long-term project

2023 and undoubtedly continue into the foreseeable future.

This year has been a year of transition and action for our Conference COSROW team. We believe in women’s ministry and women’s equity at every level of ministry. We acknowledge that inequalities, gender biases, and violence against women are still a reality, even in our Annual Conference. As we broaden and deepen our commitment to a more just future, we ask that you join us in our efforts and find ways to collaborate or integrate our work with your own on the Annual Conference level and in the local church.