What's Happening

March 22, 2021, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued the following statement, calling for an immediate end to the violence against Asian Americans and people from the Pacific Islands, and for the enactment of strong legislation against these hate crimes. 

We join in the national call for an immediate end to acts of violence against our Asian-American and Pacific Island sisters and brothers. We were horrified by the mass murder in Atlanta last week of eight individuals – seven of them women, including six women of Asian descent. The killings evince racism and misogyny, pointing to a hate crime.

On the day of these mass murders, a report was issued that showed nearly 3,800 hate incidents have been reported against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders nationwide since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Most of these hateful acts were directed at Asian women who encountered spitting, name-calling, shunning, refusal of service, and physical assault as they went about their daily life and work. 

No one should be subjected to such hateful and violent behavior. Each of us is made in the image of God and precious in God’s sight and none exempt from our nation’s promise of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  

We call on Congress to enact strong hate-crime legislation to ensure those rights are protected by law. And we pray for a profound conversion of heart among us all that we may root out the racism that continues to cause such injury to our sisters and brothers of color and to erode the moral fabric of our nation. 
 

March 20, 2021, Adrian, Michigan – Acclaimed author Sister Christine Schenk, CSJ, explores the history of women’s roles in early Christianity in her workshop, Women in the Church: Past, Present, and Future. The virtual workshop, presented through Weber Retreat and Conference Center, is from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 17, 2021. The schedule includes a break for lunch.

Sister Christine’s award-winning 2017 book, Crispina and Her Sisters, looks into the authority that women exercised in the early Church and, through visual imagery found on burial artifacts, demonstrates how these early disciples were far more influential than is commonly understood.

The founding Director of FutureChurch, an international church reform organization, Sister Christine also served as a nurse midwife to low-income families, a community organizer, and an award-winning researcher and writer. She writes a column, “Simply Spirit,” for The National Catholic Reporter.

The cost to attend the workshop is $30. Registration is required to receive the live stream link and is available at www.webercenter.org; click on “programs.” Registrations may also be made be contacting Weber Center at 517-266-4000 or [email protected]. Limited scholarships are available.