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87 Notes to chapter 6 are on pp. 138-45. This chapter will examine the development and work of the Task Force on the Changing Roles of Women and Men in Church and Society (tfwm). The sources used for this examination are, as in other chapters, parts of the official record. Archived minutes of meetings, letters, memoranda, The Observer and the ROPs are the primary sources. As with the rest of this book, this window into The United Church of Canada’s history is meant as just that, a window. This is a partial history that will help with further exploration into the United Church’s work, particularly concerning gender issues and sexism as part of our North American culture’s system of oppressions. During the 1970s, a shift occurred regarding the degree of concern the United Church expressed for the status of women. In 1970, the Steering Committee on Concerns submitted to General Council a list of priorities dividing the concerns of the United Church into three categories—high, medium and low priority status. Of the forty-two items, five were given low priority status. “Status of women” was one of these five (ROP 1970:120). However , this was soon to change. Notably, in 1974, the Toronto Conference recommended that General Council establish a task force on the status of women employed in the Church.1 In June 1974, the Task Force of the Division of Mission in Canada on Women and Partnership Between Men and Women in Church and Society met for the first time, chaired by Dr Harriet Christie. Fourteen women and four men composed this group at its first meeting.2 The purpose of this task force was to study women’s roles, primarily within the United Church, and to work for equal treatment of women and men within existing Church structures. The initial recommendations from the Division of Mission in Canada regarding the functions of the task force were: 1. To develop a philosophy and desirable goals for the Division of Mission in Canada regarding the role of women. 2. To examine the present situation in The United Church of Canada re: i. The involvement of women in decision making bodies in the Church. chapter vi Case Study: The Task Force on the Changing Roles of Women and Men in Church and Society ii. The attitudes which prevent growing partnerships between men and women. iii. The involvement of women in professional work in the Church. 3. To be informed regarding issues in society which arise because of discrimination , on the grounds of sex or marital status and, where considered wise, recommend action or take action on behalf of the Division of Mission in Canada to seek to remove the cause of discrimination . 4. To seek to bring the concern of the Church for freedom, equality and partnership for all people to bear upon the movements in the country working for a change in laws, business practices and attitudes towards women.3 The task force decided that their emphasis should, at least initially, be on the role of women in the United Church. Later, the issue of partnership between men and women would be discussed.4 The name of the task force did not reflect this priority. The power of naming and who was to name this group was to be an ongoing issue. Historically, women have not had the power of public voice and, therefore, the power to name their experiences and the power to shape society’s responses to issues that affect women.5 As women in the United Church began to gain the voice with which to express their experiences, many of them worked to self-name. With these articulated goals and functions, the task force began a liberal feminist examination of women within the United Church. By this I mean that their focus was on structural equity reform; they were concerned primarily with such issues as employment equity, equal pay legislation and balanced gender representation on committees. A critique of the United Church structure, supported by empirical data, was an important step toward understanding some of the ways in which sexism functions. An examination and critique of the nature of the Church’s structure itself would come later. By their fourth meeting, the group had discovered data indicating that men were receiving more financial support from the United Church for education than women.6 A related subject concerned the number of women employed in the head office of the...

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