(To be read in unison.)

 

I BELIEVE IN GOD
who created woman and man in God’s
own image
who created the world
and gave both sexes
the care of the earth. 

I BELIEVE IN JESUS
child of God
chosen of God
born of the woman Mary
who listened to women and liked them
who stayed in their homes
who discussed justice with them
who was followed and financed
by woman disciples. 

I BELIEVE IN JESUS
who discussed theology with a woman
at a well
and first confided in her
his messiahship
who motivated her to go and tell
her great news to the city. 

I BELIEVE IN JESUS
who received anointing from a woman
who rebuked the men guests who scorned her
I believe in Jesus
who said this woman will be remembered
for what she did
minister of Jesus. 

I BELIEVE IN JESUS
who healed a woman on the Sabbath
and made her whole
because she was
a human being.
I believe in Jesus
who spoke of God
as a woman seeking the lost coin
as a woman who swept
seeking the lost. 

I BELIEVE IN JESUS
who thought of pregnancy and birth
with reverence
not as punishment
but as wrenching event
a metaphor for transformation
born again
anguish-into-joy.

I BELIEVE IN JESUS
who spoke of himself
as a mother hen
who would gather her chicks
under her wing. 

I BELIEVE IN JESUS
who appeared first to Mary Magdalene
who sent her with the bursting
message GO AND TELL. 

I BELIEVE IN THE WHOLENESS
OF THE SAVIOR
in whom there is neither
Jew nor Greek
slave nor free
male nor female
for we are all one
in salvation. 

I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
as she moves over the waters
of creation
and over the earth. 

I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
the woman spirit of God
who like a hen
created us
and gave us birth
and covers us
with her wings. 

Rachel C. Wahlberg
from Prayers & Poems, Songs & Stories
Ecumenical Decade: Churches in Solidarity With Women