This collection is open for research.
Onsite storage.
Unique time-based media items have been reformatted and are available onsite via links in the container list. Commercial materials are not routinely digitized.
The records of the Re-Imagining Community consist of organizational newsletters and other publications; audio cassette recordings of the annual Re-Imagining conferences and video recordings of responses to the 1993 conference; records pertaining to various aspects of the annual conference including financial, program, registration, and publicity materials as well as meeting minutes and correspondence; and administrative records including a Certificate of Incorporation, an Article of Dissolution, and records of the Coordinating Council, including press, personal, and denominational responses to the 1993 conference.
This series contains the Quarterly Newsletter from 1994 through 2000 and 2003, as well as other publications.
Audio and video materials, 1993 -- 2016
This series contains audio cassette recordings of the Re-Imagining Conference from 1993 through 2003 (no conference was held in 1997; audio files not available for the 2000 conference but can be found at the Minnesota Historical Society), responses to the 1993 Re-Imagining Conference on two video cassettes titled "General Assembly Report concerning Re-Imagining Conference" and "Ted Koppel (Nightline); MacNeil/Lehrer," and a DVD titled, "Interviews by Sherry Jordon."
Re-Imagining Events, 1988 -- 2003
This series contains copies of organizational records pertaining to various aspects of the annual conference, including financial information, meeting minutes, correspondence, program material, registration information, publicity material, evaluations, and materials related to speakers, exhibitors, and volunteers, among other records.
Administrative records, 1993 -- 2003
This series contains administrative records of the Re-Imagining Community, including a Certificate of Incorporation, an Article of Dissolution, correspondence, minutes, publicity materials, and other records. The majority of records concern the Coordinating Council, the governing body of the Community, including press, personal, and denominational responses to the 1993 conference.
Archives of Women in Theological Scholarship (AWTS)
This collection is arranged in four series: Publications, Audio and video materials, Re-Imagining Events, and Administrative records.
This collection is open for research.
Onsite storage.
Unique time-based media items have been reformatted and are available onsite via links in the container list. Commercial materials are not routinely digitized.
Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Information concerning copyright, fair use, and reproduction requests can be consulted at Columbia's Copyright Advisory Office.
Item description, AWTS: The Re-Imagining Community records, 1988-2016, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
Re-Imagining Collection, Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University. [holds 2013-2023 materials] https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/reimagining#aspace_b78072066f44af9e9c39d52969e6d9d5
Oral interviews with people involved in the 1993 conference may be found online at the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture at Duke University: https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/reimagining_aspace_f08d141f66b3e7894d65cdf5c3b4efc6
Re-Imagining Community. Re-Imagining Community records. Minnesota Historical Society. http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00874.xml
Re-imagining conferences from 1993-2003 may be found online at the Minnesota Historical Society: http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00874.xml
Re-Imagining Community. Presbyterian Historical Society. https://prestohost68.inmagic.com/Presto/content/Detail.aspx?ctID=Y2RiNWNkNzctNWJhOS00Z jk1LTk4ZTgtNDZmNGYyNGFhZGMx&rID=MjA4NjE=&qrs=RmFsc2U=&q=KHJlLWltYWdpbmluZ yk=&qcf=Y2RiNWNkNzctNWJhOS00Zjk1LTk4ZTgtNDZmNGYyNGFhZGMx&ph=VHJ1ZQ==&b ckToL=VHJ1ZQ==&rrtc=VHJ1ZQ==
The Re-Imagining Community donated its records to the Archives of Women in Theological Scholarship in 1999. Subsequent donations of material were made in 2001-2005.
Columbia University Libraries, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary
Folded materials were flattened and newspaper clippings were photocopied on acid free paper. Staples, rubber bands, and metal clips were removed. Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. The finding aid was created by Leslie Reyman in 2001, revised by Elizabeth Russey in 2002, revised with additions by Ruth Tonkiss Cameron in 2005, edited by Leah Edelman in 2021 and updated with suggestions from Sherry Jordon in 2024.
2021-01-20 PDF converted to EAD and description updated by Leah Edelman.
2021-12-20 Digital object links added to Series 2 by Kevin Schlottman and Leah Edelman.
The Re-imagining Community was a grassroots, ecumenical movement that was organized to challenge what it saw as a patriarchal church hierarchy, promoting justice and equality in the church and society as a whole. The Community, centered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, called for the revitalization of the Christian church.
The Re-Imagining Community was an outgrowth of a "global theological colloquium" held in November 1993 in Minneapolis, Minnesota that gathered women, scholars, and church leaders together to address the goals of the World Council of Churches report, Ecumenical Decade: Churches in Solidarity with Women. Mary Ann Lundy, who worked in the national office of the Presbyterian Church, first had the idea to hold the conference five years earlier in 1988. As Lundy began to garner support for her plan, a group of women at a retreat in Minnesota chose the name "re-imagining," trying to capture the idea of a new image in the church. A group of nearly 150 volunteers, both clergy and laypersons, worked together to plan, produce, and implement the ReImagining Conference. It drew 2,200 people from around the world. The conference was sponsored by the Minnesota, Greater Minneapolis, and St. Paul Area Councils of Churches and supported partially with funds from several denominations. In 1993 the Christian Century listed the heightened involvement of women in the church as one of the top ten religious stories of the year. Unfortunately, the Re-Imagining movement encountered hostility and backlash from groups within several denominations, including the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA). They, and other conservative critics, charged that the conference was heretical and sought to prevent church funds from supporting any further Re-Imagining activities. The PCUSA called for the resignation of Mary Ann Lundy in 1994. Ironically, it was these actions that sparked the call to continue the Re-Imagining experience. In February 1994, nine United Methodist clergy and laywomen met and drafted a statement to the press, "A Time of Hope, A Time of Threat" with 800 endorsements. After a number of discussions and debates, in September 1994, the Re-Imagining Community was incorporated with a coordinating council of lay and clergy volunteers to continue the work begun in 1993. The Re-Imagining Community sponsored six more conferences, published a quarterly journal and several books, taught classes on feminist theology at local churches, and organized small groups across the country. A final "Gathering" in 2003 celebrated ten years of Re-Imagining and encouraged the movement to continue in other ways. The Re-Imagining Community officially disbanded in 2003.
The Re-Imagining Community was re-established as a non-profit in 2014 with two goals: to preserve its history and to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 1993 conference. To achieve the first goal, the community digitized the seven Re-Imagining conferences (which were on cassette tapes) and Dr. Sherry Jordon, associate professor at the University of St. Thomas, conducted over seventy oral interviews with planners, participants, and presenters at the 1993 conference. The Re-Imagining Community also developed a website and collected materials to share with various archives. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first conference in 1993, the Re-Imagining Community partnered with churches, universities, a seminary, and a spirituality center to offer a variety of events. These included worship services, a jazz mass, a conference on non-violence, and presentations by theologians including Dr. Carol P. Christ, Dr. Judith Plaskow, Dr. Melanie L. Harris, Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, and Dr. Mary Farrell Bednarowski. Having completed these goals, the Re-Imagining Community formally dissolved as a non-profit in 2024.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
| Genre/Form | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sound recordings | CLIO Catalog | ArchiveGRID |
| Video recordings (physical artifacts) | CLIO Catalog | ArchiveGRID |
| Name | ||
| Re-imagining Community -- Archives | CLIO Catalog | ArchiveGRID |