Another interesting element involving perspective surrounded the fall week of prayer is the series featured all women speakers. In the past PUC has used a series format when planning the week of prayer. Last fall the religion department headed the week of prayer and the previous year welcomed a group of successful business people. Each group provides a unique perspective on what is familiar ground to all. This year we realized that we had never heard from our faculty and staff women, so we thought it would be a great way of continuing the series.
None can deny that having only female speakers is an uncommon occasion.
Week of Prayer speakers are difficult to come by, and female speakers are even more rare. In the context of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, women have only begun to enter the realm of preaching and ministering. But slowly the expectations for women are changing, and many young women are thinking about going into the ministry to serve. Despite the fact that the week welcomed only female speakers, the women were careful not to choose topics that strictly addressed female concerns. They spoke of no gender issues in their representation, stating that they were just a group of speakers that happened to be women.