Monday 21 October 2013

Sheila Graham on WCG

A woman's perspective was always a difficult thing to find in the old Worldwide Church of God.

Long years, and I suspect entire decades would fly past without a woman's name appearing as a byline in such church publications as The Plain Truth, The Good News or Tomorrow's World.

Even when the topic being addressed was women, it was invariably a member of the male gender who was commissioned to write the piece - and often prime examples of aging misogyny.

I once stumbled on an early, rare exception in what was probably a 1950s issue of The Good News. The writer was Isabel Hoeh, wife of evangelist Herman, and her contribution consisted of - and how predictable was this - recipes for the Days of Unleavened Bread.

But even in the the most repressive, role-stereotypical sect, there are usually remarkable and influential women to be found, even if only a handful, who wield great influence. Studies in Mormonism demonstrate the power of an undeclared matriarchy that, even in polygamous times, exerted unexpected influence over high status males.

What was notable in WCG however was how very few 'strong women' were apparent. Who would you nominate, apart from Loma Armstrong and Ramona Martin, the wives of Herbert W. Armstrong?

The announced purpose of Sheila Graham's recently released book, From Fear to Faith, is to provide a window on women's experiences in this unique sectarian movement.

Mrs. Graham is well qualified to do this as a longstanding, well-connected member, familiar with many of the leading lights in the WCG over many years. She has actively attempted to elicit stories and personal experiences from women in the church, both those who like her stayed through the transition to Grace Communion International, and others who moved on or out.

I've never met Sheila Graham, but have always admired her obvious tenacity. Once on the old Ambassador Watch site I suggested, somewhat tongue in cheek, that she'd have made an excellent replacement for Pastor General Joe Jr., if only he could be prised from his well-padded throne. Not that there was the faintest chance of that happening, but one can always dream. On reflection I think she would have been ideal for the task as a person capable of empathy and humility, qualities that are not exactly a strong suit among church leaders.

Whether Mrs. Graham has entirely succeeded in producing the book she intended, I'm not quite sure. Despite an energetic campaign to bring on board a variety of women's voices, far fewer seem to have stepped up to the mark than might have been hoped for. But this is a minor quibble. Why?

Well, this is the first book by a significant female figure in the movement's history. If I'm any judge, it's a carefully balanced account that strives to be both objective and respectful to all concerned. At times this means that it lacks a certain sharp edge, but I'm not complaining. A lack of cutting invective makes a refreshing change - and I've been known for a bit of unnecessarily cutting invective myself from time to time.

The book is all the stronger for Sheila Graham's own personal anecdotes of life as a single mother in a body that paid little attention to women in general, let alone those it deemed marginal. That Mrs. Graham has chosen to remain in GCI shouldn't be an issue for those of us who chose differently; what is important is that she has chosen, as we all have, and done so with integrity and honesty. The destination, as they say, is not as important as the journey.

From Fear to Faith is available only as an ebook. This ensures that it can be downloaded for next to nothing (0.99c).

And download it you probably should. Even though its target market is women (I mean, with that cover could it imply anything else!?) blokes could well profit from a sneaky read as well. Sheila Graham's perspective is a long overdue one that everyone with a WCG background, both women and men, should be willing to hear and to learn from.

From Fear to Faith (Kindle edition)

3 comments:

  1. Back ages ago, Sheila Graham was my guest at a Spokesmans Widows Night in Gladewater, Texas. An elderly minister named Norvell Pyle ran the show. I have been around this place too long.

    The male-dominated Armstrongite government preserved its status by carefully selecting those women at AC who were recognized as having the potential for leadership and influence. And, as one would expect, it was pretty Neanderthalian. The women who were selected as having spiritual strengths also just happened to be the most attractive women in the student body. Strange how it turns out that leadership and physical beauty tracked so closely together. The opportunity for sociological studies is gone. So I can just support this anecdotally.

    So you can imagine the kind of female leadership that was selected for given this set of criteria. Basically, women whose chief asset was physical appearance and foresaw their ambitions being fulfilled through being compliant ornaments. And this was the example set for the female children of a lesser god who were in the local congregations.

    These golden girls tended to be snooty because they knew that their market value in the WCG was high. Sort of like Texas, self-absorbed,. high school cheerleaders. They did not spend much time with lesser beings. But on the other hand some of the more modern, issues oriented, activist female students could be really irritating.

    Armstrongism was a strange world for women.

    -- Neo

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  2. So, the WCG 'politically correct' women weren't ofay with you, yet neither were the'golden girls' or 'activist female students' ?!.....Tells a story-to me.

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  3. I would not call the Golden Girls politically correct. They were clever about the use of their personal assets. But I was not trying to do a comprehensive characterization. The Golden Girls were a small clique. And the irritating activists were a small clique. I was not attempting an all wise, all encompassing statement. Neo (Otagosh: I am doing this from a blackberry. Things keep going wrong. If you get more than one comment this is the one I intended to submit)

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