{"id":7214,"date":"2006-08-01T23:15:14","date_gmt":"2006-08-02T04:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=7214"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:33:54","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:33:54","slug":"5063","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2006\/08\/01\/5063\/","title":{"rendered":"New Book to Highlight Significant Roles of Women"},"content":{"rendered":"
CHICAGO, IL (August 1, 2006) – In the 1890s, Caroline (Lena) Sahlstrom assumed a position as the first woman member on the North Park faculty, established the first music department, and through her on-campus presence and accomplishments encouraged parents to send their daughters for higher education.
\n
\nIn the 1990s, Flor Retamal united Hispanic women by co-founding Hispanic Covenant Women Ministries. Catherine Gilliard was elected to the denomination\u2019s Executive Board, eventually becoming the first African American woman to chair the board.<\/p>\n

Women Ministries is compiling a book that will honor the lives of these women and 12 other individuals or groups of women who have contributed to the life of the Evangelical Covenant Church over the last 100 years. The book will be available in 2007 during Triennial XII to be held August 9 -12 in Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been thousands of women who have done amazing things,\u201d says Ruth Hill, executive director of Women Ministries, \u201cbut we chose these 15 because they have uniquely impacted our denomination, changing its direction and opening doors for women to serve in all the areas where God has called and gifted them.<\/p>\n

A chapter will be dedicated to each individual or group of women, with different writers for each chapter. The featured women include laypeople and clergy. In addition to Sahlstrom, Retamal, and Gilliard, the women are listed below by the decade during which they began the work for which they are being recognized:<\/p><\/div>\n