‘Actions of Spirit: Faith and Roe v. Wade’

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Interfaith spiritual leaders, including Rev. Nan L. White, RVUUF’s Developmental Minister, discuss Roe v. Wade and how they support and counsel the decisions of their membership, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, July 15, in Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF)’s Carpenter Hall.

Special guest panelists include:

  • Toni M. Bond Leonard : Scholar-Activist/Reproductive Justice Expert, Co-Founder and former President/CEO of Black Women for Reproductive Justice, Past Board President of SisterSong, and one of the 12 Black women who coined the term “reproductive justice” in 1994.
  • Rev. Nan L. White was the first woman ordained in Birmingham, Alabama in 1991. She left that faith due to discrimination of her sexual identity. In 1999, after discovering Unitarian Universalism, she helped start a new congregation in Beaufort, South Carolina and served as Minister for 15 years. receiving the honorary title of Minister Emerita. In 2014, she moved to Ashland, Oregon to become the Developmental Minister of the Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
  • Fr. Joel S. Garavaglia-Maiorano is an Evangelical Episcopal priest and Director of Pastoral Services at Rogue Valley Manor. Prior to serving Southern Oregon, Fr. Joel was the Professor/ Chair of Heath at Kansas Wesleyan University and managed Pastoral Care at Hays Medical Center.
  • Joshua Boettiger has been the rabbi and spiritual leader of Temple Emek Shalom since August 2012. He is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, and is a Rabbis Without Borders Fellow. He has served on the Boards of Rabbis for Human Rights North America, Vermont Interfaith Power and Light, and was the Vermont coordinator of the Jewish Justice Initiative. He has taught at Williams College, Southern Vermont College, and been a scholar in residence at different locations around the country.

“Actions of Spirit: Faith and Roe v. Wade” is part of OSF’s “Living Ideas, Art and Community in Dialogue” series. Cost to attend is $10 for members and $8 for youths age 6 to 17. Tickets are available at the OSF Box Office.

On Saturday, July 16, the series continues with “AFFINITY: A quality that makes people or things suited to each other,” 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. New Place. Participants will gather in community dialogue and digest Roe, then breakout and engage with fellow participants in Affinity Spaces. Groups will reconvene and share. “AFFINITY …” is a free ticketed event; tickets are available at the OSF Box Office.