 Rev. Hee An Choi, Ph.D., Director Activities, Research, Education | Events | Bibliography | Women in the World 2007 Clergywomen Retention Study | Women in the World 2008 Flier (PDF) A Service of Recognition and Remembrance for Anna Howard Shaw The Center is named for Anna Howard Shaw, who was born in England on February 14, 1847. The Shaw family immigrated to Michigan where Anna, at age fourteen, felt the call to preach and became one of the first women granted a license to preach by the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1878, Shaw became the second woman to graduate from Boston University School of Theology, but she was refused ordination by the New England Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She was one of the first women to be ordained in any branch of Methodism by the New York Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church in 1880. While serving Wesleyan Methodist Church in East Dennis, Massachusetts, Shaw earned a medical degree from Boston University. At age thirty-nine, she broadened her activity from pastoral and healing ministries to also become the "master orator" for social justice concerns, organizing and lecturing throughout the world for the causes of temperance, women’s suffrage, and peace. Shaw was the first ordained woman to preach in Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, and London, and the first woman to deliver a sermon in the State Church of Sweden. The first woman awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for her work as chair of the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Defense during World War I, Shaw was an advocate for the League of Nations covenant just prior to her death in 1919. In 1989, Anna Howard Shaw and Anna Snowden Oliver, the first woman graduate of Boston University School of Theology, were elected posthumously as full members of the former Southern New England Conference of the United Methodist Church. In 2000, Anna was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, NY, birthplace of women's rights. For excerpts from her life, see the 2001 Recognition and Remembrance worship service. A bibliography is available for information
on how to learn more about The Rev. Dr. Anna Howard Shaw.
The Anna Howard Shaw Center at Boston University School of Theology promotes structures and practices that empower women and honor diversity. The Center is named after the Reverend Doctor Anna Howard Shaw, a Methodist minister, medical doctor, and suffragist. Ten years after its founding in 1978, the Shaw Center was designated as the women’s center for the Northeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. Ecumenical in its activities, the Center’s primary goals are in the four following areas: Research – to facilitate and initiate research on the historical roles of women in the church and on women’s past and present contributions to religious/theological studies and to the Christian ministry; Education – to provide educational opportunities on issues and practices relating to women in ministry, mission, and religious/theological studies; Support – to support and encourage both women and men striving for equality of opportunity in ministry, mission, and religious/theological studies; Advocacy – to advocate for full inclusion of women in ministry, mission, and religious studies based on ethical and theological principles as they interact with analyses of personal collective experiences. STATEMENT of CONFESSION & ACTION In the spring of 1999, the Shaw Center and its Advisory Board issued the following statement of Confession and Action: "The Anna Howard Shaw Center and the members of its Advisory Board recognize and confess our historic creation of and participation in racist structures within the Center and the Board. We proudly celebrate the fruits of our historic work to claim the power of women's voices. We acknowledge that this power has primarily benefited white women. We confess that the narrowness of our vision has perpetuated injustice and silenced the voices of many sisters. As Shaw Center and Advisory Board members, we commit to work for the full participation of women of all races by opening ourselves to change and confronting racism within ourselves and our organization. This is our commitment, and we recognize the Divine grace needed for this task. We will do this to strengthen our ministry to all women, both lay and clergy, in the Boston University School of Theology, in the church, and in the world. To faithfully bring forth justice, we will seek and nurture the necessary spiritual resources. We are open to the Anna Howard Shaw Center and Advisory Board becoming a radically different organization." Women and the Word Held each spring, this national preaching event offers women the opportunity to hear other women preach, as well as attend workshops on preaching and worship. Nationally recognized bishops, teachers, artists, and theologians serve as primary leadership. For more information on the Women and the Word celebration, contact the Shaw Center.
Anna Howard Shaw Award This award recognizes those women "who embody those values expressed
in the life of
Anna’s Issues Today This series features periodic lectures that focus on Anna’s concerns that are still with us such as peace, justice, and improving the lives of women and children. Resource Center The Shaw Center’s library devoted to women’s issues includes a wide selection of books, articles, and audiotapes that are available to interested persons. The Shaw library books are included in the Boston University Libraries database in order to make the library more accessible for users. Student Activities Under student leadership, the Shaw Center supports women’s discussion
groups, fall and spring retreats, workshops, presentation/movie series,
and worship services. The Center also provides a comfortable and practical
gathering place for students with coffee, tea, a microwave oven, couches,
and lively conversation.
ACTIVITIES, RESEARCH, and EDUCATION Clergywomen’s Retention Study The Shaw Center under the leadership of Beth Collier, Shaw Scholar, and Margaret Wiborg, the former Director, completed a national study of United Methodist clergywomen. Findings will help the church assess how women see their role as ministers and what informs their decision to remain in the parish or seek other forms of ministry. Copies of the United Methodist Clergywomen Retention Study are available from the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church, (615) 340-7409. Women’s Oral History Project The Oral History Project documents the experiences of women who have been connected with the Boston University School of Theology and/or the United Methodist Church in the New England area. Ten oral histories, recorded on tape with transcriptions, are stored in the School of Theology library for public access. The project has held training events and will continue to provide resources and develop skills to unearth, preserve, and proclaim the histories of women in mission and ministry. Shaw Scholar Each year, a woman doctoral candidate at the School of Theology is designated a Shaw Scholar. The current Shaw Scholar is the Rev. Laurel Scott, who is working on the Women in Immigrant Churches study. The Scholar’s role is to conduct research that relates to the goals of the Shaw Center and to participate in Shaw Center programs. Two recent examples of the work of Shaw Scholars are the Clergywomen’s Retention Study conducted by Beth Collier, and the co-leadership of the Rev. June Goudy at the AHSC’s 1994 Women and the Word. Women’s Study Series In the fall, faculty women lead a series of sessions for lay and clergywomen on topics ranging from "Women’s Sense of Self" to "Women and Power in the Early Church." Celebrating Anna A yearly recognition of Anna Howard Shaw is held on or near her birthday
(February 14) through the giving of Valentines in tribute to those who
emulate Anna’s ministry, and a celebration or worship service at Boston
University. In 1997, the 150th anniversary of Shaw’s birth was
filled with a variety of events commemorating and celebrating women’s contributions
to society. For a copy of the most recent worship service, please
see A Service of Recognition and Remembrance
for Anna Howard Shaw
Publications The AHSC’s newsletter updates its constituency on Shaw Center activities and programs. From Ivied Walls: History of the Edith Buell Club at Boston University School of Theology was published for the University’s sesquicentennial. If you would like to added to our mailing list, please contact us at shawctr@bu.edu.
© Boston University School of Theology This page was last updated on February 2, 2005.
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