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Virginia Baptist Women in Ministry announces plans for a gala dinner to celebrate its 20th year of organization on September 26, 2008, at the Jepson Alumni Center, University of Richmond. The dinner will feature the introduction of a new publication, displays and pictures from across the years, and an address by Susan M. Shaw on the theme “Transitions: Celebrating Our Past and Envisioning Our Future.”

Dr. Shaw is associate professor and director of women’s studies at Oregon State University, a native of Georgia, and the author of five books. Her most recent books are God Speaks to Us, Too: Southern Baptist Women on Church, Home and Society and Women Worldwide: Transnational Perspectives on Women. She received her PhD from Southern Seminary in 1987.

Virginia Baptist Women in Ministry sponsored its first conference in 1988 at the University of Richmond on the theme “Empowerment.” The organization arose in response to the pressures from the national denominational limiting the role of women in the church, in particular its efforts to suppress the growing movement to ordain women ministers and give them ministry opportunities. The denial of women ministers was an expression of the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention, which primarily manifested itself by political exclusion and an emphasis on biblical conservatism.

The second oldest such state organization, VBWIM through the years has published a journal, held conferences and workshops each year, and has nurtured the collegiality and leadership of women ministers in Virginia. In the course of twenty years the membership has included several hundred women and men who supported the aims of the group.

The anniversary celebration will open with a reception at 4:30 at the Jepson Center, followed by dinner at 6 pm. The program will feature the leaders of the present and the past and the address by Dr. Susan M. Shaw. The cost of the dinner is $35 for members and guests, and $20 for seminarians. Reservations must be paid in advance. Reservation deadline is September 19.