Humans of the Uniting Church
Emelia Haskey
March 5, 2024
This year, we’re excited to be featuring some of the inspirational people who make up the Uniting Church. Check out the growing hub of stories here. If you know of someone with a great story to tell, contact us and nominate them to be featured.
In this special International Women's Day themed edition of Humans of the Uniting Church, we catch up with three Uniting Church women across three generations. Below we meet Emelia Haskey who is the new Youth Worker at Brougham Place Uniting Church. Catch our other two interviews with Alison Xamon and Ann Sutton.
"Having women represented in leadership roles is incredibly important - seeing a female minister for the first time sparked my own curiosity about ministry"
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What’s your Uniting Church story?
I was raised Catholic and always had a belief in God, but fell out of faith in my teenage years. It wasn’t until my final year of university that I felt like I was missing something, which led to me re-reading a Bible I had gotten in high school. Reading the beatitudes inspired me to start attending church again, and I chose to go to a Uniting Church because I resonated with its progressiveness. I started attending Brougham Place Uniting Church in January of 2022 and never looked back!
The UN theme for International Women’s Day in 2024 is Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress. How do we better invest in women, both in the Church and in our society?
Having women represented in leadership roles is incredibly important - seeing a female minister for the first time sparked my own curiosity about ministry, and through the support of other female ministers I’ve been able to pursue a call to ministry. Investing in women means treating women as equals, not diversity tokens, and giving them tools like affordable education and female mentors so they can reach their potential.
How can we better support young women to become leaders in the church?
Encouraging women to preach the gospel, serve on church council, join boards and committees, or become worship leaders empowers them and debunks myths that women are best suited to children's and families ministry. Making theological study more accessible to women (especially those who may be working or raising children) is also incredibly important, as women academics often challenge traditional theological ideas and ways of thinking.
What’s the greatest gift of generation Z?
Gen Z has a real theological curiosity and a great openness to faith and spirituality. More and more young people are asking the big questions about religion and that’s wonderful!
What's one thing you would like the rest of the Uniting Church to pray for?
It’s critical that we continue to pray and raise our voices for the people of Palestine during this time of great suffering. We must be a church that yearns for justice and puts our words into action.
What are your hopes for the future UCA?