About Us

Noha Khoury
Young Adult Intern
(888) 728-7228 x5774

Meet the NNPCW Coordinating Committee (CoCo)

The Spring 2008 CoCo Meeting was full of community building and energizers — including Julie Kimball and Hailee Barnes. Photo by Bridgett N. Cannon
The work of the National Network of Presbyterian College Women is guided by a coordinating committee (CoCo) of twelve college women from  around the country and supported by NNPCW staff.  Guided by NNPCW’s mission, commitments and objectives, these young women are  commissioned to establish goals, prioritize projects and engage in determining new and creative ways to carry out NNPCW's ministry.  You can  Meet current CoCo members and apply for CoCo online.

On behalf of young women, we carry out this mission through the larger ministry of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  NNPCW is a ministry of the Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministries program area of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Our Mission

BFFs Abbi Heimach and Elizabeth McDonald-Zwoyer had this postcard-like picture taken at the 2008 NNPCW Leadership Event in San Francisco. Photo used with permission.We are young women in college connected by our belief in God, seeking to understand what it means to claim a Christian faith that empowers women.

Rooted in the Reformed tradition, we desire to nurture young women's spiritual development through study, discussion, prayer and action. Honoring the movement of the Spirit in the lives of young women, we encourage and celebrate their theological, liturgical and ethical contributions.

• live within and share God's grace, acceptance and love;
• build a community of women that reflects God's extravagant hospitality to all persons;
• challenge systems of oppression, domination, exploitation and suffering; and
• work for justice and reconciliation in both church and society.

On behalf of young women, we carry out this mission through the larger ministry of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). NNPCW is a ministry of the Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministries program area of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Mission commitments which inform our work

Sarah Donovan and Diandra "Lady D" Bellamy assist the Rev. Linda Parker (NNPCW's chaplain) with communion on the last day of the 2008 Leadership Event. Photo used with permission.We commit ourselves to using theology informed by women's perspectives; feminism, womanism and mujerista theology; diversity; peace and justice;   evangelism; ecumenism; education; honest questioning and dialogue; and women's issues locally, nationally and globally.

Because words are powerful and mean different things to different people, we choose to define three commitments for ourselves:

Feminism, Womanism and Mujerista Theology
We commit to feminism, womanism and mujerista theology as an extension of our Christian belief that all people are made in the image of God as equals. We affirm women's ability to think theologically, value women's diverse experiences of all systems of oppression, acknowledge our participation in such systems and accept our responsibility as Christian women to work for God's fuller justice.

Evangelism
NNPCW reaches out to engage young women in a respectful community, sharing faith stories and biblical perspectives that lead to claiming and living out the gospel of Jesus Christ in a transforming way.

Diversity
As women united by the Spirit of God into one body with many parts, we both embrace and struggle with the perspectives that each of us contributes. We honor our differences of race, sexual orientation, theological perspective, socio-economic class, physical ability and other characteristics that make us unique. Intentionally striving to create safe space, we engage in the challenging dialogue that comes with such diversity. We affirm that our unity lies in an understanding of God's abundant love and the empowerment of women as modeled in Jesus Christ.

Objectives of the Network

Sarah Donovan, Betsy Katz, England Porter, Iyana Davis, Hillary Mohaupt and Megan Bell get ready for their site visits in San Francisco during the 2008 Leadership Event. Photo used with permission.

Leadership Development

We nurture and develop young women's God-given gifts for leadership in the church and society. We encourage young women's involvement in the decision-making structures of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and provide support for young women's participation in national and international events.

We link college women with one another and the larger church through campus support groups and individual membership. We support young women in their faith by sharing information and ideas. We encourage women to join or found campus women's groups and to take initiative in ministry.