Group Equips Christian Women in Media, Arts for Cultural Impact
by Mary Rettig
October 4, 2004
(AgapePress) - The editor-in-chief of SHINE Magazine, a Christian women's publication, has launched a new endeavor to encourage women in her field of work.Michelle Borquez is the founder of Christian Women in Media and Arts. She says God placed the idea for CWMA in her heart while she was sitting in an airport. While waiting there, she says, "I had been watching TV for about two to three hours, and just really felt disheartened about what I saw."
The messages and images that were coming across on the television made Borquez realize how badly the perspective of Christian women is needed in mainstream media. And as she continued to watch, it started to dawn on her that there was something she could do about it.
"I began to realize that a lot of it is on me," the Christian journalist says, "and it's my responsibility as a Christian and as a woman in media to not just watch it and get frustrated but to actually try to take action and make a difference."
CWMA is an organization that is intended to empower Christian women and give them a united voice in the culture war, Borquez notes. She says it is time to take the fight for values into the boardrooms, newsrooms, and production houses of America's cultural centers, and she wants women who work in media and entertainment to be able to reach out and change their world from where they are.
The group's founder points out that, all too often, women are put in the position of having to respond to needs without having been equipped for the task at hand. She adds, "One of the things that I've also seen among leaders and among friends who are women in ministry is sometimes we'll step out in things, and we don't have a knowledge of how to do that."
But Borquez believes that knowledge itself is empowering, which is why she says one of the things CWMA is focusing on is helping women acquire more know-how. And it is why, she says, "One of the things we're building right now is a teaching-type part of our website that will actually help women in all different areas."
Even as CWMA website offers Christian women in media and the arts the tools they need to succeed in their fields, Borquez asserts that it will also give these women the information they need to confront today's culture war head on. The organization's stated purpose is to encourage, equip, and challenge women to rise up and seek position within their society and to use their gifts and skills to influence the heart of the culture itself.
