Monday, October 29, 2012

by Tricia Rife | Oct. 22, 2012
A group of women representing The Wesleyan Church gathered on October 12 and 13, 2012, at the denomination’s headquarters in Fishers, Ind., to dream and discuss the future of women’s ministry.
In June 2011, a near-unanimous vote dissolved the Wesleyan Women constitution and its auxiliary department designation. While still an important ministry within the denomination, local churches and districts are more empowered to design women’s ministries that are relative to the areas where they have a presence. Now, the ministry is known as the Wesleyan Women's Movement.
That group of 19 women, both pastors and laypersons from Wesleyan churches across North America, met in a round table fashion to “celebrate a rich heritage [of ministry] and imagine a bright future for the women of The Wesleyan Church.” Rev. Andrea Summers, director of the Women's Ministry for The Wesleyan Church, described the meeting as “dynamic.”
Rev. Summers invited women both seasoned and new to discuss the future of the Wesleyan Women's Movement. Some in attendance serve as pastors in vocational ministry, others are successful businesswomen, and some are influential stay-at-home moms.
“Varied viewpoints reflect the geographic, ethnic, vocational, and generational diversity of the women our ministry will be trying to reach in the future, and their input at this ground-level stage is invaluable,” said Andrea.
Cheryl Mansell of the Greater Ohio District served with Wesleyan Women for 34 years, and described the round table as “a personal blessing as I witnessed a new chapter of the story being written.” She notes that a new and vital chapter in the women’s ministry history is being written.
“I can just imagine what God will do through the current generation of incredibly vibrant, powerfully prayerful, Christ-focused women,” said Cheryl.
Not only did the round table provide an opportunity to cast vision for the direction of the Wesleyan Women's Movement, it allowed the women to build community among themselves.
“I enjoyed getting to know [about the Wesleyan Women's Movement] almost as much as I enjoyed getting to know them individually,” said Elisabeth Wang, a lay leader at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Andrea knows the task before her is a big endeavor. But she is encouraged and jumping into the role enthusiastically.
“Everything I do is with the understanding that I am standing on the shoulders of gifted women who have led ahead of me,” she says. “The best is yet to come.”
Clear objectives and initiatives are currently being defined as the Wesleyan Women's Movement crafts its vision and mission into a strategy that enables women to grow in faith and g
The Wesleyan Church
World Headquarters

13300 Olio Road
Fishers, IN 46037

Mailing Address
P.O. Box 50434
Indianapolis, IN 46250
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(317) 774-7907

communications@wesleyan.org

 


Monday, October 8, 2012

 
West Michigan Women Presented Martha Blackburn with a painting in appreciation and love for her years of service to women as General Director of Wesleyan Women.

 

Hello West Michigan Women,

It is unbelievebly so beautiful these days. I absolutely love our Michigan early fall days. Lately for a few weeks now I have been going to some of our west MI churches to visit on behalf of the Women's Ministy. I have enjoyed meeting you and connecting or staying connected. Some of the churches I have stopped in on a Sun. morning are: West Locke Wes, DeWitt Faith, West Berlin, Epic, Pathway, Marshall Wes, and possibly others. It's great to visit and let you know how much I/we (our team) want you to be part of this big puzzle we are putting together. I plan to be visiting most of you in the next months ahead and looking forward to it.

In the meantime we have had 3 zone meetings for women's ministries and are planning 2 more. We have met with the Jackson Zone, Kalamazoo-Battle Creek Zone, and Lansing Zone (scheduling another time for those who were able to attend). We want to meet with women from your churches to talk about the future of West MI Women's Ministries. Thank you to all those that have attended. We are meeting with any of you interested at this time, then moving forward to form a Re-structuring and Vision Team of representatives from each zone.

Please stay in touch. Let me know your Bible Studies, Retreats and Events. What are suggestions you have for our district women.

I am available to come meet with any of you individually or as a group to speak to you about all we would like to do. But also I would like to speak to you about any special topic you may have or especially address the awareness of Human Trafficking.

I am looking for sponsors and donors to help with Project Liberty (Stopping Human Trafficking). Help us identify and locate victims in USA. None of our families are immune, but we can become "less of a target". www.project-liberty.com