ALIVE 2015

It's almost here!!! ALIVE 2015 April 17-19

ALIVE 2015 

Early registration ends Feb. 23! Register on line - $139

Want to ride a chartered bus from West MI to the ALIVE conference for only $50?

You need to book your hotel and bus reservations together with others in your church. Your church will send your payment in to the District Office. If you are the only one from your church then you may send it to the District Office. We will need for everyone riding the bus to stay at the Millennium Maxwell Hotel. Please contact Mary Conrad for your reservations for the bus along with your hotel reservations. mary.m.conrad@gmail.com  You do not go through the hotel to make reservations for a room. 

The bus will leave Kentwood Community Church by 6 am on April 17th.

Please go to the ALIVE 2015 website link above and check out the outstanding event that is planned for YOU! So many blessings will take place that weekend. Come and get yours!

Love to All! Stay Warm and Safe!

ALIVE 2015

Please go to Wesleyan Women's Movement and check out all the new things coming up!
   
http://www.wesleyan.org/849/wesleyan-womens-resources

 Alive 2015

Alive

We gather to grow. We gather to enrich. We gather to thrive.

There is power in the gathering. The message of the gospel is an invitation to enter into relationship with Jesus Christ and with other believers. To enter we must first make ourselves available.

Our lives are harried. Our schedules are full. Our attention is fractured. And so we gather. We gather together to create space. Space for the Lord to move in our lives and to awaken our hearts to the joy and freedom found only in a life fully ALIVE to the goodness and grace of our Savior.

The invitation is for you. This invitation is for your neighbor. Join us.

Nashville, Tennessee

April 17-19, 2015

 Sowing Seeds Newsletter

West Michigan Wesleyan Women's Movement!

Women we are on the moooooove!

 I've just returned from a WWM leadership conference with our new Director, Andrea Summer and the national team. For the first time in a long time I saw more YOUNG women attending than the older (or more mature) women. Ha! It was a wonderful thing. I remember when I was told, at every women's meeting I attended, in my much younger years, "It's so nice to have the young women here." Now, I find myself saying, "It's so nice to have the young women here!" Looking forward to see what God is going to do in West MI.

I love the new website and I know you will, too.  www.wesleyan.org/ww  You will find all that you need and want to know, plus it's so user friendly! Go for it! Check out the link! And.... while you are there click on the Sewing Seeds Newsletter and subscribe, and then click on Annesley Writers Forum and blog or go directly to www.annesleywriters.com and subscribe or read the wonderful writings that will encourage and inspire you.

I will keep you posted. There is more to come!

P.S. October is breast cancer awareness month. If you have not had a mammogram yet or not in a year, please do so. Your family will love you for it. 

Love and blessing to you all,
Saundra 

LADIES BIBLE STUDY

AT WINDING CREEK CAMP

SEPTEMBER 13-15, 2013

REGISTRATION AND INFORMATION ON LINE www.wccamp.com (click on retreats)

CALL CAMP OFFICE TO REGISTER @ 269-945-5193

Take time for yourself and feed your soul!

Bible study leader is Vicki Bryant.

A special time with friends and making new friends. Still time to register and make QUICK plans.

Come to the Fire Women's Conference 2013"Celebrate Your Freedom"

At Central Wesleyan Church, Holland, MI
Oct. 17-19, 2013
FREE REGISTRATION! 
Register online at www.cometothefire.org

Thurs. 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Fri. 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Sat. 9:00 a.m. to Noon

Meals not included. Time is allowed to go out. A list of restaurants will be provided.
Hotels in the area are listed on the website.

This wonderful event will be held at and sponsored by the women at Central Wesleyan Church, Holland, MI.
Many wonderful speakers and workshops to sign up for when arriving on Thurs. eve at 7:00. Please come early for parking and signing in. Worship will be led by our very own, Melinda Prophet, from Central. You will be spiritually renewed and refreshed.  www.cometothefire.org

The West MI Wesleyan Women's Movement is teaming together to promote this time of coming together at a beautiful time of year in west Michigan. Get a group together and book your hotel soon if needed and register online soon. 

"You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free... So if the Son set you free, you will be free indeed."
(John 8:32,36)

If you have an event coming up let me know and we can help promote it!

Wesleyan Women's Movement

Heart of Ministries

Here we are already moving towards the end of January 2013! Trying to get used to writing the new year, 2013! Change is difficult at times, not that we don't like it, it's just that we have to do things differently than before. Starting a brand new year is a fresh new start. We have the whole new year ahead of us to look forward to and new adventures and experiences. And that's not all bad, it's actually exciting. I just have to change writing from 2012 to 2013. God has a plan! I want to follow that plan!

Wesleyan Women has gone through change, too. I'm excited as we see God unfold His plan for us. We have a new leader, Andrea Summer, and a beautiful new logo and name, Wesleyan Women's Movement. www.wesleyan.org/ww

Our Heart of Ministries is coming up in February (although you can do this beyond Feb.) This year the focus in on Human Trafficking and the battle to fight it globally continues. www.wesleyan.org/ww click on Heart Of Ministries and you have options for videos and flyers and more information. You can send donations to headquarters, to our district (write Wesleyan Women Movement in memo), or give through your local church.

Also, I want to remind you of the work that Project Liberty (stopping human trafficking) is doing also. We are located in Mid MI, Lansing area. Take a look at our website, www.project-liberty.com.
If you have any questions about human trafficking during this time or any time, I would be happy to come speak to your group. sl4faith@gmail.com Together we all can make a difference.

Thank you to all of you who are doing awareness and more. Let me know what you are doing and I can post it and pass the information along.

West MI
Wesleyan Women's Movement
Saundra Lawson
517.331.1415

The Wesleyan Women's Movement is a network of Wesleyans that connects, nurtures and empowers women to grow in faith, discover their calling, lead, and give life to the world around them.
We are coming together to inspire depth and action. More than 30,000 women around the globe are leading and resourcing the Church to nurture growth and to meet real need.
Discipleship: creatively growing in God and toward others through deep and intentional connection.
Leadership Development: innovatively mobilizing women to discover their calling and lead the Church
Social Action: boldly identifying and rallying the Church to meet real human need in the world.

 

Round table celebrates women's ministry's past, dreams about the future

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

Office Hours
8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST

(317) 774-7907
communications@wesleyan.org

 

 

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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

LADIES BIBLE STUDY

Hey Women, now that the kids are in school and things are going back to routine, take some time for yourself. You can still register for the Ladies weekend Bible study at Winding Creek Camp, Hastings, MI. www.wccamp.com. Go to site and click on Retreats, then Bible study to see the event and registration form. Need to do ASAP.It is this weekend Sept. 7-9th. Registration was a special extension for today and possibly Wed. Contact them for more info. Treat yourself!

Let me know what Bible studies you are doing this fall and I will list them on the blog.

Love and Blessings to All,
Saundra
SL4faith@gmail.com
517.331.1415

Congratulations to Dr. Jo Anne Lyon! We are so honored to have her as the Wesleyan Church (Denomination) new General Superintendent! It was an honor and blessing for me to be at the conference and be apart of a historical and blessed event today. She is an amazing woman that will lead us well, empower by God and loved by the Wesleyan Church body.

This was another great day! Lots of business was covered with much discussion, thought and vote. Met with special friends that we have not seen in a while, too. More to come tomorrow. 

Love to all,

Saundra

We are so blessed to be at the Wesleyan General Conference in Lexington, KY! Already been worth it all. The service this morning was amazing!. Touched my heart so much. We all live in a bubble that needs to be POPPED! The world is in need of hearing about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Oh my, we have precious people doing a wonderful work, it takes all of us together. Blessed beyond tears this morning..
www.saundrawesleyanwomen.blogspot.com

Keep checking back! Blessings to All,

Saundra

It's a Beautiful Day! My husband and I are on our way to the Wesleyan Church Conference. It is an honor to be a West MI Delegate. Kentucky is my home state. I was born in Wheelwright, KY, a once thriving coal mining town in the south eastern part of the state. However, we moved to MI when I was 2 years old, but all my grandmas and grandpas, cousins, aunts and uncles were still in KY, so I spent all my summers there until my maternal grandparents moved to Chattanooga, TN, then I spent a lot time there, too. I just love the mountains! Lexington is the most beautiful part of the state. I feel like I'm going home.

There is a lot of serious Church business to take care of this week, please pray for the conference. I'm excited about it all. Looking forward to some great worship and messages, as well as seeing friends we haven't seen in a while. As soon as I know more about the new Wesleyan Women Director I will post it for you. I will send out highlights from time to time, so keep checking in. Please comment, too. Let me know you are out there.

I'm blessed to be part of a district that has so much going for it. We have great leadership and wonderful people. Our women are the best! Our district Women's Ministry team is progressing with moving forward with zone meetings with women leaders to form a new structure for the women in our district. I know many of you already have a local church ministry, and that is the way for all of the ministries. You will be under the guidance of your own local churches. But we want to stay connected with all of our churches to learn and grow together in the Lord and encourage each other. We want to hear and share your ideas. Please feel free to contact me anytime.

Well....we are almost there. I'll talk to y'all later.

Saundra

Hello Everyone!

Please forward this to the women's leadership in your church. If someone from your church would email me back with the name of your church and a women's leadership/ministry contact that would be great. I am trying to establish an up to date contact list. We are in the process of restructuring our district Wesleyan women. We are inviting someone from each zone to be part of the "Vision and Restructuring Team". If you would like to recommend someone or if you are involved with women's ministry and would like to volunteer to be on the team please contact me. Please forgive us if you have already been contacted, but let us know again. We are trying to make sure we include all the churches. Please pray for us as we seek direction and leadership for our West MI women.

Many of you know that Martha Blackburn is retiring from Wesleyan Women, please send her a special email. pictures or note. Send it to attn: Julia. She is putting together a scrapbook for her. It is a surprise (I hope she doesn't read this) Send to www.wesleyan.org/ww , attn: julia in the subject line. We need to do this as soon as possible. We have appreciated her leadership in the past years. She has been a great encouragement to our district and women all over the world.

Connecting Women to God and others,
Saundra Lawson
West MI Wesleyan Women
517.331.1415
SL4faith@gmail.com

Hello West MI,

February! Ground Hog's Day-He saw his shadow so we have 6 more weeks of winter!

Valentine's Day-A Hallmark day or day to show/express love to your sweetheart and those you love?

Leap Year-An extra day in the month...or a day of the women take the iniative and ask for a "date" or proposing marriage! (I think women are already doing that today)

We always do all the above at the same time in February. Another traditional event is the Wesleyan Women's Heart of Ministries! A time to focus on the missions and ministries of WW. During this month donations are collected to further the ministries and outreach to others locally and globally.

Please look at the materials and how and where to send your church's donation!
www.wesleyan.org/ww

While you are there take a look at the resources of leadership materials and Bible Studies and activities.

Please let me know how our district may help your ministry. Please let me know about your events before and after so we can post w/pictures them. I am looking to see who are doing spring conferences that we may all share in together or at least in the zone areas.

Our team is working on contacting each church for a contact person for each. We want to communicate with you and it seems to always be a challenge to make the correct contacts. Please help us with this project. We also are selecting a team to be on a "Vision and New Structure Team for West MI WW". You will be hearing more about this. Please pray for us! Looking towards great things from God!

Blessings to All,
Saundra
(Thanks for all your prayers, I am feeling stronger everyday! Thank God!)

Happy New Year West MI

Oh my goodness. I thought this was shut down. I am so sorry that I have not been using it on our district website. This will change immediately! We will start it up again. In the past we had not many responses or much interaction but let's change that! I will start up again and keep you posted.

First of all I am behind in communicating because of several health issues that were not anticipated in being a problem and I could just keep going as usual. But I was wrong. I am now catching up on sooooo much! Please bear with me and we will be using this site for a lot information to pass on to you. Happy New and have a blessed women's ministry!

Always Hope,
Saundra Lawson

The Ride for Refuge

The Ride for Refuge

Back Packs for Kids!

Hello West MI! Time has just flown by this summer. Many of you are doing special activities to help kids get ready for school. This is a great place to post what you are doing. The EDGE Church needs your help in collecting back packs filled with supplies for school kids in Grand Rapids. If several of our Wesleyan Churches would commit to do at least 3 or more back packs we could provide a blessing for several kids. Lets get behind this project and make it happen. I know we can do this!! Please spread the word. For more information about where to deliver them please contact the EDGE at 616-805-4700.

Back Pack Stuffers

These back packs will be given to students of The Edge church

1 Backpack Generic for High School Boy or Girl

4 Notebooks Generic spiral notebooks

4 Folders Generic folders for holding homework

1 package Pens Click style of black or blue

1 package Pencils Mechanical – pack of at least 4

1 Calculator Basic standard calculator

1 Binder Three-ring or similar

1 Pencil case

1 Stapler

1 package markers

Our wish is to provide full backpacks to 30 inner city children. Please pray and consider starting the school year on a positive note for a student that may start off already behind.

Thank you!!!