By Tammy Tkach, Denice Orr and Sheila Graham
"This was by far the most inspiring conference any of us can remember," said Carol Meyer of Kansas City, Missouri. During the regional pastors conference, a separate conference took place for the regional pastors' wives.
Mrs. Meyer said: "It was a worshipful and bonding experience as well as being a growth experience. We are both sobered and excited about the new opportunities of leadership available to the women in our church."
Each day of the conference began with a combined praise-and-worship service. Then the women and men separated to go to their various meetings.
Tammy Tkach, Women's Ministry adviser for the church, began the women's conference with a presentation on identity titled "Do You Know Who You Are?"
Mrs. Tkach discussed how Satan tries to make us feel alone, isolated and worthless. "As Christians we need to turn a deaf ear to his whispers and listen to who God says we are. Our identity is in Christ and through him we can know who we are and serve him with confidence."
Mrs. Meyer's presentation, titled "Identity Tags," complemented Mrs. Tkach's. Her basic theme was as we grow up, we label ourselves with different names: dumb, awkward, ugly, worthless or unlovable.
We need to take off those name tags, place them at the foot of the cross and put on the name tags Jesus gives us: saved, loved, redeemed and sanctified.
The third speaker of the morning, Sheila Graham, a coordinator for Women's Ministry Support, presented the first part of an overview of pastoral counseling, explaining the different types of counseling and the importance of effective listening in counseling.
"I firmly believe that if we really listened to one another and supported one another through prayer and personal care and concern, there wouldn't be so much need for formal counseling," Mrs. Graham said. She concluded Tuesday afternoon with ways to recognize when referrals to professional therapists are needed and how to find competent professional help.
Denice Orr, managing editor of Connections, a journal for ministers' wives, gave an overview of the support services the Connections Department provides ministers' wives. These include Connections, cc:Mail, nurturenet (a computer forum where ministers' wives can share experiences and resources), and a library and resource center. She tied that in with the need for a personal support system.
Mrs. Orr explained the vision of the department is to provide personal and professional support to all ministers' wives so they can grow spiritually and strengthen each other. She also presented thoughts on evangelism based on the article "Discovering Your Evangelism Style" from Discipleship Journal, September-October, 1996.
Linda Riley, founder of Called Together Ministries, a support ministry for ministers' wives and families, gave two presentations Tuesday morning. In the first, "Bearing One Another's Burdens," she told the women that Jesus is always enough and that love for Christ must always be the motivation of leadership.
Her second topic, "Joy in the Ministry," reminded the women that they are role models, whether they want to be or not, and that God knows what he is doing in all circumstances of their lives. She also gave practical tips on retaining joy in ministry.
Norva Kelly of Pastoral Development explained the need to share strengths and discussed a possible new support program for doing so.
Kay Persky of Bowling Green, Kentucky, presented the topic of prayer, sharing the book, What Happens When Women Pray. She also shared what she learned about prayer during the illness of her son Brad (Feb. 13 WN). As a follow up, the women all chose a prayer partner and prayed with each other.
In her second presentation, "Following to Lead," Mrs. Tkach challenged the women to understand leadership from the perspective of being a follower of Christ first, then helping others on their spiritual walk. She also discussed the characteristics of a leader, focusing on love and humility.
The women gave reports on women's ministry activities in their areas, to share ideas and encourage new ways of ministering to women inside and outside our fellowship. They discussed that the size of a congregation and where the women are in the healing process affects what is being done in women's ministry in their churches.
On Wednesday morning, Kathleen Hart of Fuller Theological Seminary shared her wisdom on being a minister's wife, solving problems and avoiding problems. She also taught the women her counseling techniques that help bring people to the solutions they need themselves.
In their final session the women bounced around ideas on how to better connect with the women in their regions and to serve their needs.
My sincere thanks to the ladies who worked so hard to provide a meaningful and uplifting session. I have so much information to take home and digest, and much I can pass on to the women I serve in Texas. Jesus was with us this week!
Beth Mears
Big Sandy
Tammy and the Women's Ministry staff did an excellent job in preparing this very love-, prayer- and faith-filled conference.
The knowledge gained will be so beneficial to the ministers' wives and members we serve. I hope that I will be able to successfully take as much back to the Bowling Green region as possible.
Kay Persky
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Our all RP wives conference was four days of learning and bonding together in the love of Jesus. We were taught. We prayed, laughed, cried, sang songs.
Thank you to the Women's Ministry staff for all the hard work that went into making it happen. The speakers were so inspiring. Thank you Tammy, Sheila, Kay, Carol, Linda, Kathleen, Norva and Denice.
The Lord blessed us through you. I have something real and tangible to take back to the women in my area. I felt so blessed by the entire week. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Beth Holm
Sedona, Arizona
This conference was such a great experience for everyone involved.
The information shared helped us in growing closer and learning how to better serve in our home churches and regions. Thank you for helping us grow as Christians.
Sandee Greene
Knoxville, Tennessee
This was by far the most inspiring conference any of us can remember. It was a very worshipful and bonding experience as well as being a growth experience.
We are both sobered and excited about the new opportunities of leadership available to the women in our church.
Carol Meyer
Kansas City, Missouri
This was the most uplifting and spiritually rewarding conference we have had thus far.
Sue Lawson
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
This was a spiritually uplifting conference. I felt we all bonded together as sisters. We enjoyed all of the lecturers and guest speakers. We learned a lot, laughed a lot and cried a lot.
Sandy Swagerty
Sacramento, California
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