Kentucky women, Listening to the W.I.N.D.Kentucky women pilot project to develop new models for ministryThe Christian Women's Fellowship in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is searching for new models for ministry in the 21st Century that will help women support one another in their search for God. With the support of General Minister Jan Ehrmantraut, the Kentucky Region applied to the Women's Endowment Fund administered by the Office of Disciples Women for a projected three year grant. This grant would support a pilot project seeking to develop new models for ministry with women in three Kentucky congregations. These three churches (Capilla Cristiana, new church start in Lexington; New Horizons, new church in Union; and East Second Street in Lexington) covenanted to participate in this pilot project called W.I.N.D. — Women in a New Day. With funding from the Women's Endowment Fund, the Kentucky Region has guided and supported these three churches as they have struggled to find a ministry that would bless the lives of the women in these churches. The grant enabled each woman in the three churches to receive a NEW DAY Magazine, and each church received two sampler packets of Disciples Women/CWF material. The registration fees were paid for all women from this pilot project who could attend a Disciples Women/CWF Spring Conference. Scholarships were provided for two women from each of these churches to attend the ICWF Quadrennial in Louisville last June. East Second Street Christian Church developed a bold model of creating a "culture of call" for young women. Led by Charisse Gillett, they identified nine women who feel a call to work toward ministry in some form—ordained minister, lay minister, or local church leadership. The women have committed to an organized program of study and assessment as they explore their call. They have also had conversations with women pastors and church administrators, and workshops on spiritual gifts and the value of the Myers-Briggs inventory in ministry. Using the NEW DAY magazine, they plan to meet with other church women in small study groups. The women in the new developing churches, Capilla Cristiana and New Horizons, have discovered the difficulty of getting regular meetings going when everything about the church's life together is new. Although the women feel the need to be together as women, they have the most participation when they do "hands on" service projects by themselves or with the whole church family. For example, the women in Capilla, led by student pastors Irma Rodriquez and Avis Medina, planned and financed the wedding of a young woman who recently joined the church. They found her a wedding dress, decorated, baked the cake, and fixed other refreshments. At New Horizons, led by minister Kay Peacock, the whole church sponsors and serves a meal the last Saturday of each month for indigent residents in nearby Covington. In May, 2003, women in the three churches retreated together at Spalding Retreat Center to share their faith and ideas. Prior to May, they met together for 10 consecutive weeks for 1 1/2 hours each week to use an adaptation of the "Growing Disciples" material developed by Greg Alexander and Judy Turner. They shared joys and concerns, their spiritual autobiographies, and prayed with a scripture passage on the nature and purpose of women's ministries. Using the Lectio Divina approach to praying with scripture, the groups asked God the questions, "What is God calling me to do?" and "What is God calling us, as women in the church, to do?" and then they listened for God's response. Each woman kept a journal as she daily reread this scripture and listened for God's word during the week following the group Lectio Divina. All of the women took their journals to the retreat to use as they shared their "listening to God" experiences. One of the remarkable byproducts of the W.I.N.D. Pilot Project is that women in other churches in Kentucky have felt empowered to begin creative new groups in their own churches. Two CWF Regional Cabinet members have given leadership to new groups of young women. First, Lisa Caldwell-Reiss, co-pastor at First Christian Church, Ft. Thomas, has helped organize a MOM'S CWF group. They meet at the church, and the children are either with them or in the room next door. They are making their own decisions about their group model. Second, Perry Garrett from Bardstown has worked with her minister and the local CWF in forming a new young women's group in their church called Barbara's Bunch. They have about eighteen young women attending with shared leadership. Last October this group sponsored a Celebration of a New Day for All Christian Women with Petie McLean, CO-pastor in Glasgow coming to speak. The Women's Ministry Pilot Project (WOMEN IN A NEW DAY), made possible by the Women's Endowment Fund, is making an impact on the churches in the pilot project and on other churches throughout the Kentucky Region. May all of our churches in every Region seek to find new models for Women's Ministry when they see the need. Sally Paulsell is retired from the Christian Church in Kentucky, where she was the staff consultant for Ministry with Women. She is a member of the DHM Board of Directors and is a member of Central Christian Church in Lexington, Ky. —Edited from an article appearing in GuidePosts for Leaders 2003. For more information and to share your own experiences of New Models for Women's Ministry, attend the Resource Group, "Keep the Vision, Change the Focus" at the 2003 General Assembly in Charlotte, N.C., or add your comments to the "Idea Post" on the Disciples Women Web site or send your story to ODW c/o Patti Bradford at DHM. Your stories will be shared in future articles. |
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