Second Quarter 2007 Directors of Women's Ministries from Local Churches to Meet

During CE&P’s annual Women in the Church Leadership Conferences, a group of women that became known as the DOWM, or Directors of Women’s Ministries, began to grow and form. Last year they met for the first time as a separate conference. The conference is open to all full-time and part-time paid staff. The task force for the group includes: Donna Dobbs, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Miss.; Barbara Thompson, former consultant for CE&P; Joann White, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Jane Patete, CE&P WIC Coordinator.

“The DOWM conference is an opportunity for CE&P to bring together vocational women from the local church with unique needs for networking their resources with one another and to pray for and with others in similar roles of ministry. Many of the directors involved in local churches are new to their ministry position and are needing encouragement, resources, as well as spiritual development in that role,” explained Jane Patete. “This year we are excited about our 40-50 possible attendees.”

The purpose of the DOWM centers around three aspects: continuing education, professional development, and spiritual renewal. The speakers for last year’s conference were Joel Belz, CEO of World Magazine, and Charles Dunahoo, Coordinator of CE&P.

The 2007 conference will be held October 1-3 in the Atlanta area. The main speaker for the conference will be Dr. Dan Doriani, pastor, teacher, and author. Doriani has been a full-time professor of New Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary and continues to serve as an adjunct professor. He presently pastors the Central Presbyterian Church in St. Louis. He is the author of numerous books covering a wide range of subjects relating to gender issues. Among his most recent books are The Sermon on the Mount and a commentary on James. His topic for the conference stems from one of his earlier books on the subject of hermeneutics, Getting the Message, A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible.