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Fall Quarter 1999 Vol.VII, No. 4 Dear Daughters of the Covenant, It’s over, and I feel as if I missed it! It happened too fast. My daughter, Laurin, gave me a photo album of pictures she took throughout the conference. She said, "Mama, I want you to see what we saw." It was wonderful! I’m sad that I did not get to see all of you individually. Friends I have not seen in years were there . . . and women I have talked with on the telephone but never met face to face . . . and women from other countries that we prayed for . . . and on and on it goes. But the important thing is that even though I did not get to talk with you and hug you, our hearts are knit tighter together because we were there. As the days go by, I realize that I didn’t miss the conference because it continues to happen. This realization began when the women who attended from Ukraine went home with us for a few days and I got a glimpse of the global implications–––I’m still breathless! Then, at the WIC Bible study at my church, a different woman is reporting each week on a seminar she attended. I weep as I see it through their eyes and hear it through their ears, and I think, "Wow! So this is what it was all about!" As I read your sweet notes to our staff I also see and hear it all through you. What I am seeing at this point are the individual implications, and I am awe-struck at God’s gracious work in our hearts. I have not been able to process the corporate implications––perhaps we have to wait and see how it all unfolds. Even if I thought there would be no results, my heart is filled with praise to our King. What He did in getting us to that point and in meeting us there is reason to praise Him for all eternity. If He brings forth more fruit, we will lay it at His feet as a sacrifice of praise. Our caution: those of us who were privileged to be a part of this conference must pray for humility. We must not be critical of what "our church" is or is not doing. The covenant requirements of justice, mercy, and humility must begin in our own hearts, then we will have the integrity to think about corporate implications. I pray that no pastor, elder, or deacon is sorry that women attended because they came back with a "to do list" for others. Our challenge: we must invest as much time and energy in praying about the results of the conference as we did praying for the conference. It was very obvious that this event was saturated with prayer, and we thank you for that. Please double the prayer effort now. Continue to pray for speakers, individual women, local churches, and for the global implications. Pray that God’s purposes will be accomplished through us, that justice, mercy, and humility will characterize us, and that Christendom will be brighter and stronger because of His grace in us. For God’s Glory,
Thank you for the conference. The topics were so meaningful, the speakers so theologically precise, and the overall purpose so noble and glorifying to God, that I felt you were helping our whole denomination to mature in how it both views and utilizes the gifts of women. My impression was that many women themselves, perhaps for the first time, got a glimpse of how valuable and important can be their contribution to the ministry of the Church. My prayer is that the Lord will use this conference to help turn a corner of sorts, not only in how our church invests in the talents of women, but also in sensing how the needs of our world require a focus on the deepest priorities of the Gospel. . . . May the Lord use the call of mercy to remind us how we must pull together for the sake of Christ’s people and greater purposes. Sincerely in Christ, Click to read Bryans' sermon preached at the WIC Conference You Survived and Thrived . . . What do we do with all the energy generated by such an incredible outpouring of God’s presence among us? How do we guide the momentum so that the surge of concern for compassion has longevity and integrity? How should this energy coalesce with the work of the entire church? What are the corporate implications? We certainly do not have all the answers. We think the answers will come as we learn from each other. So one thing we want to do is to be a networking resource for you. Here’s how:
So let’s get started . . . At the pre-conference opening session, Susan explained that the seminars would be very specific and very practical, but that every seminar presupposes six foundational principles. She encouraged us to keep these principles in focus as we think about the corporate implications of the conference in our church and PresWIC.
Covenant Presbyterian, St. Louis, MO:
First Presbyterian, Augusta, GA: Hope Presbyterian, Marietta, GA: Covenant Church, Hendersonville, NC: Southwest Florida PresWIC:
The retreat was held on two dates in two locations in the PresWIC to include as many women as possible. The women watched videos of two keynote speakers whose topics most aptly applied to the needs of the Southwest PresWIC. The official program and sessions were reproduced complete with responsive readings and hymns. Six seminars were held at each location and participants attended two. Women who attended the pre-conference seminars in Atlanta facilitated and shared equipping information with local churches. Part of the money collected in retreat registration was used to purchase the audio and video tapes from the conference. Bright hostess aprons also helped bring the flavor of the conference home! If you are teaching Treasures of Faith, use Sharon Betters’ tape. This will give a clear focus of the study and insight into Sharon’s personal passion for this topic. Use it as an introduction and again at the conclusion of the study. After listening to the seminar tapes, consider giving appropriate ones to people who are in charge of various ministries. For example, give Marlys Mulkey’s tape to the Youth Director, and Carol Arnold’s tape to the Director of Children’s Ministry . . . now you go and be creative! Suggestions
for Pastors
An equipping tape with just the stories and testimonies! This will make it easy for you to use one of the three to five minute segments as a "Mercy Moment" in a variety of formats. Use one each week/month at Bible study, or in Sunday School classes, small groups, and even with youth groups.
WIC Leadership Training
Seminar This by-invitation meeting is for PresWIC Presidents, Directors of Women’s Ministries in local churches, and other women in leadership. This year each PresWIC President may bring five women.
CE/P’s Study Tour of
What about the women who were hospitalized? When is the next conference? How do we get tapes of musicians?
Can we make copies of the conference tapes? Where can we order the conference tapes? Where can we get scripts of the stories and
testimonies? How can I contact a speaker or seminar leader? International women were there. What are the global
implications? From Fred Peace, Country Administrator for MTW in
Ukraine: Ten women from Japan were able to participate in the conference because of interpretation by a Covenant College graduate and daughter of a North Georgia Japanese PCA pastor. After the conference they had the added opportunity to visit the "kick off" WIC program at Midway Presbyterian in Powder Springs, GA. They received the core curriculum and were able to see a local WIC in action as the program and vision for ministry were introduced. They sang a song from the song book they use at their WIC meetings. Here is the cover. Stay tuned as we continue to follow up on the global implications and fruits of this conference!
THANK YOU FOR COMING. . . We have received many wonderful letters from you, now it’s our turn. We thank you for coming and we want to tell you what we saw . . . Paul said that God gave people with various gifts to His church "to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may. . .become mature. . .Then we will no longer be infants. . . . Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ (Ephesians 4:12-13). From our perspective, the daughters of the covenant who attended the conference acted like grown-ups. This is what we saw. . . • Women who were prepared. You read the information and you came with a heart to learn and serve, not criticize and complain––real maturity. • Women who were quick to pray. When there were problems or inconveniences, you prayed rather than grumbled––evidence of maturity. • Women who were appreciative rather than demanding. You did not have selfish expectations about your own personal preferences. You were willing to bend and flex. You realized that the things that were not your favorite parts were the favorites of others. • Women who were considerate of those with responsibilities. You were very careful to forego personal time with a friend who was speaking or had other program responsibilities, and you were gracious in overlooking our focus on the tasks before us rather than the opportunities to visit with you. • Women whose hearts were broken over the right things. You disconnected from the unimportant in order to connect to the things that break God’s heart. This demands becoming empty of self and filled with Him. • Women who were gracious and kind. Please see the letter in The WICK from a Galleria staff person. Your testimony did not go unnoticed. We saw daughters of the covenant who reflected the grace of the covenant. We saw maturity, and we are still dazzled by your beauty. Our prayer is that PCA women demonstrate this same maturity in our local churches.
GRATEFUL FOR PROTECTION We as a staff are still overwhelmed with the Lord’s protection. Just enough things went wrong for us to know how very vulnerable we were. There were a total of 82 people on the program with no rehearsals scheduled except for musicians, but sound people could not complete their work because staging people had not completed their work, and this meant musicians were squeezed for practice time . . . you get the idea. The potential for absolute chaos is obvious. Yet the Lord watched over every detail and did more than we could even think to ask.
SPEAKING OF SPEAKERS AND MUSICIANS We look back and wonder how we ever had the audacity to ask any of these gifted people to submit their abilities to the purposes of this conference. Any of them could easily have been the only speaker or musician on the program, yet all 82 graciously accepted the limited time they had and eagerly yielded their gifts and graces to be used for God’s glory. Then, they adjusted and adapted to whatever we threw their way. Their humility reflected their maturity. Our hearts overflow with gratitude for what they gave.
The Wick My prayer is that the truths of the conference will continue to grip our minds and hearts to such an extent that they will become more and more a part of our lifestyle. I pray that the rising generations will see that our faith in Christ is real and does make a tremendous difference in our relationship to one another both in and out of the church. I pray that our capacity to love and show compassion will constantly increase for the sake of Christ.
4000 women attended the 1999 WIC Conference: The testimony of these women did not go unnoticed. The following is a letter received from a Cobb Galleria staff person. I wanted to let you know what a great pleasure it was to assist you with your concession needs this past weekend for your convention at the Cobb Galleria Center. It was truly a wonderful event and I enjoyed working with the wonderful group of people that attended. In the years I have worked here I have never been as impressed as I was with this group. Everyone was so polite and so full of love for each other that it made me look forward to coming in to serve all of you. In the true sense of the word, each and every one of you were walking examples of true Christianity. You and your fellow Presbyterian sisters are to be applauded on such grace and following in the true light of the Lord. From a seminar speaker: I saw and felt evidence of prayer that was the fragrance of the conference, and the way each session was put together as a worship service was so right. I felt more that I came away from a weekend of worship than a weekend of learning, and that will always bear eternal fruit. From a scholarship attendee: The Gospel permeated all that was done. It was spoken, and lived throughout our conference. We have seen Christ on the faces of our sisters. We heard a lot of covenant theology introduced in a wonderful way. One day I hope to attend these conferences with my three covenant daughters––the thought has brought tears to my eyes more than once this weekend. From our youngest attendee at the conference: Like it said in the WIC program, "Christian Education matters because if we are not equipped to shape the world . . . the world will shape us." I feel more equipped after attending the conference. From a keynote speaker: I’ve already heard stories of women’s lives being changed in ways that seem to have little to do with the conference themes. God is doing beyond our wildest dreams. Thank you for stretching me and letting me go out on that limb with you! From a PresWIC president: Personally, the Lord has cleansed me and convicted me. I came away seeing the mercy ministries God has placed in my life differently through Scripture. I confess to getting trapped in the "I can fix it mode," but the teaching this weekend knocked a hole in that theory! From a new Christian: I’m more sure of where I’m going––I’m going to heaven and it makes earth look very different! From a seminary staff attendee: For me the defining moment of the conference occurred during the hymn Let Your Heart Be Broken as we sang the words, "Be the hands of Jesus, serving in His stead." Earlier that morning, we had just reflected upon how Jesus’ hands were pierced and broken on the cross for us. As I looked down at the hymn and caught a glimpse of my own hands––which are healthy and strong—it moved me to tears to think of His hands being crushed and mine being whole. Amazing love! What a mystery! When we consider that His hands were pierced for OUR transgressions, we cannot help but offer our hands back to Him in service. From the St. Louis bus trip home: There were over three hours of sharing testimonies, much crying, laughing, singing and taking up money for a shared mercy goal in the St. Louis area––how wonderful that a microphone was available. Boy did the bus driver get an earful! From a full-time inner city ministry worker: Since returning home, our women’s Bible study has already begun planning ways that we can reach out to those in our community and make our church even "messier." I admit that I went to the conference with the idea that I would be a model of mercy ministry. I was quite humbled by how much I have to learn and how far I am from the beautiful brokenness before Christ that I saw in the women who spoke. Instead of serving the poor out of a calling or out of obedience, I must love and show mercy because of the mercy and love that has been shown to me through Christ. Mercy ministry should flow out of my worship. From a hostess: I was standing by the doors waiting for them to open when someone stuck her nose out and called for four more hostesses. I had my apron in my backpack, so I answered the call! Little did I realize that I would spend the rest of the evening standing by the back doors. I found myself being the liaison between our women and the hotel staff as we dealt with two toilets that quit working and an entire bathroom without toilet paper. There was the cleaning cart that got left in one of the aisles and the empty water station that needed to be dealt with. I missed the concert, but what I was blessed to witness instead truly mirrored the spirit of the conference so well that I would not have missed it for the best seat in the house! From the Chilean women: Thank you for demonstrating Christian love in such practical ways and showing us how deep is the love of Christ that crosses over language barriers. A conference moment: At the beginning of Diane Balch’s seminar on evangelism, a woman stopped to speak with her. She asked for Diane’s maiden name and then identified herself as a former high school classmate. As the reunion was taking place, the woman shared with Diane that she had been part of a Young Life prayer group that prayed specifically for Diane’s salvation. Just imagine the joy and sweetness of this moment! Praise God for answered prayer and grace in Diane’s life.
1999
Love Gift Recipient:
Dear Daughters of the Covenant, Rarely does a husband have the opportunity to accompany his spouse to a women-only gathering, but preaching at the 1999 WIC Conference afforded me just such a unique privilege––and what a privilege it was to join the 4,000 conference participants from all over the world. Throughout the entire three-day conference, my wife Kathy, and I were deeply challenged and encouraged by the many gifted speakers, teachers, and musicians who called us to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. Kathy, an accomplished musician and vocalist, felt privileged herself by being invited to share her own musical skills to the glory of God (and to my own joy). How I thank God for her and praise Him for the priceless gift of grace she is to me. More than 20 years of marriage have taught Kathy and me that blending ministry and matrimony can be challenging. Still, God has helped us persevere with the understanding that strong homes rooted in God’s grace can beautifully extend the Gospel message as we seek to live out the Savior’s love through acts of mercy as well as words of compassion. Recognizing that the hearts and homes of couples in ministry must be nurtured in God’s Word, Covenant Seminary provides a unique opportunity for the spouses of full-time students to attend classes or even earn a full seminary degree on scholarship. Imagine what a blessing it is for couples to study God’s Word together without the financial burden of double tuition. Consider the difference this training makes when these couples complete their seminary education and go out to serve in churches, on mission fields, and in their own homes. Because so many women throughout the PCA grasp the importance of equipping ministry spouses and strengthening ministry families, offerings have been made throughout the year to the 1999 WIC Love Gift, the Uniting Hearts in Ministry Scholarship. This scholarship endowment will help create a source of permanent funding for this important scholarship effort that benefits so many student spouses. If you have not yet participated in the 1999 WIC Love Gift offering, I invite you to partner with the spouses of tomorrow’s pastors and missionaries through your gifts and prayers. May God use your support of this scholarship endowment to equip many families to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God. Sincerely, in Him, Bryan Chapell, President PS: Rejoice with us! Your 1999 WIC Love Gift offerings and pledges sent prior to July 1 helped Covenant Seminary claim $1 million in campaign challenge grant funds to expand and renovate its J. Oliver Buswell Library. Praise God for how this key facility will be better able to serve the growing numbers of servants desiring to share the Gospel of grace. As the 1999 WIC Love Gift continues, we look forward to how your added support will help further build a heritage of training for student couples while also communicating a resounding affirmation of thanksgiving to the challenge grant foundations and, most of all, to our gracious Redeemer. 2000 Love Gift Recipient: Develop mercy ministry manual and community health ministry in Port Elizabeth, South Africa Please schedule our church for the Love Gift video! 1999 Love Gift: Covenant Seminary 2000 Love Gift: Mission To the World (available in January) 1999 Christmas Offering . . . Insurance, Annuities & Relief monitors over four hundred potential Relief recipients. Through the Christmas Offering monthly supplemental income is given to assist needy retired and disabled pastors, missionaries, church lay workers, their widows and dependent children who have low incomes and meet the Relief Fund guidelines. Over one hundred of those monitored are widows. Some are elderly. Some need help to care for their dependent children. Please encourage your WIC and PresWIC to participate. Free
flyers are available for your WIC Christmas luncheons and meetings. You may order by
calling Ann Llewelyn at 1-800-789-8765 or fax 1-404-329-1271.
Published by: Christian Education & Publications, Charles H. Dunahoo, Coordinator; Susan Hunt, Director of WIC Ministry; Jane Patete, Editor |
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