memories from women pastors’ conference
September 15, 2009
mooreclose
We had a list of good speakers at the recent women pastors convention held on the campus of my seminary, all who had given time, thought and prayer to what they were going to say.
I tweeted from the convention some memorable quotes but, if you are not on twitter, you wouldn’t have seen them so I will repeat some here. I will also repeat some of the challenges that we were presented with. Maybe you will find them useful.
Chris Oberg
- Be a woman of purpose
- Write a personal mission statement that is simple, short and memorable. Recite it daily
- We are often our own distractors by the burdens, levels of excellence and expectations we place on ourselves
- The church doesn’t need confused, sad, angry women to lead. It needs women who know their mission
Dr Duda
- There are three women in the book of Esther who have a unique message for us today and we need to hear it and live it
- women will encounter men who have an agenda for their lives
- There are women like Vashti all around us today who know it is not right for men to treat them the way they do.
- Embrace a theology of healing and grace. Traditional theology measures things as they are. A redemptive theology describes how things should be and how they are in God’s mind
- What seemed to be a dream turned out to be hard work
- If God has gifted you and called you to lead then, for God’s sake, lead
Helen Pearson
- Don’t confuse what we want with what God wants
- Don’t confuse others’ expectations and our mission
- Be still and ask for the gift of discernment to know what belongs to the church board, to God and to ourselves
- Fill in the blank; ______is what I came out to do.
September 16, 2009 at 11:36 am
As a woman who is currently feeling very bruised from the last 18 months of congregational ministry I find that Chris’ words stand out for me.
I hope I do not become a confused angry and bitter woman. Certainly that is not my nature.
But sometimes the church is a place that houses evil and tolerates abuse, particularly abuse against its women clergy.
The church does not do a very good job of helping women who have been wounded grow through the pain into a new understanding of self, of leadership, of being a disciple. We tend to be labeled and discarded as confused, angry, or bitter…
…but that only happens when our pain is not recognized as an authentic and fair experience of abuse (emotional).
Up until a year ago I loved my ministry. I loved every bit of it, even the most hard pieces. I hope one day I feel that way again.