Week Eight in Leadership – Connecting with Cookies

Priorities – Like a mom having a baby, I feel the urgent “need to push” a lot of things, but my first set of priorities are simple and clear: Funds, Culture, and Communication.

Funds – During the transition following Ruth Hill’s farewell, financial support of Women Ministries really fell off. What we do is so very important—Connecting women in transformational relationships and uniting them in Christ to impact our world—that we must pull together and connect our love of Jesus Christ and Women Ministries with our ability to give. And, truthfully, if we don’t find a way to support the fantastic ministries of AVA, Mending the Soul, Break the Chains, and Ministry Coaching, we won’t be around for long! So if you hear lots of talk about finances and encouragement to give to this wonderful work, please consider what you can do to help. We’re not trying to make you to feel uncomfortable or like you are being hounded. But we do want you to give, because you love Women Ministries and you want to continue to help women heal from abuse, to help rescue girls from slavery, to develop leaders, to provide support for women and girls in Congo, and to bring women together locally, regionally and internationally. And so much more.

Culture – I’m an extrovert who’s been working from home for the last eight years. So coming to a building – Covenant Offices – with a hundred people in it is like being a kid in a candy shop – delightful! By building bridges and collaborating creatively with every department, we’re striving to lure folks over to the Women Ministries corner of the building. We’re using a rockin’ candy jar, baked goods and most anything you can imagine that enables us to get to know them and their corner of responsibility. Every church lady knows that cookies help the day go better, just as every mom knows they signal a dose of love. We’re hoping to create a culture in which people to think of creativity, collaboration, communication, kindness, nurture, support, and connection when they think of Women Ministries.

Communication – Risking the cliché, we invite you to remember that it’s a new day when it comes to communication. There are so many terrific ways to connect with one another, and ministry people know that the Internet can be as much a blessing as a bane. So this blog is one of the ways we can inspire a healthy, lively conversation that will cut across generations, geography and ethnicity and will hook us to one another. I want every woman to know that she can find out what’s going on here; she can offer her ideas, share her successes and seek support in her challenges. Women Ministries is here to serve every local congregation, regional conference and the denomination too. To do that, we must communicate as clearly as possible.

So if you haven’t already, please do sign up to receive the blog feed and the eNewsletter via email. (No need to sign up for the eNewsletter again if you’ve already done so!) And take a moment and post a comment (below). Your participation will make it all so much better. This is going to be a great place to talk about things – in this exciting new day!