More than a hundred participants gathered for the NavPress/Emerging Women’s Leadership breakfast to support women leaders and spend a few morning hours reflecting on the journey of discovering new landscapes as pioneers in the emerging context.
The metaphor of frontier helped us explore what it means to find yourself in a new land after setting out on a journey for an unknown destination. Participants took in the images and artifacts around the theme of frontier at five stations: setting out, new landscapes, perils along the way, guiding lights and the road ahead. Each person took a small colored conversation card from the station that appealed to them the most. Participants with the same colored paper then formed small groups to share stories and discuss the questions.
Stories from the breakfast are soon to follow along with the images and conversation questions we shared. Until then, here are some initial impressions from attendee Gareth Powell, blogger & alt.worship movement leader in the UK:
The session was put on by a cool team of ladies…it was great to see a joint leadership model that had many different life experiences and backgrounds. It was a really hope-filled and moving time of sharing, listening and story telling.It was moving to hear women saying how refreshing it was to be able to speak first and have the men listen and not feel as thought hey had to apologise. Something that as a bloke it is easy to forget - particually one that thinks he is pretty well educated and wants to have an opinion on everything.It was a great setting that felt more like a alt.worship church service with a hundred people than a ’session’. Multi-particpatory, visual, with a few people doing a little bit from the front, a bit of ritual and lots of story-telling.
Conversations with people from all over the country have convinced us that God is doing a new thing through the direction and wisdom of creative women leaders. Women are leading in fresh, innovative ways that both intersect with our culture and deepen our understanding of what it means to live a life infused with Spirit and purpose. We hope to highlight that insight in this space and invite you to learn more about the spiritual work women leaders do in the world today. New models of leadership are emerging along with new ways to understand church, and women are paving the way.
Over the course of the next eighteen months, the Emerging Women’s Leadership Initiative will exist to be a catalyst for innovation in the church around leadership issues. We are hopeful that our careful attention to the contributions women bring will inspire all of us, women and men alike, to open our minds and hearts to new ways to lead in our changing culture.
Read about our history, meet our team, consider new ideas and share your stories about life and leadership from your unique perspective. We are awed and humbled by God’s presence with us during these exciting days and can’t wait to see what God will do during this new chapter of history.
“The possibilities that emerge from bringing together creative women leaders from the mainline & evangelical streams of the church are truly exciting, both for the resources these women will bring to one another, and for the resources their friendships will bring to the church at large. The project is the most exciting women’s initiative I’ve heard of, and I have high hopes of what can come of it as momentum builds.”
On Friday, May 22, 2009, the Emerging Women’s Leadership team and co-sponsor NavPress will host a breakfast for all interested in supporting women in leadership from 7:30-9:00AM.
During this time, we will engage in active reflection and conversation about the journey many women leaders face along the path of ministry. Prepare to be engaged, challenged and moved by the stories told and the wisdom revealed. Space is limited to 100, so be sure to pick up a free ticket at the Emergent registration check-in.
As we prepare for the NavPress/Emerging Women’s Leadership Breakfast on Friday, we are hopeful that our time together will be as impacting and meaningful as our first breakfast in San Diego on March 24, 2009.
Jen remembers this moment:
The highlight for me was at the very end when we passed out small rocks. Each rock had a word on it which we hoped would be a word or a blessing to help each person move forward on their journey. I just loved handing out the rocks. It felt like communion, holy and sacred. One man told me as he was leaving that when I spoke at the breakfast, for some reason he felt like crying and he didn’t know why. He said it felt like a call to his spirit somehow & that though he didn’t understand it, he wanted me to know. I handed him a rock, saying I didn’t know what word was on it, but I hoped it would be a blessing to him. He looked at his rock and filled up; he said, “This is perfect for me because I’m leading my church in a process of opening up the doors to women being elders and it’s been such a hard road. This tells me I need to keep going.”His rock said “Try.”
