AWL Luncheon Challenges Nearly 70 Attendees to Leverage Their Strengths for Ministry Success
“Raise your hand if even as a child you always knew how to take charge. Maybe they called you bossy. Raise your hand if you were usually off in a corner but always coming up with an idea … and getting everyone else in trouble with your ideas. Raise your hand if you asked a lot of questions. And, who got in trouble for talking?”
At the Adventist Women Leaders (AWL) luncheon, held Jan. 11, 2023, at the conclusion of the North American Division 2023 “Replenish” Adventist Ministries Convention (NAD AMC) in Greensboro, North Carolina, the nearly 70 attendees met keynote speaker Leah JM Dean’s query with laughter and several raised hands.
Women leaders invited to lunch at Adventist Ministries Convention
In 2019, more than 90 women registered for the first Adventist Women Leaders Luncheon in Albuquerque, N.M., at the North American Division Adventist Ministries Convention. The banquet room hummed with talk and laughter as the attendees engaged in self-assessment, group discussions, spiritual reflection and the opportunity to network and swap stories over lunch.
Now, we have a chance to do it again, and YOU are invited.
DeeAnn Bragaw
Adventist Women Leaders (AWL) has joined the North American Division Women’s Ministries Department.
The community’s new home is part of a larger plan to help AWL grow, reach and serve more women leaders with resources, events and mentoring opportunities. The partnership was proposed by Wendy Eberhardt, NAD’s vice president for Ministries and AWL’s committee chair. The AWL committee prayed about the union and agreed to explore the possibility. Celeste Ryan Blyden, Columbia Union’s executive secretary and founder/director of AWL, met with DeeAnn Bragaw, NAD’s director of Women’s Ministries, in October and the two solidified a plan to join forces.
“The department of Women’s Ministries serves all women, and we’re looking for fresh and relevant ways to minister to many different groups of women,” Bragaw says of the reason she welcomed the alliance. “Partnering with Adventist Women Leaders gives us the opportunity to better serve women leaders, and also provides an opportunity for young women to see that there is a place for them in leadership within our church, and a community of other women leaders as well.”
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