DWGC Ladies Retreat
Ladies, what is on your playlist? What do you spend time listening to? What kinds of conversations are you having?
In the last three years, fear has been in heavy rotation for many of us on the playlist of our lives. Alerts and notifications bombard our waking hours with updates of potential peril. Taking time away to hear a message of courage could benefit us all.
Join us for our Take Courage: Diocesan Women’s Retreat on June 2nd and 3rd at St. Timothy’s Anglican Church in Spring. We will gather on Friday evening and Saturday during the day to share messages of encouragement based on our theme verse, “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 31:24 ESV)
This year’s line-up includes:
· Keynote speaker: Deacon Virginia Musselman
· An interview with Beth Moore
· A variety of workshops led by ladies from all over our Diocese
· Worship led by Grace Anglican’s Natalie Johnson
· Contemplative activities
· A dinner fellowship event on Friday evening, breakfast on Saturday, and an epic salad bar featuring the work of Chef Deacon Jennifer Scherzer for lunch
Please register today at: https://dwgc.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/1640218
Our early bird discount pricing will expire on May 8th!
Do you have questions? Please email our women’s ministry coordinator: Anthea Kotlan, at: antheak66@gmail.com.
Liminal Space in the Season of Epiphany
Liminal Space in the Season of Epiphany
This weekend I went away from my babies and my husband for the weekend. My best friend, the godmother to my children, is marrying her new best friend in April. I had to make a
trip to celebrate with her. She is loyal and thoughtful, and recently we have been learning a new way in our friendship.
In Between
A wise friend told me about a new concept, "liminal space." A term for in between two things. My best friend is in between being a single woman and a married woman. It's a very tricky transition with all the decisions that need to be made and relationships that need to be built. And I am in my own liminal place, making decisions and figuring out what God is doing in my life. In many ways, this feels like the first time we have been in different liminal spaces. It is stretching us and growing us.
Mary & the Wisemen
It's not unlike how Mary must have felt as a new mom, or how the wise men must have felt as they decided to follow a star into an unknown future to worship an unknown king. I don't know if I would have been brave enough to make that journey. It is hard to step out in faith and courage. It can hurt to have your relationships grow and change. In my situation, change and growth have been thrust onto my shoulders, maybe more like Mary may have felt. In the Wisemen's case, the star was so compelling it caused them to make a change and enter a journey through liminal space.
For my friend and me, in some ways, I want everything to stay exactly the same. But in other ways, I know that she is growing in exactly the right ways she needs to. And as I look back on my own liminal space, I can see how much I have grown in these last couple of months. I am learning to trust God more than I ever have, and I don't think anything would have brought me to my knees like an unknown future.
Maybe you are in a liminal space, too, walking in between who you are and who you plan to be.
Faithful Throng
It's hard, relationship change, routines change, places change, whatever your liminal space is. But I want you to know that although I don't know the answer, I do know that you aren't alone there. You are among a faithful throng of people traveling through a wilderness. You are becoming the person you will be. You are learning the hardest lessons.
What would happen if we treated the other people we meet as if they, too, might be in a liminal space? In their own hard transition, that feels a bit like their guts are being ripped out and reformed.
Journeys
How do you think Mary received the Wise Men? Two different stories, but ultimately walking through liminal spaces because of a King named Jesus. Jesus also knew something about liminal spaces as he stood between the humanness of his life and the calling of his sacrifice. And he is so very compassionate to us as we walk our own journeys in between. I don’t think Mary felt ready to display her new motherhood on Instagram, and I don’t think the wise man felt they had it all figured out when they arrived at the feet of a child King. But for a moment in time, two different people were at the feet of Jesus. I hope that they celebrated, in my mind, gifts seem like a hint to us that they did celebrate. I hope that they encouraged one another.
Celebrate
My friend and I don’t have the right words for each other’s seasons, but we spent the weekend together, and we spent the weekend celebrating what God has done and thanking him for his goodness.
Take a moment today to sit and see where you are, see where you have come from, and notice the faithfulness God showed you yesterday and the day before. Do you have anything to celebrate?
God is Faithful
If nothing else, you have made it to today. If nothing else, you took a step forward. If nothing else, you took a breath of the same air God created. Speak over yourself the truth that God is faithful, and that you are going somewhere, you are becoming someone. And there will be a day when you can look back at this time with a laugh and a tear, and may you be able to say, that liminal space made me the kind and compassionate human I am today.
*Thank you to Deacon Monica Napoli Warren for her sermon on liminal spaces found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BThT5eCKu4g&ab_channel=ChristAnglicanMobile
(Monica’s sermon begins about minute 45 in the recording.)
Rachel Schwandt serves at St. Timothy’s Anglican in Spring with her husband, Fr. Michael Schwandt.
Growing Wings of Healing
I have lost three of my four brothers to drugs and alcohol. It changed the trajectory of my life. I experienced some radical healing from my own trauma and from so much loss as I meditated and lived out Isaiah 58:10. There is a portion in the amplified Bible that says, “If you pour out what you have to sustain your own life to satisfy the need of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness.”
I was driving home from my Bible study one week and there was a homeless man on the corner that looked like an emaciated version of my husband. He even had a guitar, too. I knew God was telling me to take the healing that I had received and give it away on the streets. It’s so easy to draw a line in the sand between them and us until God clearly shows you that you could be the person on the street.
At first, I joined several organizations that feed the homeless and eventually formed a non-profit to provide food, health care, housing needs, and mental health care to the homeless. I also mentor and give counseling in order to help people get healthy enough to give back to the homeless community. Mainly, I’m staying present with people and building trust so that relationships can be built. It is truly a joy to love, grieve, and celebrate with people. We have the sacred opportunity to throw parties for people that no one throws parties for. We are privileged to hold unwanted and forgotten hearts and hands. Jesus sits with the brokenhearted and he lets us pull up a chair.
Honestly, I am being ministered to as much as anyone. People who are raw and real and vulnerable see you when you’re hurting. They are not afraid to go past small talk and hear a hard story. They aren’t afraid to grieve with you. I have had some of the most heartfelt prayers spoken over me under bridges and in tent cities. I’d say that I definitely benefit more than anyone else. When you lose people, grief can be so painful because your love has nowhere to land. Thanks to a few hundred people on the street, my grief has landed and grown the wings of healing.
Steph Cherry | thebohotable.org
Wings of Healing
Steph Cherry,
Christ our King Anglican,
New Braunfels, TX
Busy Bags
Busy Bags
Lauren Beadle,
All Saints Conroe,
Conroe, TX
My husband and and I have recently embarked on the grand church planting adventure. We serve on a team planting All Saints in Conroe, Texas. We have lived in the Conroe area for over twenty years, so for us, we are coming home to plant right where we live.
We have the privilege of planting a brand-new church with a fantastic team led by Fr. Jon Beadle and his wife, Lauren. As we began the process of launching, we have been hosting preview services so those in our community can come and learn about what we have to offer.
During those services, I noticed Lauren, a mom of three young children, arrived with a large box full of paper lunch sacks which appeared to be filled with some pretty fantastic stuff.
As each child arrived for the service, they were welcomed in with a "busy bag." Recently, I sat down with Lauren to learn more about how she is serving our congregation with these simple gifts she is offering our guests and their families.
1. How did you come up with the idea of providing busy bags for children at our new church plant?
I can’t take credit for the active bag idea. As the Children’s Pastor at HopePointe, we always provided busy bags for major feast day services. They were especially useful when we reopened during COVID. We needed something fun and unique to keep kids engaged in the service that also focused on a specific story in the Bible.
2. What did you choose to put in these busy bags?
It changes weekly, but I typically add in a few coloring pages, blank sheets of paper, a few crayons, stickers, a foam sticker craft, chenille stems, pompoms, etc. Sometimes I add a small bag of goldfish because my kids' #1 complaint during church is how hungry they are. Hah!
3. If someone else wanted to make these, what would you suggest they add to busy bags for children at their churches? Any do's or don'ts?
Always make it fun and exciting. Change it from week to week, if you can. Depending on what the lectionary has for the day, you can usually find fun crafts from Hobby Lobby or Oriental Trading that are thematic. I try to stay away from candy because
1. It was expensive
2. Sugar
The busy bags are designed to be used during the sermon, but most kids dig into them as soon as they grab it, so you want enough to keep their attention for 45 minutes or so.
4. Why do you think this is a crucial thing to do?
Pray over each bag as we prepare them. My prayer is usually something like, “God, whomever this bag belongs to, may you begin a work in their heart. Soften them to who you are, reveal yourself to them, and spark questions in their mind about you. Bless them and turn their eyes towards you. Thank you for bringing them to All Saints. “
5. How do kids respond to these bags?
So far, they have really loved them! They were initially intended for our elementary kids to have during the sermon since we don’t have a proper children’s program as a new church, but even our toddlers are begging for them before service. How can I say no to those precious babies? Hah!
I genuinely think that the parents love them more than the kids. I have had so many parents thank me for how occupied it keeps our kids. So I’d say busy bags are a hit at All Saints.
6. What is your goal for these bags?
It is a perfect opportunity for the kids to have a fun craft to do while also listening to the sermon. It gives the kids a great visual of the story. My own kids are very tactile learners. If they have something to keep their hands busy, they can usually listen to whatever is happening around them. It opens up a new world to them, and many questions get asked during and after the service about the craft they did and the story that goes with it. It becomes an excellent opportunity to teach our children about the life of Jesus and what He has done for us.
7. What has God taught you as you served in this way?
It’s been a sweet reminder of how important our children are to the church's life. I believe that children’s ministry is an essential part of the church. These kids are our future, and we must take them just as seriously as any adult in the room. Often, God uses the children to teach me new things about Him, so my prayer is always to reveal more of himself to them. I love how the busy bags are just a step toward Jesus.
Serving on a Book Launch Team
Serving on a Book Launch Team
Anthea Kotlan
All Saints Anglican
Conroe, TX
At last count, Christian author Robin Jones Gunn has published over 100 Christian fiction books. Gunn started writing when she discovered that the young women in the youth group she served were desperate to read books reflecting Christian values. Gunn created a new genre in the late 1980s with the Christy Miller book series. Her stories profoundly influenced generations of young Christian women. Some of her audience even came to Christ praying with the main character.
Christian books carrying the good news of Christ continue to go out into the world every day. Whether a book gains a large audience is not necessarily based on the quality of the writing. In the publishing world, it is a matter of who you know and who knows you. Connecting with an audience, building a platform, gaining followers, and getting the message out are vital steps in the journey toward selling books.
In recent years, I have had the privilege of serving on various book launch teams. The teams are often formed on social media and may be managed by the author or a seasoned book launch team leader.
Why do books need to be launched out into the world? Doesn’t the publisher do all the promotional work for an author?
No, many publishers don’t do this work anymore. It is up to the author to create opportunities and build her platform.
Without a strong book launch team, a book may never see many sales. It could be the best book to date on the topic, but it will fail without specific critical support provided by a book launch team.
What are those key components?
Pre-ordering a book from your favorite author gives a fantastic boost to the sales record of the book. A book with solid pre-orders will become more visible when people look for new books to buy.
Writing a review in the first thirty days will also boost visibility and give other readers an idea about whether the book is a good fit for them. Books with multiple good reviews and strong pre-orders will be ranked highly by Amazon. Local bookstores will put books out on display that have achieved these goals. Reviews can be written and shared on various platforms, including Amazon, Goodreads, and book review blogs.
Sharing the book on social media can also help spread the word about a new book. People are looking for books to purchase or get from the library, and seeing something they connect with on social media might cause them to check out a new book. Did you know you can ask your library to order a new book? This is yet another way to support an author.
Serving on a book launch team can be an excellent way to find books you love and a great way to help Gospel-carrying books get into as many hands as possible. If you love to read and enjoy encouraging others, serving on a book launch team might be a great way to serve a world in need as the family of God.
Anthea Kotlan,
All Saints Anglican Church, Conroe, TX
Come, There is a Seat for You Here
Come, there is a seat for you here.
Holly Hunter
Trinity Anglican,
Lafayette, LA
All the darkness in the world could not extinguish the light of a single candle. St Francis of Assisi
When my husband and I were married, my dad gifted us a dining room table. He collected the pieces from an old barn and crafted it together to create a space that we could gather around. (I’m pretty sure we may have had our first argument as newlyweds at that table.) Since we were married, nearly 15 years ago, we have moved six times and the table is one item that has always traveled with us.
It was at that table that we told friends we were expecting a baby. It was at that table that we invited a single mom and her children to come in from a snowy night. We have celebrated engagements, pregnancies and graduations at that table. We have seated friends who love the Lord and pour over the scripture with us, as well as others that are opposed to the Gospel and still have a desire to be heard. It is has been a place of weeping and a place of laughter.
This table is where our family gathers for three meals a day. We read scripture. We’ve shared countless tea times and morning prayers. Our children are accustomed to say to anyone that walks in our doors, they meet at the playground, or we see in need, “Do you want to sit at our table?” It’s a place that the some of the sacred parts of our faith meet the every day needs we have as humans. It is a place that we can say to anyone that our paths cross, “Come, there is a seat for you here. We can offer you a warm meal and tell you of a great hope. No matter the season, no matter the story, this is where you belong.”
Our dining room table is the launching pad to help draw people to Christ’s table. It is a place that brings healing to deep wounds, offers a hope that passes understanding, and food that doesn’t leave you hungry.
Holly Hunter, Trinity Anglican, Lafayette, LA
Be Open to Where the Lord is Leading
Be Open to Where the Lord is Leading
Holly Miguel, HopePointe Anglican Church
1. What is BSF ? And how did you serve?
Bible Study Fellowship (BSF - https://www.bsfinternational.org ) is a verse by verse Bible study that was started by missionary Audrey Wetherell Johnson in 1959 when she was approached by 5 women who
wanted to learn the Bible. It has grown into an international, interdenominational Bible study with over 1250 classes that meet each week in over 120 nations. Last year, I was able to serve with BSF as a
Children’s Leader, co-teaching the junior high and senior high students in our evening class location in The Woodlands, TX.
2. What impact did BSF have on you/ your Children’s lives? I was invited to attend with a friend while my family lived in California. The in-depth study intrigued me but I also was drawn to the fact that they had a children’s program that taught the same lesson to the kids at a level they could grasp. My daughter was 2 at the time and she could spend her morning learning about Jesus as her mama did too. That same
daughter just turned 13 and we now live in Texas. God has allowed us to remain in BSF this whole time as well as introduce 2 little brothers and a daddy/hubby to it also. This winter we will introduce our family’s newest
addition to BSF as another baby Miguel will start BSF in my infant carrier.
3. Share some other ways you have served in your community or your church during previous seasons.
Each season of life has brought new or different ways to serve. I have served in the church or community as long as I can remember. Church work days, nursery worker, youth group volunteer, community youth
program tutor, homeless outreach, international missions trips serving in areas of VBS, Teen coffee bar outreach, women’s prison outreach, orphanage outreach, stateside Women’s Bible study small group leader,
home small group leader/ hostess, children’s worship leadership team, prayer ministry, cup bearer, flower guild...
4. What is this new season you find yourself in? Where is the Lord calling
you to serve right now? Though the ways the Lord has allowed me to serve has varied over the
years, there has always been some way he could use me. This season is a bit more lean on service outside of my home. It is a season of service more to my growing family as we continue our 10th year of
homeschooling, and we are adding a 4th Miguel kiddo come November. I am also supporting my husband as he follows his call as a priest while he finishes up his seminary studies. We are always seeking and listening for what the Lord is leading us to do next.
5. How has becoming a pastor’s wife changed how you serve ( if at all)? Knowing that our time commitments were going to change with my husband returning to school for seminary meant we had to look at what we
were doing as a family and see what areas may need to change. Protecting our marriage and family time is a priority. Family meals and homemade pizza nights were to be preserved. As opportunities come up we weigh
them individually and as a couple to make sure it fits with how we feel directed by God for our family. With Elmer becoming a pastor we have increased some areas of service and pulled back in others as well. Some of
this has depended on our family’s needs at the time. Is daddy going to away a bit more often due to classes or church commitments? Are there ways our kids can be involved in the service? Is there a need to make time
with other families in similar seats or mark a date on the calendar for family time between large time commitments? Pastor’s lives are busy. Family life is important. We see how the duties of a pastor and the
commitment to family can go together or are making sure each gets its own much needed time. Currently my service is more focused on homeschooling my growing family and supporting my husband. I am
grateful for that time for I know this season will change someday all too soon.
6. What ( if any ) advice do you have for other women in other seasons of life trying to find their niche to serve the Lord?Be open to where the Lord is leading. If you are not sure where that is try thinking about what interests you or something you have always wanted to try. Don’t hesitate to try something new or a bit challenging. If the Lord is leading you to do something new or a bit challenging then He will provide
more than what you need to make it happen. Trust and walk in His leading. It is ok to say no to areas of service that you really don’t believe the Lord is leading you. Your service is for Him, not others.
7. Do you have a favorite quote about serving the Lord and/or His people? Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people
Ephesians 6:7
A Change in a Call to Serve
A Change in a Call to Serve
Rachel Schwandt,
St. Timothy’s Anglican Church
When I was in college studying nursing, I found this quote,
“Those who seek knowledge in order to serve that is love.” Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
A Call to Serve
As a young person, I was drawn to the idea of serving the community, which ultimately led me to choose a service profession. As a mom of two young children, who has stepped away from some of the aspects of serving that I once loved, I find myself adrift. This quote I artfully wrote on white printer paper with a pencil and stuck to a piece of cardboard reminded me of something during that time. It reminded me of the people without homes whom I desperately wanted to serve. It reminded me that the time I spent reading textbooks would one day amount to a calling and a purpose.
When I stopped nursing at the bedside, I felt I had lost that. It is not valid, of course. I exchanged my external service model for the intimate and challenging work of “new baby service.” The result of feeding in the middle of the night became my timepiece for the season. Then I added another child before coming up for air on the first: an adventure to say the least, and another opportunity to pour out myself. My service, for now, is attending to two tiny and demanding people.
A New Calling
In the last year, I have taken on a new type of service, which I have found is threefold. My husband and I took over our parish nursery. We had a vested interest in the program, so we decided to follow the whispers of the Lord toward this new area. Toddlers, while beloved by some, are also sometimes avoided by many. They have attitudes too big for their little bodies, resulting in great tantrums of legendary proportions.
This new role has pushed me out of my comfort zone by asking me to make new relationships with women outside of our church who need a job. Incredible and lovely women willing to work on Sunday mornings and hang out with toddlers. It’s this fantastic opportunity for some of the people in our community.
The second portion of this service is the offering to the parents of our parish. We offer time to sit with the Lord undistracted by tiny sticky hands. These parents may not have regular opportunities to sit and enjoy a sermon or fellowship between services. I see their weary faces come in the doors on Sundays, and sometimes I think I can see them leave with a little bit less of that heavy burden.
Baptismal Vows
Lastly, I suppose there is also the opportunity to draw near the women and men who do not have small children. We seek to draw them in, remind them of the joy of toddlers, and ask them to read silly books. I feel I am re-acquainting these volunteers with the Baptismal vows they spoke over children’s heads.
In Anglicanism, we ask the congregation, “Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?” (ACNA BCP 2019, p. 165)
And the congregation boldly proclaims, “We will.”
I have said these words countless times myself.
I now remember my college days, when I was so focused on serving a specific under-resourced community. I attended a small church meeting in a gymnasium during that time. They asked for volunteers to help with children and toddlers, and really, they begged. But I said, “I am not called to that.”
Oh, sweet baby, Rachel…
We can often look around and see jobs that seem out of our comfort zone or things we just plain don’t want to do, but that is really where the rubber meets the road on service.
A Hard Call
In the nitty gritty moments of hard things, when we choose to whisper a yes to God’s asking. Did young Rachel ever think she would one day participate in children’s ministry and drag others along with her? No!
But the Lord is KING, and God, He softens our hearts. God gives us the desire to match the needs of God’s church.
How good is our God?
Ministry of Availability
Ministry of Availability,
Carolyn Boyd
St. Timothy’s Anglican
Church
After my sophomore year, I informed my mother that I wanted to join VISTA and go to Appalachia. She suggested I wasn't quite mature enough for that and wisely sent me back to college. Twenty years later, on a mission trip to West Virginia with a busload of high school students, I realized my mother had been right. Five years later, my husband and I were teaching in Turkey, hanging out with under-the-radar missionaries, and wondering if that was our calling.
Mission and I have always had a spotty relationship. I chased it for fifty years, and then it caught
me.
“So, what are you doing now that you are retired?”
“I volunteer in a used bookstore for a Christian non-profit,” I should add, “It’s my dream
job.”
God does that on a frustratingly regular basis. We worry and fret over our mission. We ask for
guidance and an open door. Then, when we look in the opposite direction, He showers, no,
deluges us with exactly what He has been preparing us for all along. He does this at the perfect
time and with the ideal opportunity.
I know this is true because I have many friends, all certifiably senior citizens in
retirement, who:
deliver flowers to shut-ins
knit kitten beds for the animal shelter,
drive a friend to dialysis,
run a food pantry
lead work parties in disaster zones
They generally do God’s mission work under the radar of America’s push and shove commercial economy. We are engaged in “the ministry of availability.” The door to this ministry is simply being alert to the needs around us, the opportunity to help, and the mindset to say, “I can do that.” Then leave the rest to the heavenly HR department. I'm sure they have an opening with your name on it to send cards to shut-ins, weed the garden at your church, mentor troubled youth, or collect donations for pregnancy centers. There is no end to what we can do before our end: That part where our beloved Lord says, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
Carolyn Boyd, St. Timothy’s Anglican Church