Faith Formation as an Ecology of Faith

In this post-modern age,  faith- claiming people under fifty generally tell stories when asked about their faith forming experiences.  Believers over 50 will talk about Bible study times, Confirmation classes, and learning the creeds and Lord's Prayer as formative faith milestones. The younger set may recount some gleanings from the wisdom keepers in their families but add retreats, mission trips, Bible study groups and community events. It is often the stories about helping with VBS, singing at the nursing home with the Youth Group, or participating in a Children's Christmas worship service that are highlighted as pivotal experiences.  These events within a faith community became the place that teaching, guiding, worship and serving were mentored.

Researcher Catherine Albanese writes in America Religion and Religions that we are shaped by creeds-which explain the meaning of life and by codes- the rules that govern behavior and all the unwritten laws. Then there are cultises- the rituals that act out understandings of creeds and codes, and communities that unite people who share a common identity. This system has been the well working model for formation when social norms and civic practices backed up this church-centric model. We are pretty aware this no longer is the case. This ecology of faith- the constellation of communal elements that converge to shape one's religious beliefs, attitudes and practices is broken.

The challenge is that our churches, parochial schools and faith communities are still operating as if the 1950 model is intact and operating. Though we live in a post- denominational, post-congregational context, we make decisions as if the tried and true was still working and creating new believers waiting to be discipled. 

Faith formation is intrinsically personal and also really cannot be meted out with cookie-cutter precision. The basic understanding is that it is also Holy Spirit led and designed. That is pretty hard to tame and bottle. So how do we move into the future for faith formation? We need insightful leaders that are able to use an ecology of faith to assess the faith formation framework and make adjustments, seek out their own blindspots in their planning and scope of relationships. A beginning question might just be- Do we really do what we say we do for faith formation? And in this mix will be a clearer understanding that a large piece of the puzzle for faith formation shaping is the expectation that "stories" will be an integral part of how this generation evolves as mature Christians.  They will need to be the story sharers and the story makers. Knowing our faith stories so we can tell our faith stories may well serve to be a part of the paradigm shift that makes sure there is a healthy ecology of faith for our grandchildren. 

Still chewing on the writings of Julie Lytle- in Faith Formation 4.0

 and credit her work for much of this processing.

Blessings,

   Connie

Linda Scherer- Northern Region

Learning from a dear Christian friend, I see myself as a "redeemed child of God." It says it all for me. I see my life unfold and have importance in relationships and service to all God’s people.  It says it all for me. I see forgiveness and hope. It says it all for me.

I am not a person who had a miraculous conversion or someone who had an emphatically religious upbringing. God, in His wisdom, saw it wise to help me little by little on a faith journey that has taken quite a good while and, thankfully, continues to this very day!! My family made sure I learned the Lord's prayer and the Apostles' Creed and had access to a large Bible story book as a child. We did not go to church as a family in my school years since my Dad worked on Sundays and my Mom was home taking care of my brother who has major disabilities. We sometimes attended Sunday school.

But I felt a tug to serve within the church and I studied to be a teacher in the Lutheran school system. (after changing college majors a half dozen times!) Much of my next decade was trying to figure out just who I was, working, marrying Art, and raising a family. My husband, the love of my life, has been a super influence and faith encourager.

The Bethel Bible Series had the biggest influence on my growing faith. "Blessed to be a Blessing" took hold and it was life-changing to see how God's plan through Scripture moved forward and wrapped me up in it as well. I will be forever grateful for this exciting opportunity to study and teach.

Today I look back and see both opportunities seized and opportunities not grasped. I see wonderful people in my life and those I never got to know. I see family, both immediate and extended, who have meant a lot. I see meaningful work within the church and in the library setting where I have worked in vocation. I see God’s hand guiding me all along. I hope to grow in being an encourager in days to come.

I am thankful to the Lord for His slow and patient work with me for many years. Through His leading, I have felt purpose in my life and joy and empowerment for service among His people.  I have been energized and equipped in the midst of His forgiveness, and I look forward to whatever comes!

Art and I share and sing an old hymn very, very often.

"We've come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord....."

I think we will continue to sing it and pray it for you as well.

Linda worships at Holy Nativity, Baltimore, MD.

She is the wife of former SED President Rev. Dr. Art Scherer.

 She can be contacted at lscherer50@gmail.com.

Leslie Jaseph- Northern Region

Northern Region – Leslie Jaseph

He was a man troubled by his past sins, unsure that God’s forgiveness applied even to him. A physically abusive alcoholic, reformed as he became older. An adult confirmand, turned away by hurtful hypocrisy. An adulterer who maintained a hidden double life (and child) for several years.

This was my father, a man desperately distanced from his Lord. Yet God used my dad to bring me closer to Him than ever.

I was a Lutheran from the womb. My mother’s parents, German immigrants, helped start a church in their town when they moved from Philadelphia to Hialeah, Florida in the 1940’s. I cannot remember a time when we did not attend church. I have always felt a connection to my Lord.

But perhaps there was complacency at times; something felt when we have never had to do without. I started volunteering in the nursery when I was ten, then Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, and for anything else I was asked. I enjoyed helping share the Gospel message of salvation, particularly with children. After all, that’s where it starts, Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it Proverbs 22:6 (ESV). 

My mother was my faith life role model, like so many families. She was church soloist, and possessor of an unshakeable faith. 

My father did not attend church except for special occasions: graduations, confirmations, weddings. He had attended church as a child, and again as an adult, but after a very unchristian like experience with a fellow member, he backed away. He came to view church goers as unforgiving, “holier-than-thou” people. I didn’t think of wondering about his personal faith life. I was a child. People went to church or they didn’t. I did not understand the desire to be with God and others in worship. Remember, it was never a choice.

As the years passed, my relationship with my father changed, as it does when a child becomes an adult. Parents are no longer seen as infallible. Choices they have made are questioned. A new relationship is forged, adult to adult, and this may be uncomfortable for both sides. Honesty and truth appear perhaps for the first time, and this can create distance in a relationship. This was true with the father I had always adored.

About a year after Jamie and I were married, I found out my father had a six year old daughter from a long term relationship. This created a difficult situation for me. I had always been close to my dad. Our personalities were similar; we saw things the same way. But this created a distance between us. I had to support my mother as my parents divorced. Within a year, my father married the mother of his younger daughter. How could he have done all this? He knew right and wrong. It just reminded me of the distance he had created between himself and God.

Dad and I kept in touch by phone now and them, but nothing was the same. We weren’t as close as we had once been. After our first son was born, I made the effort to take him to see his grandfather. They were uncomfortable visits, with my father’s other family.

The summer Philip turned one, my father was found to have widespread and inoperable cancer. At the age of 30, I was facing the death of a parent. Perhaps for the first time I was concerned about my father’s faith. Maybe because I was a parent myself, and was teaching Philip Bible songs and prayers. I realized that Dad needed to hear the words of “Jesus Loves Me”. I knew that his death without faith was the end of my hope of seeing him again one day. 

My father was afraid of dying, maybe because of his past. It was in his voice and on his face, nearly palpable when I would see him. I asked our pastor to visit Dad and share words of comfort and hope, knowing it would provide the same for me. Pastor Ken was faithful in his time with Dad, and my father would always say he knew that Jesus was his Savior when he was prompted. But I wondered if he truly believed that.

That fall the day came that changed my father’s and my life in a profound way. The Holy Spirit worked so powerfully in him that he could not keep God at a distance any longer. Pastor Ken called to tell me Dad had made a personal profession of faith, and that he was able to accept full forgiveness for his sins. I remember it so clearly: Philip was napping when I received the call, and the tears ran down my face.

For the last two months of his life, my father rested in God’s loving embrace, enjoying the assurance and hope I had prayed so hard for him to know. He bore an obvious look of peace. He asked me to forgive him for not being a better father, and I was able to tell him that I already had. When we would speak, he would recite the 23^rd Psalm and the Lord’s Prayer, something I had never witnessed before. Two weeks before Christmas, Dad went home to his Lord. He was 60 years old.

I have often told this story, and I frequently relive it in my heart and mind. Sharing the message of salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection is not just for children. It needs to be retold as often as someone can hear it. My father gained something he had never truly lost. And I gained the assurance of God’s grace and mercy for a child of His who had taken for granted all His blessings bestowed without merit. That child is me.

We are blessed by Leslie's "yes" when asked

 to share a piece of her faith journey story.

Strong lives are often tempered in refining fires.

 Leslie is the Director of Community Outreach,

 Lutheran Mission Society, Baltimore, MD.
 Leslie worships at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Annapolis, MD.

She can be reached at LJaseph@aol.com.

When Creating Gives God Glory

I was fortunate to hear about the opportunity
 that Diane Guelzow had to create the banner for the

  150th Anniversary celebration
 for Concordia University, Chicago.

I asked her to give us a glimpse of her artistic process,
 that I might share with you- a part of her story. 

Diane J. Guelzow

Artist statement

Art making is a daily exercise for me, a daily diet of mixing everyday life with sensory-rich visuals.  It is the way I process life, a necessary staple, and a reflection pool for living.  I mix materials, blurring paint, and paper, fabric, pen, and whatever my spirit reaches for in the creative process. I am primarily a mixed-medium artist but painting is my breath.

     In creating the banner for Concordia University’s 150^th anniversary celebration,
 I worked with three individual vertical banners to pay tribute to the Trinity in accordance to the hymn that was written for the service.  Mixing materials of painted canvas with cloth provided opportunities to render emotion and worship.

     Residing in western North Carolina, I feel a connection to the organic nature of root systems, especially as I walk the trails in the mountains.  There is rhizomatic growth to be seen, a yearning to grow upward and forward despite the hardships in life.  Three vertical banners consist of root systems wrapped around rocks, digging deeply to take hold and desiring to rapidly produce more growth, more roots, and ensuring stable conditions for survival.

     The plant emerges throughout all three panels, moving, entangling, and swaying with the wind, providing metaphor for the human spirit living in the world but also striving and pushing forward for Heaven’s glory.

     As the plant steadies itself amidst life’s trials and root systems plow deeply to secure to solid rock, God showers blessing upon the tender plant, as seen in the first panel, flooding us as well with his love.  The second panel brings Christ into our lives by living among us, being in the storms of our lives, in the wind that tangles us together, and in his breath, He says, “I am with you always”.  The third panel represents the Holy Spirit uplifting us and moving us closer to God, helping us reach and connect to the ever-present Father.

     As followers of Christ, we yearn for connection, growing in faith and love.  The fabric at the bottom of each banner and on the backside of the banners is a reminder of the rhizomatic growth, the yearning to be closer to God, to be deeply rooted in the Word, to stay in the faith, and to be entangled in His arms.  

Diane J. Guelzow

Ed.D., NCC. LPC, REACE



Diane worships at St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, Hickory, North Carolina. We give thanks for the gifts and talents that she so generously shares with the wider church community.

Diane's love for visual arts has been a long time journey. Her first book- Banners With Pizazz is available on Amazon : Banners-Pizazz-Diane-Guelzow.

 Though this book was published 20 years ago it is an insightful help for the creation of visual arts. Her craft has become even more refined
 as seen in her work here.
Diane may be reached at-dianeguelzow@gmail.com

Want to see the banner in a live feed for the service?  See Below.....

Opening Service marks CUC's 150th academic year

8/23/2013

Concordia University Chicago opens its 150th anniversary celebration with the annual Opening Service in The Chapel of Our Lord at 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 25.  For those unable to attend, the service will be provided as a live video feed atwww.cuchicago.edu/live.

And though it is a little blurry and it is challenging to take a photo on a a computer of an event, here is the banner hanging in the Chapel at Concordia University- Chicago. May it bless all the worship this Anniversary year.

---

Living the Between

Still working through all the thoughtful writing of author Julie Anne Lytle in her book-
Faith Formation 4.0.  This blog right here- Women of the SED is a helpful place to connect Julie's research with the initial interactions in a a virtual community. Knowing that blogland is still new to many in the world of social media, it never hurts to explain some of the basics.

First, it is a personal choice to be connected to receive new posts in a timely manner. The easiest way to accomplish that is to sign up to receive them by email. ( on the top right side of the blog)
A Feedburner box will come up for you to write in the letters there - to make sure you are a real human being.  Then there is the Next important step---  an email will come to your inbox and you need to click on this to ensure you will get the upcoming emails.  Without this last step-- you are not connected.
That way you get new postings as they are added. It is the hope that this blog connects ALL WOMEN in the Southeastern District- LCMS- the professional called worker, those married to called workers, and ALL laywomen.

Participating in a virtual community is the beginning of moving from physical place to digital space connections. What are the possible benefits from this virtual connection?

• we begin to see the power of God's story in our lives and that each of us have a story
• we see the organic way that the God's transforming love changes lives in His timing and with His methods
• we see that faith communities should have a balance between- hearing the Word and living the Word----and helps us each to do a check and balance in our own lives
• we see that we no longer are limited in our relationships by the excuses we have long held as the obstacles- distance, time, money, schedules and forum ( just no way to make it happen)
• missionary life is challenging- and we are all missionaries in need of encouragement
• when we are connected- God has new pathways to use to bring His Kingdom to life

So what is living the between?  We are living the between right now in the exploration and learning community of ministry in the digital age. We don't have clean and pat answers. It has not all been solved and laid out in "how to" manuals.  There are the early innovators that we can learn from and 

researchers like Julie Lytle that point us in the right direction for beginning the engagement.

So what can You do today? Sign up. Be connected. Be brave to tread in new territory. Go along as we learn together. Take a new step that may just allow the Holy Spirit to use us all as conduits of grace.

Maybe this new door has a clipboard waiting on it with your name-- and what Jesus wants you to do in this new adventure in His Kingdom.

Blessings,

Connie

Global Connections

We are all still in the exploration stage for understanding
 the use of social media tools for connections, and discipling within our framework of "ministry".
Sometimes our stories are meant to encourage one person
and yet another sees a simple Truth, that may draw them closer to Jesus.

As we have the courage to step out and tell a piece of the layers of our faith stories,we may not realize a couple of things about how the internet blog world works.

Our familiar ways of getting "info out" in broad cast forms is now interactive and is also way beyond our control of just how it gets shared. There are both areas of caution and wonderment in how this all works.

As you read the stories here on this blog, and contemplate writing your own to submit, think about this.
The story you read and write here in English gets around the world fairly quickly. With the tool of Google Translator, a reader can press a button and the blog is rewritten onto the language chosen. Their own language--- YOUR WORDS.

You have the possibility of becoming a world missionary right here. Since we began this blog a few short weeks ago, I have kept track of the countries that have found us here on the internet and clicked through one or more blog posts.

This includes these countries:

United States, Russia, United Kingdom, Latvia, Chile, Germany, India, Iraq, Israel, France, Canada, Romania, Peru, Venezuela, Guatemala, Turkey, The Netherlands, Brazil, Greece, Ukraine and Poland.

From your living room, in the Southeastern District, United States ----yes, to viewing around the world.
If you could that easily be a world missionary, what might you have to say about the story you have to share in knowing Jesus?  When we remember that our stories really aren't about us, but are meant to bring God Glory, then perhaps we can find that spot to begin. We really can be the Light in a dark world. 
Is it time for your Light to shine a bit brighter? Around the globe?

Judy Pask- Central Region

Judy Pask- Central Region

With little religious connections growing up, the last thing I’d thought I’d ever be is a pastor’s wife!  My husband, Wayne, has been the Pastor for the last nine years at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Ashland, Virginia until his retirement last week.  It is my husband who has led me on my journey of faith.

In 2003 at Wayne’s installation as vicar at Holy Cross, Pastor Art Umbach led the congregation in the response: God is good.  All the time.

All the time. God is good.

And God has been so good to us!

Wayne and I were confirmed in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod as adults forty years ago and God began to call Wayne to the ministry.  Years later, after I began a career as an academic librarian at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, Wayne began monthly drives to Louisville, KY for training as a lay minister.  Four years later in 1997 he was commissioned as a lay minister to serve an English district church, plant a new congregation and be a missionary to several rural counties.  I was now a “pastor’s wife”, and Wayne’s desire to be ordained finally led to his entering Concordia Seminary at age 54. All the time God is good. Finding that I could get full benefits after 27 years at Purdue, I retired to join him in St. Louis.  God was good to us again as I was offered a job six months before retiring which was held for me, and Wayne’s tuition was paid through grants. After his vicarage year, Holy Cross called Wayne as their Pastor where he was ordained on July 4, 2004 and has served as sole pastor since then.

Now we are in transition again.  We will be worshipping in a new congregation, but know that
God is good, all the time, and are looking forward to the future and what God has planned for us!

 One of the retirement gifts from the Holy Cross congregation was a God is Good t-shirt for each of them. A wonderful way to still be the witness of God's Good Grace and Mercy in their lives.  

Happenings in the Southern Region-at Abundant Joy

Sometimes we get encouraged in our Journeys of Faith 

to be a part of the story in the lives of others.
 You may live close by- stop in and visit them at Abundant Joy.
How can we ALL support this ministry?
With hearts of prayer to bless the volunteers, the director,
and the women who walk in the door.

                             Fall Offerings 2013

 for Abundant Joy Center for Women's Ministries

Please register early as class size is limited. Call the center at 919-943-0789 or email at abundantjoycwm@gmail.com.

SETTING BOUNDARIES FOR WOMEN by Allison Bottke

Tuesday September 10 
6:30-8:30 
7 weeks
Book Cost $10.00

This book is a brand new release to help women learn to say no, take control of their lives and find peace. It is designed to inspire, empower and equip women with tools to transform lives.

MAKING PEACE WITH YOUR PAST  by Tim Sledge

Wednesday Sept 18
6:30-8:00
12 weeks
Workbook Cost $15.00

This workbook is a comprehensive collection of topics to help in healing from the effects of growing up in a dysfunctional family. It explains why many past problems can carry into current relationships. God can heal us from our past and help us function in a strong, healthy way. This class is a prerequisite to the Basic Peer Counselor Training which will be offered winter of 2014 in the evening. We will also open an afternoon class once the evening class is filled. There are only eight spots per class. Register early!

MADE TO CRAVE by Lysa Terkeurst

Thursday September 26
10:00-11:30
Book cost $10.00
7 weeks

This study will help us to take a look at our relationship with food and why we eat. We will focus on learning how to CRAVE more of GOD and less of food. DVD teaching by Lysa and a discussion. Great way to jump start to a healthier lifestyle!

All groups will meet at the Center. Please reregister so we may order the correct number of books. Please pass this on to friends, family, your church or any other women you know who could benefit from these groups. We are also accepting new clients for one on one appointments.

SAVE THE DATE!! SAVE THE DATE!!!  SAVE THE DATE!!!!

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 2 ABUNDANT JOY PRESENTS FALL 
GIFTS GALORE & more... Boutique
ADVENT LUTHERAN CHURCH
CHAPEL HILL

Yes we are sponsoring another great Holiday Boutique for our fall fundraiser. There will be more details to follow! Holiday shop with us and make a difference in the lives of WOMEN in need of our help!!

Hope to see you soon!

Blessings & Joy
Beth Benham
Director
Abundant Joy Center for Women's Ministries 

See more about Abundant Joy in the Chapel Hill Area here:

www.abundantjoycwm.com

Linda Miller- Northern Region

 Linda Miller- Northern Region

I have been thinking alot about my journey of faith. At times, that road

has been pretty bumpy but well worth the trip.

Growing up, there was no religion in my home. I always believed in God

 but I did not make Him a part of my life. That changed when I met my husband to be. 

We were both working for State Farm Ins. at the time. He told me he wanted to go to 
the seminary and become a pastor. What a scary thought that was for me.

There was no way I could be a pastor's wife. I wasn't "good enough". 

I wasn't religious enough.  I wasn't spiritual enough, and to top it off, I smoked!
But boy, was I wrong!

God had a plan for me and He turned my life around. God was always in my life,

but I chose to ignore Him. I know that He is always beside me. His grace allowed

me to truly believe that fact, and this made the days that I felt lost

and unsure of myself as the wife of a pastor, much easier to handle.

Were there days I wished Richard had never left State Farm?

You bet there were. 
Were there days I didn't like being a pastor's wife? Yes again.

But, I now know that God called me to be that wife.

All new beginning journeys are frightening, 

but my experience gives me hope to trust now.

I was in line at a grocery store in North Carolina many years ago and an elderly 
lady ahead of me became upset when she realized she had missed her bus. I   
offered to drive her home. On our way, I mentioned that my husband was the 
pastor of the local Lutheran church. I will never forget her reply...."no wonder 
you're so nice, your husbands a pastor". Now between you and me, 

I was "nice" before that. I didn't say anything, just smiled.
Having God in my life and really knowing Him, makes me smile every day!

Linda is the widow of Rev. Richard Miller who died in Feb. 2011. 

She walks these days in her new life journey. Linda can be reached at moomiller2@gmail.com.

Make HIM Known

After attending the ROC-
Regional Outreach Conference in Richmond-
 led by Lutheran Hour Ministries-
I have a new framing for this theme.
Found this song written over 100 years ago,
 that really tells the message.



Make HIM Known

Tell of Christ Who saves from sin;

Make Him known—make Him known!

He has called you souls to win,

Make Him known!

Refrain

Make the blessèd Savior known,

Till all hearts shall be His throne;

Till He rules the world alone,

Make Him known.

For the world God gave His Son,

Make Him known—make Him known!

With the message quickly run,

Make Him known!

Refrain

All the lost ones Christ has sought,

Make Him known—make Him known!

Great salvation He hath wrought,

Make Him known!

Refrain

Go ye forth to all the world,

Make Him known—make Him known!

Let His banner be unfurled—

Make Him known!

Refrain

Souls are groping in the night,

Make Him known—make Him known!

Jesus is the world’s true Light,

Make Him known!

Refrain

---

Written in 1907 by

Words: Car­rie E. Breck and Hel­en C. Al­ex­an­der


Same Need in this world today-

Same Story of a Lord who saves-

Same Story of Living Redeemed.


Tell the Story!

Blessings,

Connie

Yvette Moy- Central Region

Yvette Moy – Central Region

My immigrant parents worked very hard to make it in the Big Apple. Since my mom and dad valued education, I was blessed to attend Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bayside, N.Y. This K-8 school was where I found loving teachers and I experienced my conversion from Chinese ancestor worship to being a follower of Christ.

According to Martin Luther, “the wages of sin is death.” Since I didn’t want to die, I received Jesus
and I was baptized at the age of 13, becoming a daughter of the King of Kings.

Immediately, my Godparents Betty and Ed Lehman took me under their wings. I tagged along with them every week on evangelism visits to prospective members. As a young Christian, I thought it was amazing that the Lutheran Layman's League was named after them . . . till I noticed the spelling of
their last name was not quite the same.

I became active in youth ministry, campus ministry and homeless ministry. During my career as a journalist, the Lehmans followed me from Manhattan to Western New York. When I arrived in Virginia, they had just planted Our Savior in Winchester, Va. 

Both Ed and Betty were very proud of my efforts within Circuit 9 and the formation of Hispanic Mission Development in Northern Virginia. Throughout my life, they always came to witness to my parents. They were ecstatic after hearing of my mom’s baptism at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Alexandria, Va.

As I attended Betty’s funeral and gazed at the large Lutheran rose window, I realized the torch had been passed on to me.

In 2008, I traveled to China with Lutheran Hour Ministries. I was in the old capital city of Xian watching a performance of a classical Chinese opera when I heard God’s voice, again . . . “You are a beautiful child. You come from a great people. Serve me.” 

Like Jonah, I resisted God’s call, but Jesus transformed my heart. I saw burdened and sad lives of the Bedouins. Today, I teach Bridges: Christians Connecting With Muslims at churches in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., as a full-time field coordinator with Crescent Project.

Recently, I graduated with certificates in spiritual direction from the Richmond Hill School of Spiritual Guidance and Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. 

Yvette is a member of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield, Va.and involved  as a leader in Women's Ministry.

Contact Yvette Moy at ymoy@crescentproject.org 

Beth Benham- Southern Region

Beth Benham, Director of Abundant Joy Center For Women's Ministries

I am a woman of God who has always had a passion to help women

of all ages who are in crisis or going through a life transition. 

God opened the doors of Abundant Joy Center for Women's Ministries

on October 1, 2012 in Durham, North Carolina. Since then our first group

of trained peer counseling volunteers have been  busy ministering 

to the needs of women through Support Groups, One on One

appointments and Bible Studies. 

We are a non profit 501C -3 organization. 

We are a part of Center for Women's Ministries

International in Bloomington Indiana.,and have 31 centers in the US. 

All of our services are free and confidential.

We live in a very fast paced, stressful world. 

Women are stretched to the limits 
trying to balance career, family and church life. 

Times are busy and there is 
very little time for ourselves to balance it all let alone have time for 
personal reflection, growth or healing. 

Every woman needs someone to befriend

and walk beside them during troubled 
times. Someone they can trust and someone that can encourage

and pray for them. 
This is where Abundant Joy comes in! 

We are a safe haven where the love of 
Christ and acceptance is shown to every woman who comes.

We are excited to see the plans God has for us

as we continue to be vessels for 
Him. Please visit our website to find out more! 

www.abundantjoycwm.com
Email abundantjoycwm@gmail.com

Phone 919-943-0789

Beth and her husband, Pastor John Benham serve at

 Advent Lutheran Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 

Carol Bitely- Central Region

The Joy of the Lord is my Strength.  What wonderful words to live by.  This has been my mantra since our last Pastor's Wives Retreat in April.  Last fall, I started ripping out the word "joy" from magazines, greeting cards, junk mail to make a "Joy" collage.  This word makes me smile and my heart sing.  Years ago, a young child taught me that  Joy stands for Jesus, others, yourself.  The Joy of the Lord is my Strength.

For 14 years , I have been a Pastor's wife at the same church in Mechanicsville, VA.  It has brought many joys to my life to be a part of this ministry here at St. Paul Lutheran.  I used to wonder  what kind of Pastor's wife I would be since I didn't sing in the choir, play the organ, or teach Sunday School at the time.   About 8 years ago, our church relocated from Richmond to Mechanicsville.  It moved next door to a Brunswick Stew factory that was a well known landmark in the area.  The business has since been sold.  But this new  location of our church was the start of many conversations I would have.  I work at a public library and my prayer as I am driving to work is asking the Holy Spirit to put someone in my path to tell "my story" to.  Just about every conversation I have involves why we live in Mechanicsville and I would tell them my husband is a pastor at the new church next to Mrs. Fearnow's Brunswick Stew.  This leads to all kinds of questions about faith, heaven, Jesus, prayer. 

Isn't it amazing how the Holy Spirit works?  Not only does He orchestrate these conversations, but he also puts people in my path to encourage me and to tell me that they are praying for me.  That is very powerful.  The Joy of the Lord is my Strength.

Diane Guelzow- Southern Region

My Wandering Life 

Reading many of these beautiful posts makes me feel inadequate in many ways.  Let me explain. My life has always been wandering along God's Path, never seeing a clear vision up ahead, second guessing myself always, trying to figure out God's calling in my life...sort of living in the fog. My life has never been clear cut.  Perhaps I think too hard, reflect too long, second guess God too often.  So when I read the other blogs, life seems so clear to others, so easy...I struggle all the time.

As a right-brained thinker, I see life so vividly, so big and broad with endless possibilities.  I was born of parents who did not have a high school degree.  They were self-made individuals, my dad a sign painter and my mom a stay at home creator.  Both were imaginative beyond anyone I ever met. They were first-born individuals that moved from farms, my mom from Southern Illinois and my dad from Southern Missouri.  I hold their DNA in having respect for the land and for art.  A first-generation college degree from Concordia - Chicago, I taught in the Lutheran and public schools for 25 years and then took a break.

I continued education, earning a MA in counseling and expressive arts therapy.  I then went on to get my Ed.D in Educational Leadership.  Today, in my heart, I still am asking God for direction in my life. I look forward only to view fog.  It is in my looking back where I find the path...the trail...of God's guidance.  This is what I've learned in my many years...that God's plans are unknown to me and I rarely see success as it is happening.  I only see and feel success after the matter.

So my wisdom comes from experience.  God's hand is at work in me, even when I do not feel it, He's there.  I am still in the process of accepting his method with me.  I prefer to know what I am to do so that I can prepare for it and serve Him...well, perfectly.  However, He does not want it that way for me.  He wants me to DO and BE and leave the details of my life in His hands. When I look back in my life,  that's when I see God's work being done in my life.  And so...it comes to knowing and trusting God's invisible plan, the blank slate, going through the fog...that I obey Him. 

I guess God knows how resistant I am at times and unsure of myself that He provides me with missions and plans without telling me first, knowing that I'd run in the opposite direction.  He places me in situations and opportunities mysteriously where I am fooled into thinking that I am wandering around on this planet, only to be busy doing his mission. He's got me figured out quite well. Simply wonderful...my God.  So God, keep the fog coming.  I know now that you are leading the way, on each side of me, and right behind me.

Diane is a gifted retreat leader and loves putting together creative haven experiences for women.  She just might be who you are looking for to gather women together to explore God's Good Creation. 
She can be reached at dianeguelzow@gmail.com.