SERVING
and SHARING
A Newsletter from the Provincial Women's
Board, Moravian Church of America-Southern Province
June 2016
Dear Moravian Sisters,
Greetings to you as we journey through the busy month of
May. I do hope everyone will enjoy some
rest and relaxation this summer.
On April 29- May 1, our annual Spiritual Life Retreat
brought 72 women from 18 different churches to Laurel Ridge for a wonderful
journey through the book of Job and the sorrow there to the JOY of Jesus in the
New Testament. Bishop Blair Couch of the Northern Province was our leader. She
inspired and challenged us on the journey. 17 people were first time attendees.
The feedback has been positive and we appreciate suggestions for the future. If
you have not attended one of these retreats, you should certainly consider it
in the future. I want to give a rousing thank you to Sister Cindy Lamb, our
administrative assistant; and Sisters Patti West, Pat Sapp, and Gayle Spach for
the excellent work they did to make the retreat successful. Many thanks to those who contributed to the
scholarship fund for future conferences.
As you can see from the newsletters, the Provincial
Women’s Board is busy all year planning and carrying out activities in many
areas of work. We aim to serve the women of this Province by providing
fellowship and encouraging growth in Christian character and service. Our next event will be the Fall Celebration
to be held at Olivet Moravian Church on Saturday, September 17, 2016. Watch for news of this event which is our
annual meeting and introduction of the Bible Study for the year.
At our June 9, meeting, new members will be installed.
Our members are elected in two ways. One group is elected by Synod and another
group is elected between Synods, with each group serving 4 years. They have an
option of running for reelection. This way the Board does not all change at one
time. Those elected for 2016-2020 are
Sisters Patti West and Gayle Spach who were reelected and Sisters Kay Vance of
Unity, Diane Clifton of Kernersville, Vicki Stanfield of Friedberg, and Pam
Prevatte of New Hope. Sister Mallie
Graham will be installed as the 2016-2018 President and sister Patti West will
be installed at the Vice-President. Congratulations to all who were elected !
The Reverend Judy Knopf has agreed to serve two more years in the appointed
position of a member of the clergy on the Board.
It has been my privilege to serve as President for the
past two years. Sister Cindy Lamb and the entire Board have been a pleasure to
work with. Leaving the Board along with me after eight years will be Sisters
Frances Swing and Ann Hemrick. Sister Melissa Hiatt will be leaving after a
four year term. I want to thank Melissa, Frances and Ann for their service.
The belief that has been most reinforced with me during
my time on the Board is the tremendous contribution made by Women’s Fellowships
not only to their own Churches but to the Province and the larger Moravian
Unity in a myriad of ways. The cooperation between the women of the Northern
and Southern Provinces is also very satisfying. My prayer is that this will
continue.
Blessings to you all in your continued work. Janet Doub, president
An
Opportunity to Beautify Higgins Lodge
During
the recent Spiritual Life retreat at Laurel Ridge, we had a very interesting
small group session with Rosemary Jayne who is the resident gardener at Laurel
Ridge. Rosemary has several interesting projects in progress. Along with the Master Gardeners of Ashe
County, Rosemary is in the process of directing the replanting of the
landscaped areas around the Lodge. Many of the plants there cannot withstand
the harsh, cold, windy winters. New planting material as well as plants more
native to the area will be used.
This
project needs some funds. This would be a great way for individuals or
Fellowships to contribute to the long range beauty of our Conference Center.
Donations may be sent to Laurel Ridge, earmarked for Higgins Lodge Landscaping.
Janet
Doub
“AM I MY
SISTER’S KEEPER?”
That
was the theme of the Fourth Unity Women’s Consultation held in Paramaribo,
Suriname in February. Ten women from the Southern Province attended the
Consultation, and they would love to share their experiences with anyone who
will listen! It was such a wonderful
experience with over a hundred women from twenty-five different countries and
from twenty different Provinces and ten Mission Provinces and Mission
Areas. The women brought their expertise
and their love for the Lord and the women of their Provinces with them.
Our
Winston-Salem area delegates and observers would be happy to come to your
church to tell about the work that is being done by Moravian women around the
world, the Focus Areas that we studied at the Consultation (Education, Poverty
and Unemployment, Violence against Women, Health Issues of Women and Children,
Parenting, and Women in Ministry), and the plans we made to improve the lives
of women and their children and families in the future. Some of the ideas will go to Unity Synod, but
many of them can be implemented in local churches!
Please
contact the Unity Women’s Desk office to arrange for one of these women to come
to talk to your Wednesday night Fellowship, your circle meetings, your Sunday
School classes, or we will even come and conduct a whole Sunday morning worship
service. Just write to us at Unitywomen2011@gmail.com or call at
336-725-6413. We’ll be happy to come and share the excitement of helping our
sisters around the world because “We Are
Our Sisters’ Keepers!”
CHURCH WOMEN
UNITED,
an international ecumenical Christian Women’s organization, will sponsor a
Human Rights Celebration highlighting domestic violence at Home Moravian
Church, Saturday, August 26 @ 9:00 AM. Tickets are $10. There will be a speaker
and discussion. We hope to finish by 11:00 AM. All women are invited. If you
are interested, please call Mallie Graham, 336.924.9409. It would be great to
have a strong Moravian attendance.
2016
Spiritual Life Retreat
The Spiritual Life Retreat
sponsored by the Provincial Women's Board and open to all women in the Southern
Province was held at Laurel Ridge April 29 - May 1 2016. Our theme for the
weekend was JOB, to JESUS, to JUSTIFICATION to JOY. The Rt. Rev. Blair Couch
from the Northern Province was our facilitator.
This was my first time to
attend a PWB's Spiritual Life Retreat. I
had met Bishop Couch, on the Jon Hus Memorial Tour in 2015. She was friendly, full of energy and I knew
that we were in for a special weekend.
We arrived at Laurel Ridge
Friday afternoon to set up for the arrival of over 70 participants from 18
churches. As the ladies began to arrive,
I became aware of something special in them, as they renewed friendships,
giving each other hugs and in general just being happy to be
at the retreat.
The first session was
started by dividing the group into smaller groups of 6 or 7.
Bishop Couch divided the
book of Job among the 12 groups and each group was to
read their section and
then in a skit tell us about it. The
ladies responded with enthusiasm and creativity, back in our groups we talked
about how God interacts with the world.
On Saturday, we listed
things that we were thankful for and those things that
prevents us from being
joyful.
We took part in the
practice of an African Bible Study, as we prayed for each person in our group,
we laid our hands on their shoulders.
When I was being prayed for, the warmth of the hands of the five other
people on my shoulders made me think that in some way this must be how it feels
to have God's arms around you, a feeling that I will treasure.
Sunday morning we
participated in the Cup of Covenant Service. This was a new experience for me
but very meaningful.
This was truly a time to
feel God's love in a group of ladies who had gathered together for spiritual
renewal and fellowship. We were in the
same small group for all our discussions this
helped me to feel a
closeness to these ladies, who were open and loving.
With the leadership of
Bishop Couch and my Sisters-in-Christ, I felt a real Joy in being a part of
this weekend.
My prayer and hope for
myself and for all who attended is to find JOY and THANKFULNESS in all things.
Pat Sapp
Fairview Moravian Church
New Philadelphia Moravian Church Women’s
Fellowship-The
Women’s Fellowship of New Philadelphia is active in most areas of the church.
Our circles meet monthly as a circle and other times for mission and service
projects. We are enjoying our Bible study by the Rev. Carol Foltz, fellowship
and just being together.
Our WF supports many agencies, Moravian and
non-Moravian with volunteering and monetary gifts. We support out mission
areas, local and abroad. We help our youth, other members, friends as needed.
We participated in our Yadkin View RCC Gathering in April.
Each circle has 4-5 shut-ins to “be a friend
to” and we send cards, visit them, and remember them with little gifts at
birthdays, holidays, illness or just thinking of you. At Thanksgiving our total
Fellowship makes fruit bags and delivers them and visits our friends.
We have a fairly new group of “sewers” that
meet twice monthly and make “pillowcase dresses” for girls in other countries.
Donations are always needed of any size pillowcase, buttons and trims.
We will have a Christmas Sale, November 5 and
all are invited to come and purchase items!
Our WF coordinates the making of our candles
in January for our Lovefeasts in December. We make approximately 3,200 Lovefeast
candles and 300 smaller candles for the Children’s Lovefeast. The first Sunday
of Advent we trim those candles in preparation for Christmas Eve.
Our circles sell note cards, star magnets,
cookbooks and stars if anyone would like to purchase you may call the NP church
office.
Fairview- The Executive Board at Fairview will host its annual Luncheon
for members age 90
and above on
Saturday, June 4th at noon.
The luncheon
is to honor them for their
years of
service to the church. In addition
to the
luncheon there will be a short pro-
gram and the
pastor will serve Holy
Communion.
Our annual
Chicken Pie/Country/ Ham Supper
will be held
on Saturday, September 24 from
4:00 to 6:45
p. m. in Fellowship Hall. Price
is $10 for
adults and $4.00 for children. Eat
in only.
Hopewell Women's Fellowship-Our shut-ins & those in a
facility get lots of attention at Christmas. Several years ago we decided to
give these people something special at Valentines. A card & vase of flowers
is taken to those in a facility. The shut-ins are taken a quart of homemade
soup & a card & flowers. We
enjoy the fellowship when delivering to our people. We have done this for
several years.
At Easter
our ladies put wooden crosses on the graves in our old cemetery. This year the
crosses needed refurbishing. We sanded, painted & put new flowers on them.
The unattended graves in the new part, have vases with artificial flowers. We
continue to add more to our list each year.
Several members
attended the Yadkin River RCC in Clemmons for the Cherokee Indian &
Moravian Mission. The speakers were excellent.
The Spiritual
Life Retreat at Laurel Ridge was attended by 5 members. We offered $25 to each
one attending. The program, led by Bishop Blair Couch let us understand where
our Joy should be. Great Bible Study.
Our churches
general fund was getting low. Our ladies planned, organized & ran the yard
sale. All money was turned over to the general fund.
Our project for
the summer is to make kits for "A Good Period". The materials have
been ordered & we are getting them ready to work on. We will start with 10
kits, to work out the problems. This is a program for young girls who don't go
to school during their monthly flow. Most finally quit. We hope to encourage
young girls & others in our congregation to help.
Our ladies have
donated to: Provencal Women, Salemtowne, Adopt a Village, Unity Women's
Desk & the well project.
We enjoy the Bible Study "Hanging On,
Hanging Out". It starts our meetings off to a positive note.
Friedland-Summer will
be an exciting time at Friedland. The Women's Fellowship is sponsoring
the Farmer's Market again this year during the month of July. We hope
everyone will come out to support this event.
Friedland Farmer's Market is on for July!
4PM-7PM on Thursdays, July 7, 14, 21 and 28. Buy your table for $10.
Fried Apple Pies, Homemade Ice Cream, Fresh
Produce and Community Fellowship! Make your plans now.
Submitted by Debbie
Boyan, President
NEWS FROM THE OFFICE
Prayer Concerns and Thanksgivings
·
Becky
Ward is at home trying to get strong enough for surgery.
·
Evva
Hanes is improving.
·
Graham
Lamb, Cindy's son whom so many of you
have prayed for continues to improve from his
injury.
Please continue to up
lift these in your prayers and praise our Lord for all of the marvelous healing
he has done in these lives so far.
The next
Serving and Sharing Newsletter
will be published on August 29, 2016.
Submission Date of August 15, 2016
This was written for the PEC's Provincial Ties:
The 2016 Provincial Women's
Spiritual Life Retreat was held at Higgins Lodge at Laurel Ridge Camp &
Conference Center. The focus of the Retreat was Joy and in my humble
opinion, there's no better place to discover job than at Laurel Ridge.
(Attending camp there during the summers of my youth brought tremendous
joy and provided wonderful memories to last a lifetime!) While the
weather turned cool and rainy on Saturday, it did not dampen our moods nor ruin
our fun. It was as if God wanted us to keep our attention on each other
for a while....to focus inward instead of being distracted by the beautiful
mountain scenery.
As stated above, our topic of the
Retreat was Joy.....the things and people who provide us with joy.....
identifying what separates us from our joy....and how God wants us to live in
his love and complete our joy. By participating in small group
discussions, activities and Bible studies, we were able to come together as a
large group and share our findings....and our joy!! How profound to have
these women pray for me and to pray for them one by one. God's presence
and His love was surely experienced each step of the way.
Higgins Lodge was easily able to
accommodate 70+ women for this Retreat. The rooms were clean and
spacious. The food was exceptional and offered healthy, well balanced
meals as well as gluten-free and sugar free options at every meal. For
those with a sweet tooth or the ones who wanted a snack between meals, there
were more than enough candy, donuts, chips, etc to go around. No one left
hungry....that's for sure!!
This was my first Women's Spiritual
Retreat but I assure you it will not be my last. I walked away a better
person for having met so many wonderful ladies. These ladies shared
their love of God, love of each other and their love of life with me and I am
eternally grateful. What a blessing to be in their presence and I cannot
wait until next year's Retreat!
Sunny Spach Grier
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