We are a Prayer Shawl

As described in Together, Bishop Vono has a vision for greater communication and interaction and support between and among women of the DRG. Communication will strengthen women individually and corporately in ministry and worship and study. 

Sally Blackstad, Cindy Davis, Jane Madrid, Sandy Martin, Rickie Sherrill, and Elaine Wilson met in the Clark Center of the Cathedral on Saturday, April 14 to brainstorm, in broad strokes, a starting point for ministry to and with Women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande.

We began with each of us sharing a time when she felt particularly close to God or when she felt like an ‘instrument’ of God’s work. Two parallel themes emerged as times when God is present. There is a quiet/peace component and the creative/active side.

After exploring some current ministries and women’s demographics in light of these themes (see below*), we agreed that a basic need, as we move forward with women’s ministry, is to LISTEN and to REACH OUT to all women. There is a great need to be in communication with each other. This will have many benefits, not least of these is ‘breaking down’ the tendency to stick with just 'our own' ministry group within 'our own' church and not look beyond to see what other groups and other women are doing across each church and esp. across the Diocese.

A metaphor for what we see the Women of the DRG becoming is that “we are a Prayer Shawl,” jointly offering prayerful, quiet comfort and also we are a way to be active in creating and offering ministries. Under the mantle of "Prayer Shawl," we can begin the process of listening to each other and explore ways to enrich our ministry as women in the Diocese. Within the shawl, we can share Christ’s love with each other and hold open the shawl to welcome others into ministry, study, and prayer.

Some ideas for starting this process included having something like a social gathering, or a dance, or a convention, or a retreat format. Perhaps Skype can be used to include women who cannot attend discussions in person. Bosque Center or Camp Stoney are a couple of places that offer accommodations for this sort of meeting. Watch for more information about events and opportunities to share your ideas. 

Of course-an easy way to share is to comment on this blog or email Cindy.

 (*an outline of our discussions)

We explored the work of some current ministries of the Diocese in light of these 2 themes:

Ministry	Quiet/Peace	Creative/Active
DOK	Quiet Day events	Sharing between individuals and within chapters of insights
EFM	Gathering time of quiet and prayer	Active discussion
Altar Guild	Time in the church doing the work	Taking time to see that the “Home is in order”
UTO	Individual prayers and gifts	Posters, advertising, telling about
	Self-giving	Joint offering and subsequent grants
ECW in Diocese of Chicago	Always a worship/prayer component	Discussion of lessons in midst of worship

We then considered how several women’s demographics would relate to the dual themes:

Demographic	Quiet/Peace	Creative/Active
Single women (is there a difference based on age?)	Personal invitation	Group studies, lunches
Young mothers	Offer of childcare	Gift of child care
Moms of teens	Quiet time while waiting for child	Blogs, online & other resources that can be read in car
Divorced/widowed	Too much ‘silence’ not enough quiet	Opportunities for classes, retreats, activities