Loved Like Me: DRG Women's Ministry Fall Gathering Oct. 25-27

 

Loved Like Me

Oct. 25-27, 2024

St. Francis on the Hill &

St. Christopher's, El Paso

Diocese of the Rio Grande: Fall Gathering 

If you have ever wanted to learn how the Biblical history of refugees and migration impacts our response today, this is the event for you. We'll see how Rio Grande Borderlands Ministry is being God's hands and heart to asylum seekers at the border.

All women in the diocese, and friends (men too), are invited to Loved Like Me, the Annual Diocesan Women's Ministry Gathering on October 25-27.

(Previously advertised for Oct. 18-20, we changed the dates so that Hannah Curtis can be one of the leaders. Her plans changed when she learned she and Canon Lee will need to be in the diocese of WTX for the election of the suffragan bishop.)

This year we are at St. Francis on the Hill (6280 Los Robles) and St. Christopher's (300 Riverside Dr), El Paso to learn about Borderlands Ministry. We will experience some of what asylum seekers face, hear about the men, women, and children the ministry serves, and discern how we can support this vital ministry. Hannah Curtis, the Rev. Kristin Kopren, the Rev. Ana Reza, and the Rev. Sondra Jones will be our leaders.

We’ll begin at 5PM on Friday evening at St. Francis on the Hill with a light meal, and end around 7PM on Saturday, after dinner at St. Christopher’s. A visit to the shelter at St. Christopher's will be part of the experience. 

In-person participation is encouraged, although presentations will be available on Zoom. Plan to stay for Sunday to hear Hannah Curtis preach at St. Christopher’s at 10AM.

Download a flyer to post at your church and share with friends. 

A list of donations, suggestions of hotels not far from St. Francis on the Hill, and the working schedule are here.  

Contact Cindy Davis with questions or if you need a scholarship.

To REGISTER ($60 in-person, $20 Zoom) scan the QR code, or use the link below  (some scholarships are available).

(Note: your receipt will say Footprints From the Bible)

or this link:  https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/ARV87LFMGGHFJ

Lots of Ideas to Consider

 The Women of the Diocese met on October 24 to Plan and Pray. We brainstormed ideas for upcoming ANEW2 events. Although attendance was low due to a simultaneous diocesan meeting, a wide variety of themes and ideas were gathered. The Women's Ministry council will work to implement some of these in the coming months. 

Ideas ranged from 'our mothers' to racial and border ministry topics to ways to deepen our spirituality and moving beyond COVID. 

A prayer vigil was also introduced for use through Election Day. 

You can watch the video of the meeting. 

Currently scheduled upcoming events include:

•       Nov. 20-21 with the Rev. Carolyn Metzler. Registration is $10. Full info andregistration.  

•       Dec. 12: Christmas Party

•       Jan. 23: Why Gratitude Matters: A Theology of Thankfulness  (the Rev. Canon Heather Melton)

•        Feb. 27: All you need is Love (Linda Rounds-Nichols) 

•        March 13: Lent Retreat with Canon Lee Curtis

Women's Ministry in the DRG in 2019

The Way of Love is the Presiding Bishop’s invitation to participate in being the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement. The 7 disciplines are Bless, Pray, Worship, Learn, Turn, Rest, and Go. In 2019, Women’s Ministry events will highlight various parts of this initiative.  

Join us on this journey at one or more of these exciting events! 

Lent 2019: Pilgrimage, the annual Lent retreat, open to men also, will be March 29-30 at Camp Stoney. Retreat speakers are the Rev. Meg and Bishop Michael Hunn. There is an, optional, mini-pilgrimage to Chimayo on Friday, March 29. During the retreat on Saturday, March 30, Bishop Michael and Meg Hunn will invite us to consider our life-long pilgrimages. There will be time for Prayer and Worship in several forms.

Blessed to be a Blessing: Summer 2019 will be a chance to focus on the Way of Love mandate to Rest; and discover ways we are Blessed to be a Blessing to one another in sharing our stories, mentoring, and encouraging the women in our lives. 

Entertaining Angels Unaware at the Bosque Center, Nov. 17-18 will  continue the Way of Love conversation with opportunities to Learn about the ‘angels’ we meet. We will consider how to Turn (or Re-turn) and Go out to the world on the Way of Love. 

 Sign up for the Newsletter or friend us on Facebook (in the right column) to receive updates and registration info for these events as it is available, or email Cindy Davis.

Study, Fellowship, Retreats, and more for Women in 2016

During the recent Does My Life Have a Message weekend, Katrine Stewart reminded attendees that ‘retreat’ is a time to regroup, rest, heal, strategize, and refocus our goals. A retreat gives us time to remember that we are under the loving guidance of our Lord. With that in mind, women are encouraged to take advantage of a multitude of retreat opportunities coming in 2016.

Mysterious Lent, Diocesan Lent Retreat for Women will be on March 5 at Epiphany Church, Socorro. The Rev. Carole McGowan will lead us in contemplation of a mystery novel (A Trick of Light by Louise Penny, available from Amazon and elsewhere) in relation to the mystery of God all around us. There will be discussion and quiet time, and maybe a ‘mystery meal’. Registration forms and more info will be available soon here.

Other retreats sponsored by the Women of the Diocese will be the Spirited Summer Weekend in Farmington on June 10-11 where we will focus on being co-creators with God. Our 5^th Annual Women’ Retreat will be held at the Bosque Center on November 17-18, with Elaine Wilson as our leader in contemplating the Puzzle Pieces of our lives that make up YOU…Yearning, Owning, Understanding.

An ongoing, weekly study opportunity is the Women of the Diocese e-study. During 2016, participants will explore the Biblical use and background of the Gospel of Luke, Revelation, and many of the Epistles. Both women and men are welcome to sign up by emailing wdrgstudy@gmail.com. Some participants share their insights with family, friends, or small groups. Others use the study as personal enrichment.

There are other retreats around the diocese, too. These include Beyond the Magi, a Quiet Day with Deborah Smith Douglas on January 30 at Holy Faith in Santa Fe;  A Day with Julian of Norwich at St. Alban’s, El Paso on February 27 led by the Rev. Dr. Jeanne Lutz. Contact the churches for more information.

E-mail Cindy Davis, Coordinator of Women’s Ministries, if you have questions about the women’s ministry, or ideas for future events. Keep up with upcoming events the women’s website and Facebook page.  

Share your Ideas for Women's Ministry

Women of the Diocese, we want you! 

Help us mix fun and faith! 

How can we support you? 

What do you want? 

What do you need?

The Women’s Council of the Diocese of the Rio Grande states the mission of the Women’s Ministry is “to empower all women in their diverse Christian ministries.” Distances and demographics are just a couple things we work to transcend. We want to make it possible for more and more women to come together, share in fun events, and build a ministry to inspire each woman’s life and church.

Give us your ideas. Who are you? What do you want? How can we make it happen together?

Your thoughts are important. We are asking for your input on ways to reach more women in all places, in all households, in every kitchen, in every office, in every ministry. We want to make Spirit-filled mini-vacations for you, by you, and through you.

Help by completing the survey here.

You can request a paper copy or email your comments to Cindy Davis.

Your input is vital to

truly creating a ministry for

ALL women of the Diocese of the Rio Grande!

 

 

Celtic Spirituality

This weekend I am in Amarillo at a retreat of Celtic Spirituality led by Mary Earle, author and priest. I hope to come back, not only refreshed, but with fresh ideas of ways to build up the Women of the DRG.

Remember to register for the upcoming Crazy Quilt Conversations Retreat at the Bosque Center on Nov. 9-10. More info on the What's Happening page of this blog. Registration forms are here and in the e-newsletter that many of you received last week. If you aren't yet on the DRG Women email list, send me your email and I'll be happy to add you. Then you will be in the loop for all the retreats and other activities coming in the next year.

Feel free to post and share the registration info with other women in your parish. You can also stop by the Women of the DRG table during convention to pick up registration forms.

DRG Women are Enriched by Study

For any Christian woman, study is an important part of life. This can take a variety of formats. Within churches there are Bible study groups led by lay and clergy. Retreats around the DRG offer the chance to get away for a day or longer and be inspired by a speaker.
There are also more focused studies that can be followed. Kerygma, Alpha, and EfM are just some of the better known options. Maybe your church has one or more of these available.

Education for Ministry (EfM) is perhaps the most intense of the studies because it involves a 4-year series of lessons. Starting in Year One with 36-weeks of reading and studying your way through the Old Testament, students move on to the second year when the New Testament is the focus. Year 3 is Church History and in Year 4 you learn about the development of the wide variety of theologies in the Church. The course is produced by the University of the South at Sewanee. At the end, you do receive a certificate of completion. Fortunately, you only sign up for one year at a time and many students take a year or more off before completing the work.

However, EfM is NOT preparation for ordination. It is a program to equip the laity to live into our call or vocation as expressed at the end of each Eucharist: “And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord."

EfM is not lead by a teacher. Rather it is a mentored seminar where “Through study, prayer, and reflection,  EfM groups move toward a new understanding of the fullness of God's kingdom” by finding where life and study and tradition meet.

A process called “theological reflection” is actually the main focus of the seminars. The group and individuals learn how to examine “their own beliefs and their relationship to our culture and the tradition of our Christian faith” in order to be more effective ministers by “coming to terms with the notion that everything we do has potential for manifesting the love of Christ, we discover that our ministry is at hand wherever we turn.”

Kerygma is another study program that has ties to the DRG. In the late 1970’s, Canon Ken Clark of the Cathedral authored some of the early Kerygma studies along with developing his own “St. John’s Sunday School Curriculum”. The word ‘kerygma’ means “the proclamation of religious truths, especially as taught in the Gospels.” The program now offers New and Old Testament studies.

The Kerygma Program started in 1977 and now offers 33 different courses of study in many lengths and topics. “Kerygma courses will transform and revitalize adult Bible study in your congregation. Participants and leaders learn the basics and complexities of the Bible and develop skills for interpreting Scripture while applying learning from the Bible to personal and corporate life in today’s world.”

Alpha Courses are also used in some churches around the DRG. It is a 10-week course around a meal with discussions about God and life. Alpha is for “anyone and people attend from all backgrounds, religions, and viewpoints. They come to investigate questions about the existence of God, the purpose of life, the afterlife, the claims of Jesus and more. Some people want to get beyond religion and find a relationship with God that really changes life. Others come for the close, long-lasting friendships that are built during the Alpha course.” 

O Eternal God, bless all schools, colleges, and universities and Bible studies, that they may be lively centers for sound learning, new discovery, and the pursuit of wisdom; and grant that those who teach and those who learn may find you to be the source of all truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

There are many other study options available and if you’d like to share one you are involved in, please do so!

Daughters of the King

Since Easter, we’ve been looking at ministries that Women of the DRG are involved in. As the blog notes, we have Varieties of Gifts within the part of the Body of Christ that is the Diocese of the Rio Grande. Like a prayer shawl or crazy quilt, we come together in prayer, service, and study.

Some of us support CPC and some UTO. That’s like, as Connie Osbourn said, “building the shelves and putting books on them.” There are many who serve at the altar as members of their parish Altar Guild and others who have women’s meetings based on the ECW or Women’s Auxiliary model. Many are involved in study groups and liturgical work, which we will explore in future weeks. Still others of us are members of the Daughters of the King (DOK).

In one sense the Daughters are entirely different from other women’s groups, because the DOK is an ‘order’, not just a group that gets together for a purpose or meeting. Many people are confused about what exactly and ‘order’ is. The first thing that comes to mind is, of course, nuns and monks. Even looking up the definition of a ‘religious order’ doesn’t help much.

Wikipedia says, “A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice.” Clear as mud, right?

The Daughters of the King are women who vow to live by a Rule of Life of Prayer and Service. Interested women undertake a period of discernment and study about the Daughters to determine if they are called to join. “By reaffirmation of the promises made at Baptism and Confirmation, a Daughter pledges herself to a life-long program of prayer, service and evangelism, dedicated to the spread of Christ’s Kingdom and the strengthening of the spiritual life of her parish.”

The Order of the Daughters of the King® was founded in 1885 by Margaret J. Franklin at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in New York City. It was an outgrowth of the Bible study she was leading when some of the women expressed an interest in a deeper relationship with Jesus. “It was purposely organized as a semi-religious Order. The Order started at once upon the highest plane. Magnanimiter Crucem Sustine, “Bear forward, almost aggressively, with lofty minds uphold the cross” became the watchword, and For His Sake its motto.”

From the beginning, DOK has been “allied to the Brotherhood of St. Andrew” in order to move with “apostolic simplicity to spread the Kingdom of Christ among young women.” The women in that first Daughters chapter “resolved that there would be prayer to God every day of their lives and that He would empower them for His work. Prayer was old to them, but the power of prayer and its reality came to these women afresh.” This has continued to be the aim of DOK around the world.

In the DRG, probably the earliest Chapter was at St. John’s, Albuquerque in 1889. The parish itself was only 7 years old. Minutes from the old records indicate that DOK women at St. John’s were the altar guild and comprised the first Women’s Auxiliary.

Throughout the ebb and flow of growth and change in the Diocese, women in the DOK have played an important role of leadership in their congregations. Nearly all women who belong to the Order of the Daughters of the King® are also active in other ministries like Altar Guild, Thrift Shops, and the liturgical life of the church. Daughters lead retreats and organize Bible study groups. They find ways to help the needy and support their priest’s work. In this way they are like all other active women in the DRG who want to use their gifts to further the Kingdom of God.

Like other organizations, Daughters support work in the broader church and world through funds. There are four funds of the DOK: the Alpha Fund for Jr. Daughters and the Self Denial fund for “modest grants to support specific mission projects, often projects that involve Daughters, both in the US and in other countries.” There is also the Endowment Fund (to further the work of the Order itself) and Master’s Fund, used to “help women prepare for service in church related work with Provincial Grants, Continuing Education Grants, and Master’s Fund Scholarships.”

There are now 18 Chapters in the Diocese and one Jr. Chapter (for girls 7-21). If there is one at your church, talk to the President of the Chapter about what the Daughters are and do in your parish. If there isn’t one, contact me or Sandy Martin, (DOK Diocesan President) for information on starting one. Your life and the life of your parish will be enriched by a cadre of praying and prayerful women.

 Prayer of the Order of the Daughters of the King
O Eternal Father, you have sent us your Son to teach us things pertaining to your heavenly Kingdom. Give your blessing to our Order wherever it may be throughout the world. Grant that we, your Daughters, ever may discern your truth and bear the cross through the battles of our earthly life. Give us strength to overcome temptation and the grace to work to spread your Kingdom and to gather your scattered sheep within your fold. Pour out upon us the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit that we may always remember it is your work we are called to do, that all we think, do or say may be pleasing in your sight. We ask it all For His Sake, our King and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

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