Fall 2010
from the
A Publication of NEWIM, Network of Evangelical Women in Ministry
“...to strengthen women who minister to women…”
From the Executive Director The Network of Evangelical Women in Ministry is an international, nonprofit membership organization. Our purpose is to provide resources, spiritual enrichment and networking opportunities for women in ministry. SERVING NEWIM
Who are these women in ministry? EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jackie Rettberg BOARD CHAIR Luann Budd
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Maureen Moore RECORDING SECRETARY Carolyn Shea BOARD MEMBERS Jill Austin Shirley Barber Cheri Dale Kim Lomakin Rhoda Stanley PRESIDENT EMERITUS Ginger Bertoni
They are pastors’ wives. They are leaders of women’s programs in their churches. Sometimes they are both! They are women who are attempting to train Bible Study leaders. They are women who work in their communities by supporting recovery centers and centers for the disabled. They are women who are working hard to teach our children and grandchildren values and morality and counsel young women in troubled marriages. A woman in Loveland, Colorado, provides Bibles and a Bible study for women on the Oglala Lakota Indian reservation in South Dakota. A woman in South Africa offers women with no physical or spiritual resources a retreat where they can get both. One supports a girl’s school in Guatemala and another runs a prison ministry based in the Inland Empire of California. These women in ministry represent the thousands of women who work tirelessly in their churches, homes and communities trying to make a difference in a society that has forgotten who God is. They are women who support their pastors and the vision they have for their churches. What the Network of Evangelical Women in Ministry provides: ● Creative Seminars for leadership tools and spiritual enrichment. ● Half-day and two-night retreats that refresh and challenge. ● Free resources on our website that offer personal enrichment and training. ● Regional meetings where leaders can come to a safe place and share their challenges. ● Biblically centered and encouraging conferences. ● A scholarship fund that enables women leaders in small churches to benefit from our retreats and seminars. Jackie Rettberg, Executive Director
NEWIM thanks you for your participation and support as we minister to you and other hard working women around the world.
Bridge Day Raises Funds for NEWIM Scholarship Program The second annual NEWIM Bridge Day was held at the beautiful Newport Harbor Yacht Club in Newport Beach, on Thursday, September 30. Over a hundred people were in attendance. Excitement ran high as NEWIM members and friends gathered Thursday morning in the large salon overlooking the bay. They greeted each other and found their assigned tables. Most played Bridge but there were tables of Canasta too! NEWIM Director Jackie Rettberg welcomed the group and explained that we would be using Chicago Scoring so everyone would finish about the same time. The Yacht Club’s trademark Cobb Salad was followed by a scrumptious Warm Chocolate Cake topped with Vanilla Bean ice cream. During dessert, Jackie reminded the group that NEWIM’s purpose is to provide resources, spiritual enrichment and networking opportunities for women in ministry. She then illustrated who these women in ministry are (see cover story). The Bridge Day proceeds will provide scholarship money for the Springs and NEWIM retreats in South Africa.
Have You Been to Our Website? We’ve been working hard to make our newly redesigned website a valuable resource for you. Visit us today to see what’s available to help you grow in grace and knowledge of God, serve Him in your ministry and network with other women working toward the same goals. What we offer: monthly Food For the Soul articles, monthly words of biblical wisdom from our Director and other authors, ministry highlights from our members, an events calendar and Creative Seminars for your church or group. For members, listen to audio presentations from NEWIM conferences and access our online member directory. Members: your user name is FirstLast, no space; your password is “changeme” no space. Friends: click register and fill in all fields (please use your name, FirstLast, no spaces, as your user name). For help logging in, email info@newim.org. Page 2
Intimacy with God isn't something we make happen, it's something we create space for.
Short times of teaching alternated with times of meditation help recenter our distracted, anxious hearts to a place of deeper communion with God.
Since January, 2010, several hundred women have attended this unique retreat. Women enjoy guided times in the Word followed by extended times to rest, reflect, meditate, pray or journal on their own. The short time of 3-4 hours makes it perfect for working women and moms who are more time challenged. “I was ushered into God’s presence to reconnect with God’s voice and direction.” “As a mom this allowed me to have half a day to be with God and also have the rest of my day to get things done.” “I didn’t realize I had so much to talk to God about!” “It allowed me to climb up into God’s lap and hear from His heart to mine without any distractions.” “Make Space for God was truly life-giving. I can’t wait until the next one.” Invite NEWIM to your church or group as a creative seminar. Click the Creative Seminars link on our website, www.newim.org, for scheduling information. This guided retreat can be effective as one part of your annual women’s retreat. Contact us today for available dates.
Marty Russell is codirector of NEWIM’s Springs Prayer & Reflection Retreat and teaches at Talbot Graduate School of Theology, Biola University. She’s a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and served on the women’s ministry staff at First Evangelical Free Church in Fullerton, California.
For more information about bringing this retreat to your church contact marty.russell@ biola.edu
Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Page 3
He Must Become Greater; I Must Become Less By Kathie Scott
My lackluster faith was twisted into thinking leadership meant me doing more, me toiling with more tasks. Oh me of little
John 3:30, a short and sweet, albeit powerful declaration. At this point in John’s gospel account, John the Baptist explains to the crowd before him, waiting their turn in the warm waters of the Jordan River, that it is time to step aside. The ONE he has waited for is here. Much like a bride before the big day, John has been busy. His dutiful baptizing of ordinary people consummated his mandate from Heaven. And like a bride, John is full of joy at the arrival of the bridegroom—Jesus. To be sure, we too have joy at being the bride of Christ. We too must step aside and allow Him to do His work. Tricky sometimes for us women, isn’t it? After all, the Lord created us to be help mates, partners, pillars in many aspects. Does that include “helping” Him get the job done? Hmm. Leadership in Bible study initially means extending our arms of comfort around an entire group—quite daunting! However, if we learn to step aside and allow God’s will the predominant place in
our lives, glorious things happen simply for the glory of God. I don’t know about you, but it seems during my walk with Christ, there have been times I have wandered off the path. When presented with an invitation into a leadership role in a Bible study some years ago, I’m afraid to admit —I turned it down! Instead of stepping aside, allowing my bridegroom to sweep me off my feet, I ran from the church. Somehow, my thinking was stunted by simply seeing leadership as another project for which I had no time! My lackluster faith was twisted into thinking leadership meant me doing more, me toiling with more tasks. Oh me of little faith! And then late one night, I was literally confronted and astonished by John 3:30. The words in my Bible seemed like neon flashing off the page in the dimly lit room. Have you ever felt His loving presence, lifting His words from the binds of ink and stamping them on your heart? I was lovingly convicted, tenderly propositioned with a life-changing truth: my shadow has the potential to tarnish the glory of Jesus Christ. Continued on page 5
faith! Become a Member or Renew Your Membership... ...online and save a stamp! Just go to www.newim.org and click the online store link. Choose your membership level and receive real benefits, including an online member roster, audio presentations and selected event discounts. Join today and we’ll post your ministry report in our Member Corner (all members are welcome to contribute). Your fee is tax deductible. Page 4
NEWIM and The Springs on Facebook! Simply search for NEWIM or The Springs on Facebook. Join the group then join in the discussions, post on the wall and invite others to join. Get updates on upcoming events and network with women just like you. See you on Facebook!
He Must Become Greater (Continued from page 4)
So you better believe when asked again to step into leadership, my yes was one of humble service. I vowed to lead, not as the Lord’s help mate (like our great God needs my help!), but as His holy vessel. Every week I prayed for Him to be greater, for me to be less—not for my service to be less. On the contrary, I prayed He would lead me to greater service to my group by allowing His powerful Spirit to guide all of our interaction. Oh how lovely when He is greater, for the glory is simply everlasting. And all I have to do is get out of the way.
Kathie Scott has been a member of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, since 1997. She has served the Lord in children’s ministry and women’s Bible study leadership, as well as in the writing and editing ministry. In 2008, Kathie became a trained lay counselor at Saddleback, and now assists women and married couples in living out God’s principles for their lives. Kathie is a professional writer and editor, having worked in all facets of writing, editing and publishing. She’s a sagacious Scrabble player, loves to tinker creating custom jewelry and enjoys updating her weekly blog, Swimming Upstream on the web at: http://swimmingupstream-withkat.blogspot.com/. It’s a blog about family, friends and food. Originally from the beautiful and historic Hudson Valley, NY, Kathie resides in Anaheim Hills with her husband Brett, son David and twin daughters Kelsey and Rachel, along with a menagerie of beloved pets. You may email her at kscott10@sbcglobal.net.
Creative Seminars Now Available NEWIM is thrilled to announce our new ministry, Creative Seminars, is now available. This service has been designed for churches with limited resources. With an amazing number of seasoned NEWIM leaders, we have an extensive list of topics from which to choose. Are you looking to plan a Saturday morning miniretreat? Do you need a presenter for an evening event? Is it essential you plan a meeting just for your leadership team? Or would you just love to have a one-onone consultation with an experienced woman in ministry? The possibilities are unlimited. The topics are divided into two sections: Seminars for Leaders and Seminars for Everyone. The leader seminars are best suited for one-on-one leadership consultations for either a Director of Women’s Ministry or for any ministry leader and/or leadership team. Seminars for Everyone can be used for just about any event and are divided into three categories: Bible Seminars, Personal Growth Seminars and Relationship Seminars. The best aspect of this new ministry is that all the presenters have partnered with NEWIM to invest their time as a gift. Thus, your cost is nominal—a small administration fee and presenter travel expenses. It’s an incredible resource available at your fingertips. You can begin planning today and join several churches which have already scheduled a presenter. So don’t wait. Check out the entire list of topics and scheduling information at www.newim.org by choosing the area nearest you. If you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact the program administrator, Kim J o h ns o n at kim.johnson1@att.net.
Creative Seminars is a new resource for the small church. We want to serve you where you need it most.
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Tugs From God By Jackie Rettberg
His tugs are just like hugs.
No, it’s not a typo! I really do mean tugs! This relationship thing with the Lord is the most interesting and amazing thing involved in being a Christian. In the midst of lives that are full of family and friends and work and ministry, our gracious Lord does this thing I call tugging. Tugging is simply a strong pull on my heart from the Lord to come and be with Him for awhile and it seems to happen especially when my life is caught up in a one whirlwind after another. Now wouldn’t you think the Lord would want me to complete all I’m doing for Him? Wouldn’t you think He would be concerned about slowing me down? But the tug is strong and so I finally yield and stop whatever project I am in the middle of and come and sit at His feet. I listen to Him, I open up His Word, I ask Him some questions and I am renewed and re-directed, rested, comforted and enlightened. Isn’t it amazing the Lord of the universe wants to sit down and enjoy our time together? Isn’t it amazing He cares enough to tug at me until I respond? Isn’t it absolutely astonishing He would rather be with me than watch me work? So in a sense His tugs are just like hugs. And I love both.
Return To Be Encouraged, 2011 A Heart That is Faithful, Isaiah 64:4
We invite you to return to be encouraged at NEWIM's inspiring conference in Bakersfield, Saturday, February 26, 2011. The conference features three wonderful speakers, lunch and fun with friends. Conference venue: Crossroads Christian Fellowship 2500 Fairfax Road Bakersfield, CA 93306 Time: 8:30 am to 3:30 pm Cost: $20, includes lunch Speakers: Teri Thompson, Luann Budd and Jackie Rettberg Registration: PayPal at www.newim.org “Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4, NIV). Page 6
I Do It! By Lisa Williams I do it, Daddy! I do it!” When my nephew was three years old, he often said that phrase. “I do it!” wasn’t a joyful exclamation of accomplishment; rather, it was a demand to perform a task without any help. He desired to show everyone his abilities: be it pouring a glass of milk from a gallon jug or putting his dinner dish into a sink he could barely reach. Often milk would spill and dishes would break. Not surprisingly, he never said, “I do it” when it came to cleaning up the mess! There are times in our lives when we’ll tell God, “I do it!” We want to demonstrate our power. We desire to show others our abilities by doing things all by ourselves. And when life doesn’t work out the way we envisioned, we want God to clean up our messes! As leaders in women’s ministry, we need to remember we can’t do God’s work in our own strength. It’s our reliance on Him that equips us for the tasks He sets before us. God is generous. He always sends help. We just need to be aware of His prompting: whether it’s to delegate to those He calls alongside of us, to work in the gifts He’s blessed us with, or to prayerfully prioritize our work so our to-do list doesn’t supersede His to-do list. Remember, our leadership skills are not found in the tasks we complete, but are found in the attitude we have while we’re serving others for Him. When we acknowledge the source of our strength and abilities we give all the glory back to God!
If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. —1 Peter 4:11, NIV
Lisa is a freelance television producer and has been blessed to work on projects around the world. She enjoys the career God has blessed her with, but never loses sight that the most important thing is her relationship with God. Most recently, she’s stepped out in faith and is now part of the leadership team in women’s ministry at her home church, Saddleback Valley Community Church. Her desire is to make her passion for God’s word contagious through training and equipping small group leaders who are on the front lines in women’s ministry. Lisa lives in Lake Forest, California, with her husband Tom and her two teenage daughters, Katie and Maggie. You may email her at tvonastick@me.com.
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Come to The Springs
God is shockingly generous— generous beyond all imagination.
One day Jesus told a story: day laborers arrived at various times throughout the day. Some only worked an hour while others worked hard in the vineyard all day. When it was time to pay them, the landowner paid all of them the same. Those who were hired first were shocked. Jesus finishes the story with the landowner saying: “I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:14-15, NIV). If I had been working all day, I’d be grumbling, too. It certainly doesn’t seem fair. But what is Jesus’ point? He says the Kingdom of heaven is like this landowner. So maybe this parable is more about the landowner than the envy of the early risers. Maybe his point is that God is shockingly generous—generous beyond all imagination. Maybe part of what Jesus is teaching is that each one of us is fully, completely, boundlessly loved by a very generous God. His love for us is not increased or diminished as a result of what we have or have not done. It doesn’t matter if we’ve been working hard since dawn, or if we arrived at dusk as they were finishing up for the day—he loves us all the same. That’s what the Kingdom of heaven is like. If we believe this is how God loves others, why is it so hard for us to embrace the possibility this is how he feels about us, too? Why do we resist his boundless, extravagant, unconditional love for us? Have you ever wondered about that? I love to watch the sun rise. I love to let the beauty of dawn teach my soul the beauty of God’s extravagant love for me. And now as I notice the sun has set, I can let the evening sky remind me of the truths of Jesus’ story: He loves me just as I am—even if I am late in coming, even if I don’t have much to show for my days’ work, even if I don’t deserve a penny. Our God is incredibly generous. Join us at The Springs retreat in April where we’ll be reflecting on the wonder of our generous God’s love for us. More about The Springs from Luann Budd: All of us long for a deep, personal encounter with Perfect Love. All of us need to have our identity grounded in being deeply loved by our Divine Lover (Romans 8). Talking about this is easy. Actually coming to develop this kind of relationship with the invisible God doesn’t happen automatically for anyone. It demands sufficient basking in His presence so that being deeply loved becomes the foundation of our identity in Christ. Come with other evangelical Christian women who serve as leaders in a wide variety of ministries to a retreat specifically designed to lead us into the presence of God where we can bask in His love. At The Springs retreat our focus will be to experientially come to know the love of God for us in a deeply transformational way. If you sense a deep desire within to come, but then “what ifs?” and fears take
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Come to The Springs (Continued from page 8)
over, capture your worries and concerns in an email and send it to Luann or Marty: LuannBudd@sbcglobal.net or marty.russell@biola.edu. We’ll be glad to discuss them with you. But if as you are reading this, you recognize your spirit is responding to the call of God’s Spirit to lay aside your external work for a few days so your heart can fall more deeply in love with Jesus, don’t wait. Come. Select your location: The Springs in southern California: April 13-15, 2011 Cost: $225 (Wednesday through Friday) Prince of Peace Abbey, Oceanside
The Springs in central California: April 13-15, 2011 Cost: $255 (Wednesday through Friday) St. Anthony’s, Three Rivers
Cost subject to change. Scholarships are available. For more information or to register online, visit our website www.newim.org.
It was encouraging to be in a room
Director of Women’s Ministry Forum
filled with women who can relate to
th
On July 28 , a group of women gathered at the home of Jackie Rettberg for our first Directors of Women’s Ministry Forum. It was encouraging to be in a room filled with women who can relate to the joys, struggles, burdens and blessings of being in the role of Director of Women’s Ministry in their local church. Karen sent us this note of her experience: “Thank you so much for inviting me to the Director’s Forum at Jackie’s home. It was exactly what I needed right now! Just hearing that other women in ministry can identify with the same struggles and victories was so comforting. I instantly felt at home and understood by the women who were there. What a wonderful group! I look forward to being together again.” We believe this truly summarizes the experience we had together and look forward to more times throughout the year to connect, share and be encouraged. If you are a Director of Women’s Ministry in your church and would like to participate in this exciting and encouraging forum, please contact us at www.newim.org or call 714-318-5432.
the joys, struggles, burdens and blessings.
—Kim Lomakin
Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind. —C.S. Lewis Page 9
NEWIM
Newsletter Editor: Tammy Tkach Email: tammy.tkach@gci.org V ISIT US ON THE W EB: W WW . NEW IM. ORG
Need an instant seminar? Check out our Creative Seminars, available to your church or group for a small administrative fee. Click on Creative Seminars at www.newim.org to see a comprehensive list of topics. Schedule a seminar today for your leaders or your whole church, right from our website.
Return To Be Encouraged 2011 Save the date! This inspiring and encouraging conference is coming to Bakersfield February 26 at Crossroads Christian Fellowship. See page 6 and our website for registration information. See you there!
NEWIM P.O. Box 866 Balboa, CA 92661 (714) 318-4321 Address Service Requested
From the Heart