Side by side – online & off
In September, Presbyterian Women launched and premiered its annual conference completely online for the first time in its history. Rebecca McConnell tuned in as the extended theme of ‘Side by Side’ was explored.
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ith my laptop on my knee, I click play on the Presbyterian Women’s conference. Among greetings from the PW president Heather Clements, praise pieces by Erin McBride and Emma Smyth in Wellington Presbyterian Church, and updates on home and away projects, are two talks by guest speaker Sophie de Witt. Sophie grew up in Cornwall and worked in international development, based in London, before moving to South Africa. She is the author of Compared to Her and One-to-One, a popular conference speaker, and evidently can add online conference speaker to her repertoire/CV. Speaking from her home in Cape Town, Sophie shared her passion for side by side ministry and spoke under two main topic headings – the why of side by side ministry, and also the how. “God is not just working towards Christian maturity for believers on an individual level – but for the whole body of Christ. My growth is tied to your growth and vice versa – one which every kingdom citizen has a role to play.” Explaining how side by side ministry can be achieved, Sophie acknowledged the many options, reflecting on how Jesus used different approaches to be side by side. Sometimes it was one-on-one, like
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the woman at the well. Sometimes it was with the 12 disciples and thus became a form of strategic multiplication, going deep as they spent regular time and ‘doing life’ together. Other times it was looking at Scripture and teasing out the meaning with questions. She talked of the three personal ministry tools – praying, caring and sharing. Examples of groups demonstrating these tools was evident in the video sequence included in the conference, as various groups from Ballycarry to Kilfennan shared what they were thankful for during the lockdowns and read out Bible verses that meant a lot to them during that difficult period. As a member from Joymount in Carrickfergus explained, they tried everything from devotions on social media to a monthly paper newsletter and also socially distanced doorstep visits to be side by side with women, not just from their
Women growing in faith together and reaching out to others is at the heart of what Presbyterian Women is all about…
congregation but also those outside of it. As I press pause to take a break just after the montage of clips from various Presbyterian Women members, my mind starts recalling another Presbyterian Women event I reported on for the Herald back in September 2011. It was a joint event between Presbyterian Women and Focusfest, held in a packed Assembly Hall. One of the keynote speakers, author Elisa Morgan, who had travelled over from the United States, focused her talk on the story of Mark 14 about the woman with the alabaster jar coming to Jesus and pouring the perfume on his feet. Part of Elisa’s message was to reiterate that the woman “did what she could”, that famous verse from Mark 14:8. As I make a cup of tea, I reflect how, in a pandemic, PW groups and women around Ireland ‘did what they could’. It was evident in the short video clips that groups had sent in for part of the online celebration, that WhatsApp groups for prayer were set up, meetings on Zoom organised and in all, women cared for each other as best they could under the limitations and with creativity. God is always preparing us for what lies ahead. Sometimes it takes us a while to even recognise where he has been preparing us along the way. This joint event held a decade ago, when the
