A note from John.....
I believe Flourish was a unique conference for at least two reasons. First, as far as I know, there has never been a national conference on women’s ministry for the Presbyterian Church of Australia. Second, this was a conference on women’s ministry which included men and women.
You probably know at least something of the history of women’s ministry in the PCA. The discussion has been dominated by the debate about women’s ordination. That debate has had two effects. On the one hand, some women, even those who supported the decision to end women’s ordination, have felt that there has been little encouragement for them to contribute to the life of the church beyond very traditional ways. Others, specially office bearers, have been nervous that an emphasis on finding ways for women to serve might, in the long term, create an expectation for a return to women’s ordination. So there seems to have been a lack of effort and innovation in encouraging women in the PCA to use their gifts as part of the church’s ministry. (Of course there have been exceptions to this and my comments here are not to disparage those exceptions.)
The 2007 General Assembly of Australia gave our committee the task of helping the church implement a report which an earlier form of the committee had presented to that Assembly. That report, A Partnership for God’s Glory,concluded that women feel respected, valued, confident, and enthusiastic about serving the Lord in the church, when they are being:
1. taught about spiritual gifts and using them for God’s service,
2. affirmed as partners in roles by the leaders in their church,
3. recognised for their gifts, abilities and strengths,
4. provided with opportunities and given encouragement to use their gifts,
5. provided with resources to equip themselves for service to the Lord and
6. given a voice in decision making in the church.
The report recognised that the PCA at the level of the General Assembly had sought to provide this and that effort was reflected in the congregations. However it also indicated that further work was required at all levels of the church.
The Assembly seemed to agree since it sent a copy of A Partnership for God’s Glory to all state assemblies, presbyteries and sessions and encouraged them to implement the report. It also asked our committee to “to oversee and further investigate implications and implementations” of the report.
Flourish arose from the deliberations of our committee. It was the major initiative that we have taken to help the church continue to develop women’s ministry. Our aims were partly stimulate discussion about how the church should live out the biblical vision of the Christian life and church in complementarian partnership, to equip women for service and to develop and identify resources which help us do that. We also hope that the conference would develop good connections between people in the various states who have the same goals for women’s ministry.
We also expect that things that those who attended tell us in the evaluation will become part of our report to the next GAA in September 2010.
Our prayer for you is Paul’s prayer in Philippians 1:9-11, “that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.”
We realise there were many people who did not attend the conference but we invite you to have your say as we value your say about Women's Ministry in Australia. Please find the time to take out HAVE YOUR SAY survey in the link on the left.
John McClean(Convener, NSW) for the GAA Committee on Women’s Ministries
Ngaire Moore (NSW), Cecelia Orford (QLD), Andrea Pryde (QLD), Mairi Girgis (VIC), Gillian Gilchrist (NSW, conference organiser).
Flourish was “Bloomin’” Marvellous
Over 200 people from all states in Australia gathered for the first ever conference for men and women on Women’s Ministry in the Presbyterian Church of Australia. The theme of the conference, “Flourish”, was based on Paul’s prayer that we may “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:11).
After a wonderful meal at the Chinese Church Surry Hills, Craig Tucker took us on an engaging journey to understand how were created as men and women. Looking at Ephesians 5, we saw the New Testament’s application of those principles. The talks can be downloaded from the Flourish website at
http://www.gaawomensministry.com/Resources.html .
Saturday was a beautiful spring day as we gathered for challenging applications from 1 Corinthians 11 & 14. As the workshops proceeded, people were inspired to try new ministries or were encouraged in practical ways to improve existing ministries of vital kingdom importance. One theme was stated over and over again: it is great to meet as the people of God and to be encouraged and enthused by the like minded people from all over the country.
In 2007 the General Assembly of Australia gave the Flourish committee the task of helping the church implement a report (A Partnership for God’s Glory) on women’s views on ministry needs in the Presbyterian Church of Australia. This conference has proved to be an important first step to meeting the expressed goals but as the committee prepares its report to the 2010 Assembly, we need your feedback.
If you were unable to attend Flourish, we still value your input. Please tell us how the Presbyterian Church can help you serve the Lord as fully as possible, and, how we can help your church support all women do the same. Go to the website
http://www.gaawomensministry.com , click on the button on the left hand side “Have your Say” and follow the prompts. There is also provision on the website for you to just send an email.
Welcome to the official blog of Presbyterian Women's Ministries. It is our hope and prayer that through this blog we will be able to provide a wide variety of resources for individuals and churches to use, specifically for building up women's ministries within the church.
Over time I will be including things such as articles on relevant topics, book reviews, women's ministry ideas and programs, playgroup resources, links to other useful sites, and so on. I will be asking various people to contribute things and if you have some great ideas which you think may be useful I'd love to hear from you. Hopefully this will form a link between many different communities within the Presbyterian Church and in the process be a source of encouragement and information.
A little about me: I am a married mother of almost 3 from Victoria. I grew up in a Presbyterian manse. Over the past 15 years as we have travelled from Victoria to NSW and back I have been involved in setting up a number of women's ministries, running playgroup, leading women's bible studies, and encouraging women to find their gifts and use them for God's glory. I believe as women we have a very significant role within our church and hope this blog will provide much food for thought as you figure out where your gifts and abilities lie and how you can best use them.
I'd love to hear feedback along the way and trust that this will be a source of encouragement to all.
Mairi Girgis
Presbyterian Women's Blog Spot is located at....
