Moderator's Challenge
Presbyterian Women
Synod of Living Waters
Update to Moderator's Challenge - March 25, 2008
Responses to Challenge
Update to Moderator’s Challenge
October 22, 2007
Just now as I was preparing to send a new Moderator’s Message, I noticed that we have had over
500 “hits” on our website! That is good news—it means that people are checking in and finding
out what we are doing as Presbyterian Women in the Synod of Living Waters.
By now I hope that nearly everyone is aware that I have issued a challenge to each church in our
Synod (see below). That is for women in each church to start one new project that will be of benefit
to women and/or children.
As of today there are two projects that you can read about on the website that have started in
response to my challenge. I hope that we will be able to add many more in the months to come.
Some new ideas that I have heard in my travels may be launched soon:
· Start a Bible Study in an assisted care home. A lady who attended our Fall Gathering for
Transylvania Presbytery yesterday said there are five members of her church who live in the same
assisted care facility. They don’t want to leave for meetings at the church, but she thinks they
might really appreciate having the messages available right where they are. If you try it, please
let us know how it works.
· Establish prayer partners between circles. In one case I heard about a church that has two
circles, but they have very little to do with each other. When I was meeting with their Cluster
Leader, we decided that some of the women might be open to being matched with a prayer partner
from the other group.
· Establish prayer partners between churches. If there is a Presbyterian Church without an
organized PW group in your area, consider working out prayer partners, matching one woman
from your church to one woman from the other church.
· Be alert to opportunities to involve new/younger women. Today a woman in our church gave
a creative Children’s Sermon. She gave her permission to put it on our website. You will find it,
“Baby Elephants,” under Devotions. Encourage parents in your congregation to read it!
I am excited about these ideas. I look forward to hearing what you are doing!
With prayers and love,
Your PWS Moderator,
Mary Weber
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moderator's Challenge
Presbyterian Women, Synod of Living Waters
Summer 2007
Henry Ford, who invented the assembly line for automobiles, is credited with saying, “if you think
you can, or you think you can’t, you are right!”
I love the following story: One day a college student was late for mathematics class. When he
arrived, two problems were written on the board. He copied them down, took them home, and
worked on them into the wee hours. The next day he went sheepishly to his professor. “Here is
my homework. I could only solve one of the problems.” “That’s amazing!” the professor said.
“Before you came into class I wrote those two problems on the board and said that they were two
problems that no one had ever been able to solve.”
Earlier this summer I attended a birthday party for a three-year-old boy. The home-made birthday
cake was a bright red railroad car. The color, achieved through the use of many tubes of red food
coloring, was perfect for the cake decoration but not for Grandma’s khaki pants! (She got a large
spot of the red frosting on the back of her pants when she brushed against a second cake on the
sideboard that she did not realize was there.) A popular spray cleaner did not lift the stain. I
volunteered to try a new product that I had just bought. It took several applications, some
scrubbing, an overnight soaking, more scrubbing. Eventually, the stain disappeared! When telling
other friends about my success, one asked if the product I used was safe for the environment. I
read the fine print—and it said that the only stains the product would not remove from clothing
were those that contain red dye.
I think Henry Ford was right!
Have I convinced you that, “if you think you can, you can”? I hope so, because I have a Challenge
for all Presbyterian Women in the Synod of Living Waters that
I THINK WE CAN DO!
Here is the CHALLENGE:
Each PW group in the Synod of Living Waters will start ONE new program that will be of benefit
to women/children.
That’s it! If we all do that, I believe that it will help us to grow—in enthusiasm, in spiritual
understanding, perhaps even in membership. With all of us working toward this goal, I believe
that we will strengthen and enliven the organization of Presbyterian Women. This program can
be done any time during my 3-year term, but I believe that the time to start is NOW.
Here’s how it will work.
1. LOOK at your NEEDS. Ask, “What is missing? Do we need younger members? Outreach
to our local community? Better use of our church facility?”
2. IDENTIFY your GIFTS. What strengths are represented by your group members?
Hospitality? Love and nurture for young people? Writing? Photography? Ability to support
projects financially?
3. BRAINSTORM PROJECTS that might “FIT.” You can get ideas from our new Website
and from your Cluster Leaders.
4. DO your PROJECT.
5. DOCUMENT what you have done, WRITE it up (we will help), then SEND YOUR
ARTICLES AND PHOTOS for our website (in a Word file, if possible)
To our webmaster, Polly Banks, at pbanks1957@charter.net
And copy to Moderator Mary Weber, at hillsidetwo@roadrunner.com
Our Website address is www.pwslivingwaters.org Go there to get ideas and, in time, see
stories about projects that have been started because of this challenge.
Cluster Leaders can be key to this whole project. I will send them ideas for working with PW
groups to come up with the project that they will embark on, encouraging them throughout the
project, and sending it in.
Getting the stories told will be critical to the success of this program. I hope that our web site will
facilitate both the starting of new projects and the documenting of them as they happen.
Please come on board. I THINK THAT WE CAN DO THIS, and I want you to believe it too.
Prayerfully,
Mary Weber
Moderator, Presbyterian Women of the
Synod of Living Waters
Starter Ideas for Moderator’s CHALLENGE
Feel free to copy, adapt, or change these ideas to fit your needs. Your project doesn’t have to be
huge—it can be a one-morning activity, a creative way of raising money, or anything that is a new
project for the benefit of women and/or children.
1. Start a new circle. Consider one at an assisted living facility where one or more of your
members reside. Or how about one for high school or college girls?
2. Involve the youth in your church-- to collect Hunger Offering coins in galvanized buckets--
or to create art work that can be made into note cards that can be sold to raise funds for one of your
mission projects.
3. Have a grandmother/mother/daughter event. It could be a “nursery tea” party with your
local children’s librarian telling stories. Or grandmothers could tell stories about their
childhood. Or a Christian Educator or Sunday school teacher could tell Bible Stories.
4. Check with your local schools to find out their needs. One group discovered that a lot of
children were underfed at home on weekends, so they donated “ready to eat” foods that school
personnel discreetly slipped into the children’s backpacks on Fridays.
5. Organize a 5th Sunday potluck for all (Presbyterian?) churches in your area.
6. Find creative ways to raise money for mission projects. See http://www.pcusa.
org/pw/missionmatters/tis/congo.htm for creative ways to support the Palm Project, a new mission
opportunity for Presbyterian Women.
7. Have a tea party. Invite each guest to bring her own teacup and tell its story. Then send two
tea bags home with each guest so that she can have tea with someone else—a new neighbor, a shut
in, a newly retired person.
8. Be CREATIVE! And HAVE FUN!
Responses to Challenge
Update to Moderator’s Challenge
October 22, 2007
Just now as I was preparing to send a new Moderator’s Message, I noticed that we have had over
500 “hits” on our website! That is good news—it means that people are checking in and finding
out what we are doing as Presbyterian Women in the Synod of Living Waters.
By now I hope that nearly everyone is aware that I have issued a challenge to each church in our
Synod (see below). That is for women in each church to start one new project that will be of benefit
to women and/or children.
As of today there are two projects that you can read about on the website that have started in
response to my challenge. I hope that we will be able to add many more in the months to come.
Some new ideas that I have heard in my travels may be launched soon:
· Start a Bible Study in an assisted care home. A lady who attended our Fall Gathering for
Transylvania Presbytery yesterday said there are five members of her church who live in the same
assisted care facility. They don’t want to leave for meetings at the church, but she thinks they
might really appreciate having the messages available right where they are. If you try it, please
let us know how it works.
· Establish prayer partners between circles. In one case I heard about a church that has two
circles, but they have very little to do with each other. When I was meeting with their Cluster
Leader, we decided that some of the women might be open to being matched with a prayer partner
from the other group.
· Establish prayer partners between churches. If there is a Presbyterian Church without an
organized PW group in your area, consider working out prayer partners, matching one woman
from your church to one woman from the other church.
· Be alert to opportunities to involve new/younger women. Today a woman in our church gave
a creative Children’s Sermon. She gave her permission to put it on our website. You will find it,
“Baby Elephants,” under Devotions. Encourage parents in your congregation to read it!
I am excited about these ideas. I look forward to hearing what you are doing!
With prayers and love,
Your PWS Moderator,
Mary Weber
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moderator's Challenge
Presbyterian Women, Synod of Living Waters
Summer 2007
Henry Ford, who invented the assembly line for automobiles, is credited with saying, “if you think
you can, or you think you can’t, you are right!”
I love the following story: One day a college student was late for mathematics class. When he
arrived, two problems were written on the board. He copied them down, took them home, and
worked on them into the wee hours. The next day he went sheepishly to his professor. “Here is
my homework. I could only solve one of the problems.” “That’s amazing!” the professor said.
“Before you came into class I wrote those two problems on the board and said that they were two
problems that no one had ever been able to solve.”
Earlier this summer I attended a birthday party for a three-year-old boy. The home-made birthday
cake was a bright red railroad car. The color, achieved through the use of many tubes of red food
coloring, was perfect for the cake decoration but not for Grandma’s khaki pants! (She got a large
spot of the red frosting on the back of her pants when she brushed against a second cake on the
sideboard that she did not realize was there.) A popular spray cleaner did not lift the stain. I
volunteered to try a new product that I had just bought. It took several applications, some
scrubbing, an overnight soaking, more scrubbing. Eventually, the stain disappeared! When telling
other friends about my success, one asked if the product I used was safe for the environment. I
read the fine print—and it said that the only stains the product would not remove from clothing
were those that contain red dye.
I think Henry Ford was right!
Have I convinced you that, “if you think you can, you can”? I hope so, because I have a Challenge
for all Presbyterian Women in the Synod of Living Waters that
I THINK WE CAN DO!
Here is the CHALLENGE:
Each PW group in the Synod of Living Waters will start ONE new program that will be of benefit
to women/children.
That’s it! If we all do that, I believe that it will help us to grow—in enthusiasm, in spiritual
understanding, perhaps even in membership. With all of us working toward this goal, I believe
that we will strengthen and enliven the organization of Presbyterian Women. This program can
be done any time during my 3-year term, but I believe that the time to start is NOW.
Here’s how it will work.
1. LOOK at your NEEDS. Ask, “What is missing? Do we need younger members? Outreach
to our local community? Better use of our church facility?”
2. IDENTIFY your GIFTS. What strengths are represented by your group members?
Hospitality? Love and nurture for young people? Writing? Photography? Ability to support
projects financially?
3. BRAINSTORM PROJECTS that might “FIT.” You can get ideas from our new Website
and from your Cluster Leaders.
4. DO your PROJECT.
5. DOCUMENT what you have done, WRITE it up (we will help), then SEND YOUR
ARTICLES AND PHOTOS for our website (in a Word file, if possible)
To our webmaster, Polly Banks, at pbanks1957@charter.net
And copy to Moderator Mary Weber, at hillsidetwo@roadrunner.com
Our Website address is www.pwslivingwaters.org Go there to get ideas and, in time, see
stories about projects that have been started because of this challenge.
Cluster Leaders can be key to this whole project. I will send them ideas for working with PW
groups to come up with the project that they will embark on, encouraging them throughout the
project, and sending it in.
Getting the stories told will be critical to the success of this program. I hope that our web site will
facilitate both the starting of new projects and the documenting of them as they happen.
Please come on board. I THINK THAT WE CAN DO THIS, and I want you to believe it too.
Prayerfully,
Mary Weber
Moderator, Presbyterian Women of the
Synod of Living Waters
Starter Ideas for Moderator’s CHALLENGE
Feel free to copy, adapt, or change these ideas to fit your needs. Your project doesn’t have to be
huge—it can be a one-morning activity, a creative way of raising money, or anything that is a new
project for the benefit of women and/or children.
1. Start a new circle. Consider one at an assisted living facility where one or more of your
members reside. Or how about one for high school or college girls?
2. Involve the youth in your church-- to collect Hunger Offering coins in galvanized buckets--
or to create art work that can be made into note cards that can be sold to raise funds for one of your
mission projects.
3. Have a grandmother/mother/daughter event. It could be a “nursery tea” party with your
local children’s librarian telling stories. Or grandmothers could tell stories about their
childhood. Or a Christian Educator or Sunday school teacher could tell Bible Stories.
4. Check with your local schools to find out their needs. One group discovered that a lot of
children were underfed at home on weekends, so they donated “ready to eat” foods that school
personnel discreetly slipped into the children’s backpacks on Fridays.
5. Organize a 5th Sunday potluck for all (Presbyterian?) churches in your area.
6. Find creative ways to raise money for mission projects. See http://www.pcusa.
org/pw/missionmatters/tis/congo.htm for creative ways to support the Palm Project, a new mission
opportunity for Presbyterian Women.
7. Have a tea party. Invite each guest to bring her own teacup and tell its story. Then send two
tea bags home with each guest so that she can have tea with someone else—a new neighbor, a shut
in, a newly retired person.
8. Be CREATIVE! And HAVE FUN!
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