PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN

SYNOD OF LIVING WATERS

MODERATOR’S ANNUAL REPORT 2007

 

            Presbyterian Women of the Synod of Living Waters is a healthy organization engaged in prayer, Bible study, mission, and service.  We strive to be “an inclusive, caring community of women” in the PC (USA).  We thank the Synod for supporting us—financially, emotionally, and personally in all of our programs.

 

             Women from each of the twelve Presbyteries attended Leadership Training on June 6-8, 2007, at First Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Tennessee. Beautifully led by Mary Hammett, the event provided training for Presbytery leaders who will in turn train women from their churches.  Leadership Training Workshops were led by a team who attended a churchwide training event in Albuquerque, NM in March: Martha Knichel (St. Andrews), Carolyn Jordan (Sheppards & Lapsley), Mary Hammett (Sheppards & Lapsley), Bonnie Blair (Mid-South), Mary Ellen Ausenbaugh (Middle Tennessee), Gloria Moorman (Mid-Kentucky), Loretta Bradley (East Tennessee), and Mary Weber (Transylvania).

 

              Martha Knichel, Moderator of Synod PW, presided at our 5th Triennial Gathering, in Franklin, Tennessee, June 8-10, 2007.  We had stimulating workshops, met out Churchwide Moderator Dr. Catrelia Steele Hunter, studied and worshipped together. During a beautiful installation service, Martha presented me with a Living Waters of the World stole (which she designed).  The stole will be passed on to each moderator for her three-year term. 

 

            Our Mission Focus for the two combined meetings was Living Waters for the World.  Thanks to Dr. Charles Bryson, who painted and donated an original depiction of the Women at the Well, our auction went well.  Together with our offering we were able to give a generous amount to Living Waters for the World.

We were treated to the Premier Showing of the new LWW DVD, “Clean Water for all of God’s Children.”

 

            Presbytery level PW normally get together twice a year, in the spring and fall, for Gatherings or Cluster Meetings.  The theme of most of this fall’s meetings has been training, as recommended by our churchwide coordinating team. I have been blessed to be able to take part in a number of these meetings and find them to be a key to living our faith and keeping us connected.

 

 Our churchwide coordinating team is also encouraging us to identify churches that do not have active PW and to work to help them start PW, noting that we need to be flexible and creative in order to meet the needs of all age women.

 

            Thanks to our wonderful secretary, Polly Banks, we have been able to start a website!  We use it to inform members of upcoming events, tell our Mission stories, share devotions, learn about each other, and build enthusiasm.

Electronic communication is wonderful, but we realize that not everyone is comfortable in that medium, so we appreciate the coverage that PW has received in The Voice.  We share our Presbytery PW newsletters, talk on the phone, and make every effort to stay connected, even when we cannot travel to be together face-to-face.

 

            Our future looks good.  Three women from our Synod have been selected to attend PW Mission trips in 2008—one to eastern Europe and two to Juarez, Mexico.  All three will be available to speak to groups upon their return.  Another upcoming event will be a Racial-Ethnic Conference.  All sorts of PW conferences and meetings are planned.  Local churches are responding to the challenge to do Mission in their local areas as well as supporting PW projects around the world.  We are already looking ahead to our next Triennial Synod Meeting, and our Coordinating team will meet in June, 2008, in Huntsville, Alabama.

 

            We continue to support Columbia Theological Seminary, and our support of Louisville Theological Seminary may grow, as one of our mission trip delegates is a student there.  We are always looking for ways to include young women in our community.

 

            In the year 2008 the organization of Presbyterian Women will be twenty years old!  Like any adolescent, we have had some growing pains, but we are committed to continuing our work to witness to the promise of God’s kingdom

 

Mary Weber, Moderator

Presbyterian Women in the Synod of Living Waters