This past weekend I was up in the mountains at Bonclarken in Flat Rock, North Carolina for a whirl wind visit (Friday am till Saturday pm). Bonclarken is the conference centre for the Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP). I was attending a Women's Ministries Executive Board meeting. (I know, I know... it sounds really official and what am I doing there right?)

At these meetings the presidents and presbyterial representatives (that's me) come to talk about the things that are going on in our area. We have ladies from Tennesse/Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Catabwa, North East, First and Second presbyterials and I represent the churches in Canada. A lot of what goes on at these meetings is really way over my head. A lot of these churches are celebrating 100 and 200 year anniversaries, so they have a long history of being involved. Some of the ladies had their grandmammies, and great-grandmammies on the board and are carrying on the tradition. I haven't been part of a church that is older than 25 years so it is a real challenge for me to understand a lot of the traditions that have been pasted down the generations, and see how they benefit the church.

One thing I do appreciate is some great ideas for how to encourage the ladies in our church. Most of the different groups have had ladies retreats. We didthis February and really enjoyed getting to know the women from the area churches. Another idea is small group prayer time. We did this on Saturday for most of the morning. In our small groups -3 to 4 people- we asked 2 questions. What is a thanksgiving? and What is a challange? Then we broke it down into different areas of life (mostly concerning Women's Ministries) but they could easily be broken down for day to day as well.

1. In your own life
2. In your family (immediate -husband, children - no complaining or badmouthing allowed)
3. In your family (relations)
4. In your church (as a whole, session, pastor - no complaining or badmouthing aloud here either)

Spending time in dedicated prayer for a small group of women really helped up strengthen our bonds of friendship and helped us to better pray for each other (rather than, please bless soandso in her church). This is something that I would encourage the ladies from your church to do as well. So often we just see each other at church and don't have time to really sit down and talk - to encourage each other and to get to know each other this would be a great way to start.