Hello Ladies.
Welcome to the new year at New Christian Woman! Last June we formally launched this site and as we look to enter our first full calendar year, I’m excited to give you all a glimpse at how we’re fairing and a chance to influence where we may go.
First, I’m delighted to introduce our Writing Team for 2016. You can check out all their beautiful faces here. These 22 lovely ladies are a diverse bunch. They herald from five different countries, are located in 13 locations around the world and range in age from teenage to 70s (with the majority in their early 30s). I am so appreciative of their commitment to this project.
“International” is an appropriate description of our blog’s personality–and, I was excited to learn, of our readership. In our first 7 months of activity, we had 5800 views from 38 countries (a few dozen of these are certainly those dedicated spammers that keep trying to leave comments about weight loss plans but most of them are legit). The United States just barely won the slot for the country with the most views but South Africa and the United Kingdom were close behind. Having lived internationally, I know how vibrant and dedicated Church communities and Church individuals are outside my native USA; it is particularly special to me that we are serving so many of these women.
The early success of the site has brought with it some growing pains which in turn prompted me to adapt our structure. I now have two amazing co-Directors to share the work load– Abby Smith (technical), and Anne Waters (editing). This opens up my time to focus on marketing and resource management as well as expansion of our women’s ministry.
I began NewChristianWoman’s blog with the intention that it would be the kickoff project for what would eventually develop into a women’s ministry. When fully-functioning (in like, ten years), my hope is to be serving women of all ages by (1) supporting the “understanding” through providing quality resources, (2) supporting “the affection” by creating and encouraging community and support among New Church women, and (3) supporting “use” by providing outlets for women to serve the Church.
And here is where I would love your input. As we start looking at expanding into more services, I would appreciate hearing what sorts of projects would be useful to you? Are there areas you’ve wished someone would explore? On the article front, are there specific topics you would like articles written on?
This is a brain-dump session, there are no wrong suggestions.
Some ideas I myself am mulling over include: partnering with Bryn Athyn College to create a religion internship for women, running a survey of involved Church millennials around the world (I feel there are many misconceptions about this demographic), beginning a blog for Teenage girls, and creating an article series showcasing some of the healthiest congregations around the world.
Do any of those ideas particularly strike your fancy? Do you have any suggestions of your own?
We would love to here them.
Blessings,
Eden
Eden,
Thank you for starting this. The articles have been various and unique. I’ve enjoyed the spread of topics and approaches. I’d say, just keep it coming. I also appreciate that the articles have been thoughtful–well thought out. Not impulsive things. Respectful of other views.
Thanks again!
Ann
Hello Eden
I’ve only recently joined New Christian Woman, following a prompt in our UK Newsletter. So, I’m still reading earlier articles and ‘getting to know’ the contributors through their submitted pieces. As Ann said in her comment, the articles have been thoughtful, not impulsive, and respectful of other views. All good things! I look forward to becoming more familiar with the things here.
Every good wish,
Dale
I am so thrilled that you have done this good work, Eden, and Abby and Anne. Ministering to children and to women are two of my deep-heart-passions and I am grateful to be a part of this community, serving and being served.
What do you think about online small groups? Scripture-study, the Writings, books, Journey programs – sessions aimed at New Church Women, around the world, meeting online once a week/twice a week/once a month to discuss a topic and encourage one another. Google Hangouts is a platform already being used for online Journey groups, (my first experience of New Church community was in one of those groups, when Coleman and I were dating) and I’m participating in an online, non-denominational study with Proverbs 31 Ministries starting later this month. We have many women here at New Church Westville who have expressed interest in a ladies group, but have struggled to find times to meet in person to meet everyone’s schedules – perhaps connecting with women overseas could help create diverse groups meeting at various times!
Hi Anne,
I love the idea of online small groups – with busy lives and people in different part of the country/world, it would be great to have a regular time devoted to sharing ideas and connecting with other women without having to get in my car and drive myself and my children around. Life is hectic and although I love to have time to connect directly with my friends, it would be nice to have time where I don’t have to leave the cosy surrounds of my house/office but still take time to devote to my own spirituality.
Having 3 children at school and working from home, finding the time to fit everything in can be tricky – I enjoy connecting directly, but in lieu of being able to connect directly, and still be able to work on my spirituality, online seems like the way to go.
Anne
Hmm, I’m interested in looking more into this. I know there are a few efforts at online groups being offered, but don’t know if they have any going specifically for women. I’ll have a look around. Maybe we make a group happen or just publicise how to become a part of an existing online womens’ group. That could be a great resource to offer.
Agree that that good things are getting published here. Thank you for your efforts!
I’m intrigued by the idea of an internship at BAC for a women’s ministry. I think that creating positive spaces for women to have real roles in the church would be a great thing! I do wonder though if a. it might feel patronizing and b. if in practice this would only highlight areas where we disagree.
That being said, I am intrigued by the potential there.
Right now I’m imagining the Internships to be project specific– which would avoid our entering that hotly contested world of defining what is appropriate ministry for women and what is the role of a male priest– my current thought is to have the interns work partly on this blog (write an article or two) but mostly on creating a second, simpler blog for teenage GC gals. College women would, I think, be an excellent group to influence teenagers– they can understand and relate to them well and shouldn’t be as intimidating for teens as older adults. And, for the college women, researching and presenting relevant religious ideas for a slightly younger audience could be very useful for their own spiritual growth– “people learn best by teaching others” sort of idea.
I like it, Eden! I’d love to see that happen.
I appreciate the diversity and maturity I hear in the articles shared here, and I would like to foster that. This site is unlike any I have been a part of, it connects and informs while never making me feel pushed or out of the loop if I do not keep up with the informations and emotions being shared weekly.
I would hope for something like this site to be created for college and even young women/teens. But I would cation us from expanding and stretching this one article piece of the ministry right now. Teens and college women have a lot of access to information and a certain connection that women out of that social setting do not.
I am so proud of our leaders for vision casting and making this a reality.
I would love to have a huge retreat weekend with you all and get to know your heart better! Maybe someday.