When I felt God calling me into full time Christian service, I had a sense of amazement that God had a plan to use me in ministry. For twenty years I had managed software development organizations in the public sector, a great career with lots of interesting assignments and challenges. But none of it could compare to the sense of adventure and purpose I felt as I resigned my position and headed off to seminary.

As I left the corporate world, people often asked me if I was scared of leaving so much behind. A reoccurring question was if I thought it would be hard to be a female minister. Being an executive and usually the lone female in the corporate world had really never been of much concern to me. My female perspective often made me more organized, more proactive in anticipating the future, and more likely to sense the needs of my subordinates than some of my male counterparts. I felt God had spent years developing my skills, so being a female in ministry didn't intimidate me. But as seminary began, there was something that did begin to concern me.

As a woman who had chartered new territory in a man's world, I had never thought of myself as conservative, but I began to realize my beliefs (Jesus as necessary and sufficient for salvation and the Bible as the authoritative witness to the Word of God) put me in the minority at my campus.  Although my personal focus was on following Jesus in this life, not on salvation in the next life, these beliefs were precious to me. I began to wonder if somehow the Presbyterian Church had moved on and I was left behind with a theology that was no longer shared among other Presbyterians. So I started on a quest to find other seminarians with similar beliefs.

First I contacted NPWL and was immediately put in touch with a Lydia scholarship recipient, an upper class woman at my seminary. Not only could I turn to her with theological questions, but she also introduced me to others. I realized that many like-minded upperclassmen had already overcome their own theological shock but were too busy to mentor newer students. Nor was there a medium in which like-minded upper and lowerclassmen could find each other. A group of us with similar beliefs began to gather during the first weeks of school.

We heard rumors of an organization we might have fit into, but it had disbanded. It had pushed a political agenda instead of focusing on the essential truths of our convictions, a lesson we took to heart. As our group began to form, we revived the older organization, renamed it, and determined not to get caught in the denomination's political problems. Instead we chose to proclaim Christ as Lord and Savior, while lovingly and passionately upholding the scripture. This new organization has brought like-minded upper and lowerclassmen together in a mentoring relationship, and given members of each class a place to express their views.   It has also allowed us to reach out to local pastors and bring them into our organization through bi-yearly pastor luncheons. We are a recognized part of the Student Coordinating Counsel and hold a weekly prayer meeting, a weekly Bible study, and a monthly praise service. While we are still a minority on campus, we have established ourselves as a presence that we hope the seminary will see as a positive one.