Editor's note:  In October 2007 Pastor Amy Holloway attended an NPWL Leadership Forum and has used what she learned there to bring positive change to the Women's Ministry in her congregation. In this article, Amy shares that process, the changes that resulted, and some of the things they learned along the way.

"Those young women aren't involved in the church! Who is going to decorate the church for Christmas when we can't anymore?  Who is going to support all of our service and mission projects?"  - Older woman in a Presbyterian Women's Circle

"I've tried to explain why I don't join a circle.  For starters, they meet midday when I'm at work.  Secondly, I don't want to join a decorating or kitchen team.  I want to use my spiritual gifts and engage in more serious Bible study."  - Younger woman from an evening Bible study

Those were some of the comments I heard from women when I began as Associate Pastor of Discipleship at First Presbyterian Church, Winston-Salem, NC two and a half years ago.  The congregation had wonderful programs for women of all ages, each with unique focuses that honored God.  For example, the MOPS program ministered to harried mothers of preschoolers and was a strong outreach to women who didn't yet know Christ.  The Presbyterian Women's circles, largely populated with older women, had a strong heritage of service and mission.  And the weekly Women's Bible study engaged women from churches across the city in serious Bible study and prayer.  But the women in the various programs were wary of one another. They viewed the other women and programs with suspicion. We had great ministries for and by women, but we didn't have a healthy women's ministry. 

The Appreciative Inquiry (AI) process has helped us move towards a holistic and healthy women's ministry (WM), that we trust God will use to reach and engage more women for Jesus Christ.  We have used AI in two distinct venues:  with the formation of a team, and the transformation of a ministry model.
 
The first venue was to form a women's ministry team.  This team is composed of women involved in the various WM programs as well as women who are representative of our congregation; older and younger; married, single, and divorced; stay-home-moms and working women.  Our goals as a team are to look at the whole picture of ministry for women in our congregation, pray for and support one another, and prayerfully discern how God wants us to reach and grow as women ministries and as a congregation.  
 
AI has given us concrete ways to do this.  We have used the AI exercises from the NPWL Leadership Forums Forums to help identify and share with each other the amazing ministry that God was already doing at our congregation, and to begin to identify the many ways that God wants us to grow.  
 
It's taken longer than I thought it would when I first brought the idea back from the NPWL Forum in October 2007.  The process has also taken on a different shape for us (we didn't follow all of the steps and we changed some of them).  But in all, the journey has been well worth the effort and has even been enjoyable.
 
The truly exciting news is that our journey is still continuing!   
 
This past spring, we took the AI process to the congregation and sent out a survey for all women.  From those surveys, a definite theme has arisen from women in all programs and various ages. Women long to learn from each other across the generations.  That is a far cry from the comments of suspicion only a couple years ago.  It's evident that connecting women intergenerationally is God's call for us this next year.   
 
In two weeks, our WM team will be hosting "Brunch and Beginnings," a kick-off event for all women of the congregation. At the brunch we will provide information about the ministries that we will be starting in the Fall and about the theme of the year, Celebrating Sisterhood: Because we are all sisters in Christ.  It is our prayer that God will use the event, and the focus of year, to draw us together in sisterhood so more women, men, and children will know Jesus.
 
The second way we used AI was to help the official Presbyterian Women's program face tough change.  After many years of struggling to find leadership for their Coordinating Team, the women bravely faced the question: "Does PW need to end or change?"  Instead of immediately moving to 'cease and desist' a task force used AI to help all the women involved in PW be a part of the dreaming and formation process.  The task force decided on an AI plan together and then each visited one of the PW Circles to take them through the process.  Task force members asked the women to identify how God worked in PW in the past, their concerns about the present situation, and their dreams about the future.   The task force also let each group know what would happen with the information gathered and the timeline laid out.  
 
From these questions, distinct themes emerged that helped the task force to create a way for PW to change.  In our particular case, the Circles will continue as small groups in charge of their own money and projects while the CT board is dissolved.   There are still questions to resolve about how all of this will work, but there is also great potential for God to use the new format of Circles to connect with other women's programs in the congregation. The pairing of our theme for this year and the transformation of PW is no accident - God is at work!
 
The road to change in PW has been rough at times and I suspect it will be for a while.  As we learned about the AI process through its successes and our mistakes, here are some lessons we have learned so far:

1. Relationships come first.  AI has been an extremely helpful tool for us, but it's just that, a tool.  Relationships should always come before process.  Remember not to get tied to process, timelines, or even programs, but always look to the person. We are engaged in the task of change and discernment because God loves women and wants to draw us into relationship with Jesus and each other.


2. Do ministry, including all the steps of the AI process, in teams. 


3. Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! There were times when I thought I said the same thing a dozen times. I probably did, but not always to the same group of people. Just because you have heard it a dozen times and understand it is no guarantee everyone else has heard it enough or understands it. Err on the side of over-communication. One way I learned this lesson was through a large group gathering for all the PW women that we had after the AI process was over. The gathering was the idea of our task force leader.  I secretly thought that the gathering was unnecessary since the ladies had all been through the process in their groups.  But at the gathering, they were able to hear all together about the changes, and ask questions.  More questions and concerns came out at this meeting than in any of the others because the women were able to hear each other.  We were able to address many of the questions and one woman me told that she felt more hopeful leaving the meeting than she had in years. 


4. Be ready for surprises! Enough said.   


5. Follow through and check in. The dreaming process can be exciting.  Following through on the ideas is less exciting and more difficult, but it's where real ministry happens.  Make sure to check in frequently with individual women and groups that have been affected by change.  Assuming that change is done and failing to continue connections will leave women feeling like they were a problem that was solved and is now disregarded.


6. Trust God's good timing.  The AI process, nor any one person or team, is the magic bullet for beginning to bring our women's ministry together.  The pastor before me, as well as various women, tried to help PW dream about change and bring our factions of programs together.  They did so with great skill and faithfulness, but it simply wasn't the time.  If you are struggling to help your women's ministry change for God's good, and it doesn't seem to be happening, don't be discouraged.  Instead, turn to God in prayer and trust his timing.  There are still many ways we need to grow as women's ministry and as a congregation, and when change isn't forthcoming, I remember that God will be faithful to do good work in his time.  I can be at peace.  


7. Remember that this is a continuing journey.