"Rooted in Faith"
- The Synod of the Covenant
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 40 minutes ago
“Rooted in Faith”
Presbyterian Women in the Synod of the Covenant
@First Presbyterian Church of Battle Creek (MI)
June 27 & 28 Gathering
Synopsis
Theme: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”
Hebrews 11:1
Friday afternoon started with Lighting the Christ Candle with SoC PW Moderator Lee Lohr, welcome from Rev. Lorenzo Small, and reading the Land Acknowledgements by Battle Creek PW Moderator Karin Bilanow.
Chris Wolfe started the program with devotions by Saying the Lord’s Prayer out loud and having “God” remark about her and the phrase she had just said. Chris also wrote a Skit about Presbyterian Women and the Horizon’s magazine. The skit was who wants to be a Millionaire theme with audience participation and phone a friend! Both were very entertaining!
After dinner, next year’s Bible Study author Rhashell Hunter gave the Keynote Address on her Bible Study: Finding Resilience, Joy and Our Identity in Jesus Christ.”
The end of the night was a presentation put on by First Presbyterian Church of Battle Creek’s Presbyterian Women. They performed “Women of the Bible Fashion Show”. They women put on a wonderful and entertaining show.
Chris Wolfe started our Saturday morning out with devotions showing hand motions with the Lord’s Prayer. These had motions can be found it in a printed resource produced by "Office of Spiritual Formation." PCUSA - its a notebook probably from the 80s.
The skit was “How to Start a PW in your Church”, the skit had lots of ideas for newbies and those who are trying to get their PW re-started after Covid. And it was a typical Chris Wolfe skit with info and lots of laughs!
Susan Jackson-Dowd, PW Executive Director and Pam Synder, Churchwide PW Moderator brought us news and information from our national level of PW. They explained the PW purpose with information like our Bible Study, and Mission giving opportunities and news of changes to PW, The purpose as they explained it:
Nurture our Faith – PW Bible study. The Bible Study takes three years to prepare –
choosing a subject, finding an author, and then testing the study before it is
published. IT is also published in other languages and in other countries. Also with Circle of Prayer and World Day of Prayer (March 6, 2026)
Support Mission – Both Birthday O ering (supports “brick & Mortar”) and Thank
Offering (Health related programs and Projects)
Justice and Peace – Includes USAME and Global Exchange Mission trips, “Orange
the World” which brings attention to domestic violence, “Period Justice” which is a
program to provide supplies to young girls, and our presence at United Nations.
Inclusive Caring Community – includes “RED” Racial Equity Dialogue, group which
brings attention to racial equity in all areas of the country. “Etching in Diversity” is a
book they mentioned.
Shape the Church in PC (USA) – General Assembly Unification Commission has a
huge impact from PW., Mission Aging Board
Witness to Promise – PW National Giving Day, Annual Fund, Horizon Magazine
(starting in 2026 will be 4 issues a year with 8 additional pages, and free copy of the
Bible Study.)
They also said to watch for E-Blasts on https://www.presbyterianwomen.org which keeps you
current on PW news.
The Next Churchwide Gathering will Aug 5-8, 2027 @ Gait Hotel in Louisville, KY.
Liz Midki from WAR International, Inc (Women at Risk) spoke to us about Human Trafficking. She herself is a survivor, she talked about her experiences and told us about another who had been trafficked. She also told us how she tried to get help from police andfrom a church, but both turned her away.
WAR International was created in 2006 and now operated in 60 countries. They help
women escape trafficking and then help them learn a legal profession. These women make products that War sells to help more women and themselves. It cost $300 per month to help one woman. There was a booth set up for sales of these products and everyone was invited to explore. We raised almost $1300 in sales to help WAR.
The morning was concluded by attending one of the following workshops:
RED team lead by Deborah Harville. This was a training session to explain what RED
is and ideas on how you can help,
2025-2026 Bible Study lead by Rhashell Hunter with ideas how to get your attendees
involved in the Bible Study,
Update of Churchwide Committees, this discussion was lead by Cheri Harper, Cheri
is a staff member of Churchwide PW head of missions. She explained the changes
at Churchwide level to reduce the number of committees and what each committee
is responsible for.
Collaborating with Women of Differing Traditions led by Chris Young. Chris explained
how she has women of different religions gathering together to worship and do
mission work.
During Lunch, Marvella Lambright, talked to us about opportunities available to be on the
Churchwide PW Board of Directors for 2027-2030.
Chris Young showed us how to explore hymns and relate them to Scripture. We looked
at “Great is Thy Faithfulness:”. We also learned about “Worship Quest”. Everyone had an
opportunity to search for scriptures that related to words within the song.
We ended the Gathering with a Worship service with Holy Communion. Rev Kate
Morrison lead us in worship and we used a communion litany written by Rhashell Hunter.
After the gathering was an optional walk to view two statutes in Downtown Battle Creek-
the Underground Railroad Sculpture and the Sojourner Truth Statue.
During the Gathering, we had our Business Meeting in two parts. We went over the new
budget, introduced, voted and installed new officers. We also explained and voted on a
change to our Bylaws. We also did announcements for upcoming events:
2026 SoC PW Gathering will be in July 2026 in the Dayton OH area, the exact date
will be announced soon.
Jayne Elgin from Scioto Valley invited all of us to their Mission Interpretation Gathering Saturday, November 8, 2025 from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm at Lancaster Presbyterian Church, Lancaster Ohio. Kelsey Law, who is serving as Vice Moderator of Presbyterian Women in the PC(USA), will be leading Worship on how mission fits into Overcoming Divisions and leading a CSW Workshop. If you have any questions, please contact Jayne Elgin at jayneelgin@yahoo.com or 614.714.6029
And as with all PW Gatherings we had time to socialize and eat with our fellow PW sisters. We also had opportunities to shop – both with WAR International and with Presbyterian Women items brought from Louisville.
Money collected for Missions:
We had a silent auction where PW members donated items to auction and we also collected an offering during the final worship service. Both proceeds were given to PDA-Presbyterian Disaster Agency.