Motivation Monday - Stand Up So We Can See You
“This call to stand up, speak out and step out is for all of you. You do not need a visible platform. You do not need a microphone or a trendy social media presence. You just need to understand your call, invest in it, develop your birthright gifts, and raise up those who are beside you and all around you.”
What’s happening with women in the church in Canada? If you are reading this, the question becomes more personal. What is happening with you?
Last week I experienced a watershed moment.
In partnership with EFC, the Canadian Christian Women’s Collaborative Network was announced. This is important because without credible research and collaborative synergy to evoke wide response, the question of what is happening with women will remain unanswered.
For a number of years, I have been knocking on doors everywhere and talking to ministry and church leaders to see who would help launch a research project. We have real information in real time to track the joys and challenges women face, in order to create pathways to women flourishing. We also want to explore obstacles facing women who want to fully participate in kingdom work, so that we can work together to remove them.
The world - and the church - has changed since I started my own personal commitment to connecting, equipping and mobilizing women of Canada to influence their world for Jesus Christ. The term “evangelical” is not always a welcome word in our current culture. It brings a history of spiritual elitism, hero worship and a low view of minority groups, including women.
Perhaps you have felt caught up in some of the negative aspects of being part of an evangelical movement. Perhaps you have experienced the diminishing of your presence, or bumping up against glass ceilings, or just being overlooked as a female in the church.
But I argue that there are a few good men that are holding crucial space in our nation to truly live out the evangelical mandate to be proclaimers of the gospel.
There are those in the evangelical movement that are the bridge between what was and what will be. We need their steady hand right now. I congratulate David Guretzki, who will be stepping into the role of EFC President, and am grateful for Bruce Clemenger’s leadership the past few decades. I also applaud Michael Pawelke he takes Briercrest Seminary, my alma mater, into an innovative future.
I am grateful for the EFC’s Ilana Reimer, Lindsay Calloway and Joel Gordon for investment on this journey, and the brilliant leadership of Ellen Duffield, and the voices and input of so many brilliant women.
But we need more of you.
Women, it’s time to own what you carry.
There are those championing you
and holding space for you
whether you see us or not.
Stand so we can see you.
Speak so we can hear you.
Step out so we can follow you.
Gather Women desires to be a catalyst in creating collaborative networks. We want to see women fully living as image-bearers of God. We want to see women given the opportunity to evangels of the gospel in a world that needs the message God has placed in our hearts and on our lips.
You can be a evangel, a proclaimer of good news starting with your people. Your family, your friends, your neighbours, your church communities, your workplace.
You can be an evangel, a proclaimer of good news anywhere you lead and have impact in your sphere of influence.
This call to stand up, speak out and step out is for all of you. You do not need a visible platform. You do not need a microphone or a trendy social media presence. You just need to understand your call, invest in it, develop your birthright gifts, and raise up those who are beside you and all around you.
Here is our invitation to those of you who are struggling with lack confidence, with lack of community, and with lack of clarity as to how to rise to your call. If you are struggling to find like-minded women from whom you can give and receive mutual encouragement for increased leadership impact, we have an invitation for you.
Connect with us anytime and join our growing online network of women from coast to coast. Join GATHER WOMEN’S networking community HERE!
Follow us on social:
Facebook: @gatherwomencanada
Instagram: @gatherwomen
But here is what we would love most. We want to meet you – live and in person. What better place then central Canada to join us for a conversation at the Gather Table.
Here are two opportunities
*THIS WEEKEND! November 4 and 5 – the Gather Team will be in Calgary and would love to meet you! We are inviting you to come and find your seat at the Gather Table. Join us Saturday, November 5 anytime from 1pm-3pm in Calgary for coffee and conversation. This is your genesis invitation to dream about the new possibilities that await the female church in Canada. Let us know if you can join us by emailing us at karli@gatherwomen.com simply reply to this email! And we will send you the location.
**Gather Rise GENESIS February 4 in Calgary – we want you there! Plan ahead and travel to be with us as you will not want to miss this unique, and special gathering of women from across Canada. https://www.gatherwomen.com/gather-rise-2023
Email us if you’d like to be put on a waitlist for when registration launches!
We can’t wait to meet you. Stand up so we can see you. Speak up so we can hear you. And step out – and come closer – so we can follow you, encourage you, invest in you – and be on the journey with you.
I believe in you.
Cathie