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Clyde’s Chapel embraces women’s ministry
BR staff
November 02, 2010
3 MIN READ TIME

Clyde’s Chapel embraces women’s ministry

Clyde’s Chapel embraces women’s ministry
BR staff
November 02, 2010

When Tara Johnson sensed

younger women were not involving themselves in missions at Clyde’s Chapel

Baptist Church in Wendell she found an inclusive bridge in the Embrace model.

Johnson, a local banker,

leads the church’s overall women’s ministry and is president of the younger

women’s group, leading them in “a year of change.”

She invited Ashley Allen,

director of the Baptist State Convention’s Embrace women’s ministry, to present

to women of the church, and said Allen was “awesome” as she explained the

Embrace model, even though it is “hard to accept change.”

The older women’s group

remains committed to missions as realized through Woman’s Missionary Union

(WMU) and feels comfortable staying with the traditional WMU program. Younger

women wanted to know what the difference was between Embrace and WMU and “why

is it a big deal” to either add an option or keep what they had.

“I tried to say to them

Embrace is not a program, it’s a model of ministry,” Johnson said. “It’s to

help churches align their women’s ministry to better serve God with areas to

focus on and also provided us an opportunity to better support our church’s

mission through the deacon-led ministry teams.”

Clyde’s Chapel younger

women’s group has adopted ministry teams for missions, evangelism, discipleship

and prayer, asking women simply to pick the area to which they feel led of God.

While Johnson appreciates

the Embrace model, “Embrace is not the only resource we use,” she said. “We’ll

use anything that will equip us to use our hands and feet for ministry.”

“We’re not WMU or Embrace, we’re just a ministry team that is

willing and able to serve,” she said. Johnson said while the two women’s groups

have adopted different approaches, they are still committed to working

together to reach outward. “This is not a competition. We’re going to

do whatever we can to reach the women of this congregation and the women

outside this congregation for the sole purpose of serving Jesus.”

Participation has more than

tripled with the renewed focus of all areas of ministry which has created a

larger impact. “Embrace has been beneficial in helping us reach goals, grow in

our personal walk and most importantly, act upon outreach opportunities.”

Johnson also added that

Ashley Allen was also a key resource during her visit in helping to identify

more definitively the role of a biblical woman. “Embrace helped me start

from ground zero,” she said.

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