Shared Learning Experiences
Women need opportunities to learn and engage in continuing education experiences that are created by women to meet the unique needs of women.
Baptist Women in Ministry seeks to facilitate shared learning experiences to meet these needs.
Currently these opportunities take the form of Book Clubs and Lunch and Learn sessions. In the coming months, we are working to create more opportunities for women to grow their leadership, ministry skills, and theological perspectives in community with one another.
Book Clubs
Every spring and summer, BWIM hosts book clubs featuring different books written by women authors and engaging subjects related to women in ministry, leadership, and theology.
Book clubs normally meet once a week for 3-4 weeks, and often include a session with the author! Book clubs are also open to men who are supporters of women in ministry to learn more.
Fall 2024 Book Club
Sacred Self Care
Chanequa Walker-Barnes
Meets on Zoom Every Tuesday in October starting October 8th
6:00 PM Eastern / 5:00 PM Central
Taking care of ourselves is essential, and lately, we’ve started to pay more attention to the ways our physical bodies need and deserve nourishment. But we are not just bodies, we sacred beings, and our souls need just as much care and attention to be healthy.
As a clinical psychologist, pastor, and activist, Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes has studied and worked with clients, clergy, seminary faculty, faith-based activists, and others to encourage them to think of self-care as both a divine right and a sacred obligation. She has developed a seven-week guide gathering activities, habits, disciplines, and practices that promote spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, and relational wholeness.
Each day includes a story alongside short and simple prompts and scripture passages that help us shift behaviors in the short term and create lifelong habits. Each week walks readers through the following areas:
- Mastering the Self-Care Fundamentals
- Practicing Self-Compassion
- Setting Healthy Boundaries
- Caring for Our Emotional Selves
- Caring for Our Minds
- Practicing Self-Care as a Way of Life
Also included is an inventory for identifying areas you may need to focus on, and a “Rule of Life” guide to help you direct your self-care practice and maintain it throughout the year. Inspiring and practical, ruminative and actionable, Sacred Self-Care invites us on a journey to craft a sustainable self-care practice to care for our whole selves.
Registration Closes September 24th!
Books we have previously discussed include:
Nice Churchy Patriarchy: Reclaiming Women’s Humanity from Evangelicalism (Apocryphile Press, 2023).
When God Whispered My Name: Stories of Journey by Baptist Women Called to Ministry (Smyth & Hewys, 2022).
Aurelia Pratt, A Brown Girl’s Epiphany: Reclaim Your Intuition and Step Into Your Power (Broadleaf Books, 2022).
Candace Marie Benbow, Red Lip Theology: For Church Girls Who’ve Considered Tithing to the Beauty Supply Store When Sunday Morning Isn’t Enough (Convergent Books, 2022).
Yolanda Pierce, In My Grandmother’s House: Black Women, Faith and the Stories We Inherit (Broadleaf Books, 2021).
Joanne Lipman, That’s What She Said: What Men Need to Know (and Women Need to Tell Them) About Working Together (William Morrow, 2018).
Lunch & Learn Sessions
Each year BWIM offers 2-4 Lunch and Learn sessions for current and former participants of our mentoring program.
These sessions feature guest speakers who share about resources, ministry tools, or experiences of value to women in ministry and leadership. Topics have included financial literacy, using the enneagram in ministry, and self-care.
December 2024 Lunch and Learn
Tuesday, December 3rd at 12 pm EST
‘Tis the Season…for Grief: Holding Space for Grief and Loss During the Holidays
How do you navigate the season of joyful songs, colorful lights, and festive gatherings when you are grieving? How do you minister to those who have suffered loss while tending to your own grief? During this workshop, attendees will not only learn about spiritual practices that can create sacred space for coping with grief and loss during the holidays – we’ll also practice them together. Please have pens, pencils, colored pencils or markers and paper on hand for this workshop experience.
Facilitator: Rev. Tambi Swiney
January 2025 Lunch and Learn
January 7th at 11AM CT/ 12 PM EST
Are you gearing up for a ministerial job search? Discernment is an important first step in the job search process to help you approach it with clarity and confidence. This January, BWIM invites Rev. Dr. Nancy Penton to guide us through the essential questions of discernment as you consider where you are being called to next vocationally:
- Where are the places in your life when you stood at a crossroads and wondered which way to go?
- What questions can we learn to ask ourselves before making significant decisions?
- What is the art of discernment, and can it be developed?
October 2024 Lunch and Learn
Training Leaders with
Rev. Dr. Gabby Cudjoe Wilkes
It is so critical to ensure that we take the time to train those who work with us.
What does the heart of leadership feel like within your congregation?
What ways of knowing are synonymous with your leadership style? As a woman in ministry and leadership, what does authority look and sound like among those your serve?
Join us for a workshop on training leaders as we explore the importance of internionality and infrastructure within your teams.
Thursday, October 3rd
12pm EST / 11AM CST
September 2024 Lunch and Learn
📅 Tuesday, September 3, 2024 12 pm EST
👩🏿💻Presenter: Rev. LaThelma Yenn-Batah, Executive Director of American Baptist Women’s Ministries
Design Thinking and Innovation for Ministry Growth
Are you ready to transform your ministry with fresh ideas and innovative approaches? Join Baptist Women in Ministry for an engaging workshop on Design Thinking and Innovation, specifically tailored for women leaders dedicated to strengthening and growing their ministries. In this interactive session, we will explore the principles of design thinking—a human-centered approach to problem-solving that fosters creativity and collaboration.