FireFall Vol. 5: A Prayer for Reinvigoration
Wesleyan Women + Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, Encouragement for Weary Preachers, Marg Mowczko, Podcast on Trauma-Informed Pastoral Care
Welcome to this week’s round-up of resources by, for, and about women in church leadership, ministry, and the academy –
In their waking and sleeping, God, reinvigorate my sisters. Some are leading; some are in seasons outside the pulpit; some wonder if there’s a place for them. Renew possibility, and energy, and community, and allow them to see their work, their preparation, their efforts are not wasted. Thank You for their ministry, in whatever shape or form, and open up new pathways for them. Amen.
Wesleyan Women Everyone Should Know: Anointing, Leadership, and Dr. Jo Anne Lyon
This short video highlights “Wesleyan Women Everyone Should Know,” featuring Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, General Superintendent Emerita and Ambassador of The Wesleyan Church. It’s a brief conversation but what a great excursion into the influence of several prominent, anointed women who shaped the lives of thousands in North America and England over 150 years ago.
Dr. Lyon made news as the first woman elected as a General Superintendent of The Wesleyan Church; prior to that, she founded World Hope International, an extremely effective global humanitarian organization.
A tireless leader, compelling speaker, and savvy advocate, Dr. Lyon was awarded the World Methodist Peace Award in 2016. She has deep experience with Wesleyan Methodist and Wesleyan holiness denominations in the United States and around the world, combined with deep experience in ecumenical and faith-based partnerships. She’s traveled around the world and has served on boards like Bread for the World, the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, on President Obama’s Council on Faith and Neighborhood Partnerships, on the Council on Faith with the World Economic Forum, and participating in multi-faith dialogues like the Abrahamic Dialogue with Religious Leaders of Iran. She blends prayer with action and action with prayer, merging realism and optimism in active, anointed faith. She has mentored countless women directly and indirectly.
You can also listen to her here on leading well in times of crisis or watch here for her insights on justice and the church.
Encouragement for Weary Preachers
Dr. Ahmi Lee shares practical wisdom for tired preachers in this article from Catalyst. Dr. Lee is a speaker, consultant, and former preaching professor at Fuller Theological Seminary. You can read it in its entirety here, but here are a few excerpts:
“When you are weary and mired in doubt, what can you do to refuel your sense of calling and to recover the heart to preach?
Celebrate small, subtle changes in your own and others’ lives and treasure those unglamorous stories of equilibrium and victory.
I’ve found that’s not easy; like me, you might worry that whatever hope you can scrape together is insufficient to sustain you in the bleak place in which you find yourself at the moment. But if you make even a little space to hope—and even believe—that the faithful almighty God is with you, you might be surprised by how he multiplies your scant hope to nourish and preserve you, and even many others through you.
When we go to Jesus, we are released from real or self-imposed religious and social oppressions, whether they are towering demands about who we need to be, worries about not doing enough to be accepted, or the fundamental struggle to keep up in life. We can experience true rest when we turn to Jesus and fix our eyes and hearts on him alone who satisfies and perfects us.
Preach the good news of Jesus Christ to your own soul. Hard as it may seem to believe this right now, remind yourself that God uses your preaching to bring life to others.
Recall the marvelous things God has done in your life. Immerse yourself in the community of Christ-followers whose love and obedience to God can carry you until you once again feel inspired and invigorated.”
Speaking of Preaching: Shirts, Stickers
This She Preaches Gospel shirt is available over at Seedbed and it’s fantastic:
Magdalene Clergy Dresses also has something for any gents wandering around the parsonage: these vinyl dishwasher-safe stickers.
Listen: Vanessa Sadler on Trauma-Informed Pastoral Care
Over at the C4SO Podcast, Vanessa Sadler shares timely insights for any and all pastors on trauma-informed pastoral care and ways the church can engage with those who’ve experienced trauma.
From the show notes: “Vanessa Sadler is a trauma-informed practitioner who approaches client sessions with the understanding that our styles of relating with God, ourselves and others were not formed in a vacuum. She believes our formative years and stories shape who we are today and are worth exploring with curiosity and kindness. In this episode, Vanessa unpacks a definition of trauma, what trauma-informed care is, and how the Church can contribute as a place of healing for those who have experienced trauma.”
This is a tender but straightforward listen, with practical takeaways for pastors and church leaders.
Beyond English: Marg Mowczko’s Resources on Women in Church Leadership in Urdu, Portuguese, and Spanish
Australian Marg Mowczko’s website is a deep archive of resources on women in pastoral ministry and egalitarian theology (check out her 2020 piece on Atto of Vercelli and female priests in the early church!). It’s an engaging place to spend time browsing, but what I particularly appreciate? Some of these resources have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, and Urdu (with a few in Sindhi on the Urdu page). What a gift.
These translations are a great asset for people around the world and where I am in North America as well.
Tap Into Your Inner Hermione: Monastic Matrix from St. Andrews, and I Answer the Question You’re about to Ask Me About the Time I saw Prince William in St. Andrews
If you’re currently studying as an undergrad or are in seminary or you’re swathed in tweed and have a brown satchel and chalk dust on your pants from teaching in the academy (I know, no one wears tweed anymore, no one uses chalkboards anymore, but I’ll never not think of tweed and chalk and 1930s Oxford when I think “professor”) –
anyway, here’s something fun. Or “fun,” depending on your temperament.
Monastic Matrix! – From St. Andrews over in Scotland, here’s “a scholarly resource for the study of women's religious communities from 400 to 1600 CE.” There are several great archival categories to browse.
Did you just ask if it was in St. Andrews that I once saw Prince William in a pub and my college group sat about fifteen feet away for at least an hour and he had body guards and was trying desperately to get the attention of the brunette seated next to him and no I don’t know if it was Kate but I think it might’ve been?
Yes, yes it was St. Andrews, you remembered correctly, funny you should bring that up. He wore the most exquisitely tailored button-up I’ve seen to date. It probably cost more than my first car was worth, but it made me understand how clothes are meant to fit.
No, we didn’t go say hi, there were two burly men sitting at the next table to him, and this was just five or six years after Princess Diana passed away and we gawked but gave him space. Also we’d been camping on Scottish hillsides for a couple days; and one becomes aware one’s wearing a fleece that probably needs Febreze’d. We did take a group picture outside of the pub. Yes, my Scottish Nazarene pastor friend was not at all impressed we saw English royalty in Scotland, yes, he was irritable about the whole subject and understandably so. And yes, it’s one thing to love castles, one thing even to respect some things about the late Queen, but sometimes quite another when it comes to questions of monarchy, and empire, and democracy, and church + state.
But I was in college, and grinned for hours.
Have you ever bumped into a celebrity? What was your response?