“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
to him be the glory now and forever.” – 2 Peter 3:18
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to travel up to McKinney, Texas to gather with 130+
women from across Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana for the R.O.S.E.S. event.
R.O.S.E.S. stands for Regions Of the Sun Equipping and Serving and this weekend was packed with
opportunities to learn and to serve.
The weekend began on Friday evening with a warm welcome party hosted by the North Texas
area women followed by dinner. The evening’s worship and keynote was delivered by Rev. Dr. Debra
Reid, Interim Director for Disciples Women. Dr. Reid reminded us that God is love and we are made
in His image, so therefore, we must be love. She challenged us to be love both coming and going in all
that we do and in all that we say. We shared in communion with each other before closing the evening
by celebrating the 150th birthday of Disciples Women, complete with cake and ice cream and special
music provided by Vicki Gatling, a Disciples singer and songwriter.
Saturday began with worship including a wonderful devotion led by Christy Dreschel,
Executive Minister of the Christian Church of the Southwest followed by Bible study led by Rev.
Marilyn Fiddmont, Vice President of Christian Church Foundation, who reminded us once again that
Jesus is love. Following worship, we gathered to share lunch before we attended various breakout
sessions. There were five phenomenal women leading the breakout session, unfortunately, there was
only time to attend two of them but I’m going to save those golden nuggets for a future sermon! We
closed out Saturday afternoon by worshipping together with a fantastic message from Rev. Alice
Hupp, Minister of Park Place Christian Church in Wichita Falls. Rev. Hupp beautifully illustrated the
many things that we each struggle with and juggle daily and how we can choose our path. I was so
honored to be asked to serve at the communion table during the closing worship service. It was the
first time to share an invitation and the words of institution since graduating from seminary and I must admit that it was an emotional moment for me indeed.
I share these tidbits as a thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to be away for a few days to share space with other women who are doing amazing ministry in their corners of the world. Stay tuned for ways in which we will be working similar opportunities into our acts of service here at Central Christian Church!
Blessings to you coming and going,
Pastor Heidi