The Presbyterial Women’s Ministry Board
GILLIAN BRICKEY WM President
your presbytery’s women’s ministry?” I re- ceived answers like: “We offer regular opportunities to fel- lowship with others in our presbytery.” “The love the women have for each other.” “Making friends from other churches. Seeing the other churches.” Our presbyterial women’s ministry
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boards, when strong, help us get to know the women of our presbyteries. The boards also provide fellowship and strength among regional churches, and they can help strengthen and equip individual women for our work as called through scripture. Our presbyterial women’s ministry
boards are the connection between the local churches and our ARP Women’s Ministry board. We use the word “presbyterial” as an adjective describing the board that cor- responds to the region of each presbytery. In the last issue I explained the function
of the ARP Women’s Ministry board on a denominational level, and each presbyte- rial WM board president or representative has a position on the full board of the AR- PWM. Presbyterial boards feed into the pool of women serving on our denomination’s boards and committees.
In addition to helping us know wom- en for various roles of the denomination, our boards have the potential to strengthen the connection between churches of our denomination by bringing regional church- es together. Presbyterial boards are welcome to func- tion as they choose, but using Catawba’s WM board as just one example, in addition to gathering church histories and providing
recently sent a survey to our presbyte- rial women’s ministry presidents. When asked, “What do you appreciate about
a conduit for women to invest in presbyterial and denominational interests, they also host two fellowship and equipping events per year and a retreat every other year. In the spring, they host their “Meet and Greet,” an opportunity for the women of their presbyteries to social- ize and enjoy spiritual encouragement. In the fall, they have an annual meeting now called is only one part business to three parts social, spiritual, and practical ministry equipping. Through these events, women get to know each other, making these kinds of events the place where collaboration among churches often begins. The Catawba WM board president also presents a report at the annual Catawba presbytery meeting, keeping the presbytery informed of the board’s efforts. Ideally, the presbyterial WM boards also enhance the local churches’ efforts to equip women to teach and serve as called by scripture. Every event is an opportunity to hear from speakers and receive resources to strengthen their walk with God. - tion and, thereby, participation need improvement. The Catawba WM Board has, like the ARPWM, started using a Google Drive account to centralize and digitize documents and host an email contact list to communicate directly with the women of their presbytery. They also added a social media position to their board and started Instagram and Facebook accounts. Each presbytery has its own personality and events, but not every presbytery participates
- lowship among churches. LASTLY, I want to remind everyone of an opportunity to help fund the ARP Women’s Ministry while honoring special folks among our denomination. ARPWM “The giving of Love Gifts, Memorials, Life Memberships, and Partner in Minis- two reasons. They provide a way to honor special people who have contributed sig- or local women’s ministries; and they are Women’s Ministry Commitments. • A Love Gift shows the love and appreciation to an individual and may be given more
• A Life Membership honors an ARPWM member who has contributed in an outstanding way to the work of the church at the local, presbytery or ARPWM level. A Life
• A Partner in Ministry honor recognizes any person (male or female) who has contributed in a significant way to the work of Women’s Ministries at the local,
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icks@hotmail.com. Always feel free to reach out to us at ARP Women’s Ministry’s cen- tral email:
arpwomensministry@gmail.com.
Knowing, loving, serving, Jesus ARPWM May/June 2026 19
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