Image from official True Sisterhood website."True sisterhood began with "four fearless yet fragile women tackling the issues of life and relationship from a distinctively Christian perspective. Hosted by Constance Rhodes w/ Margot Starbuck, Sharon Hersh, and Paige Armstrong." says the official web page for True sisterhood.
Over this summer a group of Jamestown women began getting to know a little about this group of ladies and if all things work out well, our stated small but not so small group of over forty women interested in growing in faith, confidence and purpose might become and official chapter /partner with this greater organization of "True sisterhood and Finding balance." We hope to find out in the next month or so if an official partnership with this "big sister" organization will be possible.
Years ago, I was incredibly influenced by the author Madeline L'Engle and never wrote to tell her. Madeline passed away in 2007, and when she was gone I realized what an opportunity I'd missed in trying to correspond with her. After that, and with the accessibility of email and social networking sources; I've since tried to let painters, musicians and writers know when something they've given had connected with me. For the most part, this has been an enriching experience and in a few cases has led to meeting and organizing a public event for a few favorite authors. About a year ago, I came across Margot Starbuck's book, "The girl in the orange dress" and was so encouraged by it that I decided to send an email to the author.
Margot was incredibly gracious when I emailed her and generously sent me a copy of her then newly released copy of "Unsqueezed". One thing led to another after reading Margot's second book. This summer I worked with volunteers from my church to host a summer women's book club with this text as a springboard for our meetings. It turned out to be a great group of 41 women and I'm hoping to keep stirring up the energy started in the group by hosting a women's day retreat the weekend of October 14.
It's through the partnership with Margot and her involvement with "True Sisterhood" that our group is getting their feet on the ground. Along with Margot, there are some other wonderful ladies that have been supportive and helping to build the structure of this fellowship. Rebecca Hart, a pastor from Columbus Ohio and teacher for the Princeton Theological Seminary's Youth Ministry Forums is working to develop this retreat to be held on October. Enuma Okoro, speaker - writer - and my mentor through the Princeton Program is assisting with development of the overall ministry plan and Lynn Farrow has been helping me to develop projects to help women participating in the workshops to express themselves through creative means.
With all this support, planning and a home team ready and willing to help - we are planning a Friday night and Saturday morning retreat on October 14 and 15, 2011. If you would like to attend this event, please let me know in the comments. The general description of the event can be found below.
Isn't it amazing how God works when we function as the sisters and brothers we've been created to be?
"Join us for a Friday night and Saturday morning day retreat to recharge your batteries, enjoy the fellowship of others, work on creative projects, laugh and learn with Becky Hart - pastor and presenter for Princeton's Youth Ministry Forums and Tara Eastman Director of youth and family ministry @ First Lutheran Church of Jamestown. (Cost is $25.00 - includes Friday night snacks, craft and art supplies, two sessions with Becky/Tara and Saturday morning continental breakfast and closing session. Friday 6-10pm and Saturday 9-noon. This is not a sleep-over retreat, accommodations will have to be arranged for out of town travelers."
To RSVP on the Facebook event page go to this link: True Sisterhood Retreat.
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