July 21, 2006
Volume 1, Number 25
Here is the
weekly update you requested, featuring a message from the national Women's
Ministries Department.
Affinity Women's Ministries at Northside Assembly
of God in Tampa, Florida, are women in relationship—kindred spirits who come
together with a common purpose and vision—to see women restored, whole, healed
and walking in their destiny.
Pastor Deanna Shrodes, coordinator, says,
"Women are attracted to Northside Affinity Women's Ministries because it is made
of real women who are in real relationship with Jesus Christ
and with one another!"
The mission of Northside Women's Ministries
is to reach the women of North Tampa and the surrounding area and see them
become fully devoted followers of Christ.
The vision of
Northside Women's Ministries is twofold. First, they work to see the women from
all walks of life and backgrounds restored to their original God-given purpose
and serving in God's kingdom. Second, they offer discipleship through practical
teaching, equipping, training and mentoring women in godly principles according
to Titus 2:4, so they might be the godly woman, wife, mother and minister God
has called them to be.
As soon as a woman accepts Christ through Women's
Ministries, she is encouraged to go through the discipleship process of the
church and to attend the Sunday morning Real Life women's class taught by Pastor
Deanna. Women are instructed in that class about spiritual gifts and the
importance of finding a place of service in the church.
"Our Women's
Ministries is literally a ministry for women ages 18-100. We don't have any
100-year-olds yet, but we're working on it! We have the involvement of all age
groups of women," Pastor Deanna states.
"One of the things we believe is
that we must make our Women's Ministries attractive to younger women and show
them how they have an important role now. They are not ‘our future'—but an
important part of our present." Pastor Deanna created "The Titus Project" for
young women ages 18-25. The women are personally mentored through a meeting once
a month, then one on one as time allows.
"We intentionally structure the
overall ministry to reach all ages. When we have outreaches, we have college-age
women as well as women in the senior-saint age group leading from the platform.
We can't just say we are multi-generational, but the women must see that we
really mean it!" Pastor Deanna explains.
In addition to being
multigenerational, Women's Ministries at Northside is also completely
multicultural. Approximately 21 nations are represented as a part of the church.
Women from all nations, backgrounds and life situations are welcomed and
included.
The Eagles leadership team is made of women who serve with
Pastor Deanna in leading the ministry. The team meets on a regular basis to
coordinate special event planning and lead various aspects of the ministry. The
Eagles leadership team includes Lisa Currie, Sue Flint, Cathy Garland,
Aida Rivera, and Pastor Lindsay Barta.
Northside's Women's Ministries offers a number of Affinity groups
within the ministry and other women of the church serve in leading these groups.
These groups include: Aprile's Hope, support group for victims of domestic
abuse; Precious Stones, support group and Bible study for single moms; Hand to
Hand Combat, intercessory prayer group; Scrapbooking, preserving memories
forever; Silent No More, an abortion recovery support group; The Titus Project,
mentoring group for young ladies ages 18-25; and the Affinity Book Club, a
reading group.
"Although we have a women's event most every month, we
have two main evangelistic outreaches each year: our Princess Luncheon in June
and our Christmas Extravaganza in December, which is a Victorian tea," Pastor
Deanna explains. Both events are held at the church.
The Eagles
leadership team personally strives to get each and every woman involved. For the
two large yearly evangelistic outreaches, they enlist the help of every woman in
the church, who are all needed to accomplish such a large event. Each woman is
asked personally (they are all contacted by phone or approached in person) to be
a part of the outreach and serve in some way. Newcomers are asked to help with
smaller tasks at first to introduce them to the ministry. As they begin to
realize other opportunities, they usually request to have greater
involvement.
Women's Ministries at Northside sponsors large outreaches
and accomplishes a great deal, including being completely self-funded. "We are
not subsidized in any way. Many people from other churches have assumed our
church must be giving loads of money to do all we do, but we don't receive a
cent from anywhere except what our women bring in," Pastor Deanna says. "We have
had outreaches where we give away many thousands of dollars worth of gifts to
the women in attendance. All of this has come from donations from our church's
women and local businesses in the community. A team of women work all year long
to go out into the community and get sponsors for the outreaches."
For
more information on the Princess Luncheon, Christmas Extravaganza, Affinity
ministry groups, or another aspect of Women's Ministries at Northside Assembly
in Tampa, contact Deanna Shrodes at (813) 961-0910 or e-mail:
PastorDeanna@aol.com.
End of article ~ for more info go to
www.ag.org
From Pastor
Deanna's
heart to
yours...
Are you living large?
Romans 1:11 says, “I long to see you so that
I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong, that is, that you
and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”
This is God’s will for the believer, that we
would come together with others in relationship and strengthen and mutually
encourage one another. Relationships are all based on common problems or
solutions. Be sure you know the difference.
For some people, it is simply problems that
bring them together. Colette Downing once said, “Relationships are like a
dance, with visible energy racing back and forth between partners. Some
relationships are the slow, dark dance of death.” Relationships that bring
death are those steeped in nothing but problems that are the only glue holding
the relationship together. This can happen with two individuals or with groups.
You see it in a man and woman who are both alcoholics and strike up a romance.
What you have is simply two broken down people leaning on each other. They are
not made stronger by one another, you just have two people with a problem. You
see this with a group of parents who bind together in relationship upset about
something with a school. What drew these people together was simply a problem
and aside from it, they may have nothing in common. You see it in two women
friends who come together in a relationship where they do nothing but talk
negatively about their husbands and commiserate about how hard they have it. You
see it many times in the church with people who leave, unhappy over
something and pretty soon you
hear they are hanging out with another couple who has also left the church. The
funny thing is, these two couples never socialized while in the church – but
they do now. Why? A common “problem” has drawn them together, and this is the
basis for the relationship. Such relationships usually don’t last forever and
one thing is for sure – they are not beneficial for anyone involved.
Relationships like these are the dance of death
because they are based on problems and not solutions. My husband often says such
people lead “small lives.” Psalm 18:19 indicates that the Lord desires to bring
us into a large place. He desires to bless you – to grow you – to move you
forward, because the scripture says, he delights in you. The right kind of
friend spurs you on to do that.
Friends who are solution-based help you to go
forward, not backwards. Friends who are solution based live large in that they
talk about how to fix things rather than talking about what’s broken. Friends
who are solution-based are not only happy that you are moving forward, but they
encourage you to get to that next level. Friends who are solution-based don’t
hold you back, they hold you up – in prayer, in encouragement, in speech, in
everything they do. Relationships that are solution-based are brimming with
creative ideas, excitement about today and hope for the future.
It has been said that great people talk about
ideas. Average people talk about things. Small people talk about others.
Are you living large or small?
Hugs,
Pastor Deanna
* see Pastor Deanna's itinerary by clicking here.
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