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2009-11-03 issue:

Sister-care event offers 'sowing' circle

Over 175 women gather to explore gifts, discuss healthy boundaries.

by Heidi Martin

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A "sowing" circle of 178 women from 54 churches gathered Oct. 2-3 for the Sister-Care seminar in Middletown, Pa. Sponsored by Mennonite Women USA, Sister-Care invited women from the Atlantic Coast and Lancaster (Pa.) Mennonite conferences to explore their gifts in ministering to women in the church while maintaining healthy boundaries.


Three unidentified women participate in the Oct. 2-3 Sister-Care seminar in Middletown, Pa. Photo by Heidi Martin.

Kathy Wenger, member of James Street Mennonite Church, Lancaster, Pa., and Donna Mast, member of Forest Hills Mennonite Church, Leola, Pa., played large roles in coordinating the weekend event with facilitator Rhoda Keener.

"God has gifted women with the desire to nurture each other," said Mast. "[That is] something that often happens naturally whenever women gather together.

"Yet there are times when the level of caring needed is beyond our abilities or knowledge. Sister-Care offers some foundational information and basic skills on how we can best meet the needs of another person yet also how to know when we can't."

Several years ago, Keener, executive director of Mennonite Women USA, saw the need for women to gather and care for one another within church circles. She met with a group of women in the Franklin Mennonite Conference for a year of discussion and discernment. The result of their meetings is the Sister-Care seminar and manual. Keener launched the seminar in Virginia in February 2008.

The Oct. 2 evening session highlighted the "C" in care, which stands for “Called to care.” The rest of the sessions continued defining the acronym:  (A) attending and self-care, (R) resource sharing and (E) encouraging.

Women were drawn to the event for a variety of reasons. Annabelle Buss, Emmaus, Pa., and Ramona Martin, Reamstown, Pa., intend to use the information to better care for family and friends.

"I heard of this through the church," said Buss. "This is what I do. I'm a widow and a caregiver. I come from a large family that takes care of each other, and I like to be there for friends and neighbors."

"I expect to meet a lot of different people and hear about other people's experiences,” said Martin just before the first session. "We need to know how to meet each person where they are at."

Martin's expectations were fulfilled on Oct. 3, when Pam Witwer shared her personal experience with bipolar disorder. Describing her journey from childhood to adulthood moved many women to tears. Her testimony concluded with hope as she described the enduring care of her sisters at Neffsville Mennonite Church, Lancaster, Pa.

Another reason women attended the event was to receive practical resources to use within the work and church environments.

Ramona Santiago, Lancaster, Pa., is a social worker in the Lancaster (Pa.) city schools, where need is devastatingly high.

"I want to learn what else I can do to help my sisters and others in the community," said Santiago. "I want to take this information to my school and church and also into my neighborhood."

Jeannie Eshleman, Baltimore, Md., is on the spiritual life committee at North Baltimore Mennonite Church. This pastoral support team provides for various needs in the congregation, including spiritual, emotional and financial. "It would be ideal to be able to take back tools to relate with women-specific situations," said Eshleman.

These women received general and specific tools, one being information on Philhaven, an agency of Lancaster Mennonite Conference that provides services for people with chronic mental illness.

Philhaven addresses overall wholeness with interest in emotional, spiritual and physical needs. Representative Meryl Gibbel presented information on when to consult professional help and how to do so.

Mennonite women are moving from the sewing circles of old to new forms of the "sowing"circle—where hope and encouragement is shared in ways that are useful for the present time.