Women from across New Mexico gathered recently at Sandia Baptist Church in Albuquerque for the first women’s leadership training event.
Sixty-four ministry leaders, pastors’ wives and children’s leaders heard from Gayla Parker, a Lifeway women’s trainer, executive director of Pregnancy Resource Center for Southwest Arkansas and an adjunct professor at Ouachita Baptist University. Parker also served with the International Mission Board in the Philippines and as executive director of Woman’s Missionary Union in Maryland/Delaware, and she is a pastor’s wife.
‘Active compassion’
During the opening session Parker shared how to minister to those outside a person’s own generation, challenging the group to develop compassion and seek ways to build connections. She also challenged the women to seek ways to show “active compassion” for others, using examples from women of the Bible such as Ruth.
The next day’s plenary session focused on creating a Bible study from scratch and principles for choosing the best study.
During a “Prayer Walk Around the World” the women visited stations throughout the room, each representing a country or region. They spent time in personal reflection and prayed specifically for New Mexico missionaries who serve in those countries. Some said the activity personally encouraged them and was a tool they want to integrate into their own women’s events.
Other teaching sessions focused on creating vision and goals for ministry, helping women in crisis, managing personalities and personal time in the Bible.
The training during the Feb. 26–27 event ended with a panel discussion featuring Parker, Melissa Lamb (Baptist Convention of New Mexico‘s WMU executive director) and Kristy Wallace (Summit Kids curriculum director, Summit Church Durham, North Carolina). The audience submitted questions, and the panel addressed issues like handling conflict in ministry, fostering authentic discipleship relationships, and balancing ministry and family responsibilities.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Katy Parker and originally published by the Baptist New Mexican.
