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Welcome to First Presbyterian Women in Ministry! What is Women in Ministry? We are women who want to know and follow Jesus, and we seek to encourage one another along the way. The Women in Ministry Team prays for and facilitates events and groups that are intended to foster this knowledge of Christ. All women are welcome to participate in Women in Ministry at First Presbyterian. We want you to invite your friends to our Bible studies and special events—the  more, the merrier! First Presbyterian women span the generations, are engaged in a variety of ministries in Baton Rouge and around the world, come from all walks of life, and encounter unique life challenges. However, in the midst of all these differences, we have Christ in common and experience deep unity in the Spirit. This fundamental unity amidst diversity characterizes Women in Ministry. Through Christ we are one big family with God as our Father. May God be pleased with our love for one another and our unity in the faith. Who are the leaders of Women in Ministry? The Women in Ministry Team is a small team of men and women who have committed to pray for First Presbyterian and to serve the women of our church. We seek to equip First Presbyterian women to know God more deeply, serve him more wholeheartedly, and share our love of Christ with others. We are thankful for the gift of getting to pray for you and serve you in any way we can.
Women in Ministry: Who We Are
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Our Vision, Mission and Philosophy of Ministry Our Vision: We desire God to lead women deeper in Christ and further into the world. Our Mission: We aim to participate in God’s transformational ministry of maturing his children in Christ through prayer, Bible study, fellowship, and service in our church, our community, and our world. Our Philosophy of Ministry: As a ministry arm of First Presbyterian under the authority of the Session, the Women in Ministry Team exists as a community of leaders to pray, plan, serve, and encourage the women of First to be: Joyful worshippers of God,
Disciples of Jesus Christ,
Humble servants guided and gifted by the Holy Spirit,
Faithful witnesses for the gospel, and
Peace-makers who bless Baton Rouge and the world with God’s life-giving love. Women in Ministry desires women to live like Christ—joyfully and sacrificially in the midst of a broken world—recognizing that as we actively participate in God’s kingdom ministry we will become more like him in the process. God has promised that he will transform us more and more into the image of his Son. On that glorious day when Jesus returns, we shall see him as he is, and when we see him we shall be like him! We hold out this hope to the world.  Our mission is rooted in God’s promises for all believers. God takes delight in his image-bearers, both male and female. Throughout Scripture, God invites women to know him as Father and engage in his kingdom work. The Old Testament provides us with beautiful accounts of God’s grace to women and their responses of faith. Consistent with God’s heart for his daughters expressed throughout the Old Testament, Jesus welcomed women among his followers and affirmed their ministry to him and to others in the community of faith. Furthermore, Paul valued women serving alongside him and trained other early church leaders to do the same. Scripture consistently affirms the significance of men and women working together in partnership for the gospel as well as women specifically encouraging other women, and therefore we include both men and women on the Women in Ministry Team. In agreement with this Biblical vision, it is our desire that every woman grow more in her knowledge of Christ through prayer, studying his Word, fellowship, and engaging his mission in the world. We find that as women gather together in God’s name to bless him and one another, God blesses us with this growth in Christ. God has richly blessed our fellowship at First Presbyterian with a diversity of ages, life-stages, backgrounds, and gifts. Women in Ministry intends to foster meaningful unity among our women as well as connect our older women in mentoring relationships with our younger women. We celebrate mutually supportive intergenerational relationships and long to see God raise up another generation of women who worship God with lives adorned with the imperishable beauty of Christ-like gentleness and faithfulness. This is God’s work, and we are humbled to witness his redemptive and restorative presence in our midst. We depend upon his Spirit in all things and at all times.
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Women in Ministry: A Community of Leaders  2011-2012 Women in Ministry Vision Team
Elders: Kathy Mullins and Kevin Landreneau Listen Team Co-Leaders: Suzanne Kennon and
Laura Leblanc Grow Team Leader: Katie Forsthoff Connect Team Leaders: Amanda Posey and Linda Grace Serve Team Leader: Sharon Field Administrative Assistant with Women in Ministry: Sherry McKinley Director of Women in Ministry: Mary Willson
2011-2012 Circle Leadership Team
Co-Leaders:
Ruby Ann Walsh & Bunny Ferris Moderator Coordinator: Nan Boydstun Administrative Leader: Joy Butler Circle Chairs and Co-Chairs: Sue Spaht, Helen Bowman, Ellen Fox, Shirley Stirling, Eugenie Burglass, Mary Arceneaux, Margery Fabre, Jewell Trahan, Sally Graves, Memory Green, Evelyn Meier, Cheryl Leucke, Emily Bowers, Hallie Garrison, Nita Harris, Peggy Anderson, Elizabeth Rennhoff, Laura Shaw, Zemina Davis, Pat Canfield, Sandy Zwez.
Bible Moderators:
Mary Douglas, Shirley Pourciau, Virginia Simeral, Jeannie Baumeister, Mitzi Barber, Nan Boydstun, Virginia Simeral, Laurie Adams, Pabby Arnold, Nancy Zito, Lin Sturgis, Mary Willson.
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Knowing Christ Through Prayer God our Father invites us to know him intimately as dearly beloved children. He makes his fatherly love known to us most profoundly in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. When God shows such beautiful compassion toward his people, what can we do but respond with joyful worship and offer submissive hearts to him? As Christians, we worship the God who speaks and the God who hears. Our relationship with God is living and dynamic. In worship we enter into a sacred dialogue with God that transforms us to the core of our being. The Christ-follower’s relationship with God is an everlasting relationship of growing intimacy. When we speak, he graciously listens to us. When he speaks, we desire to listen to him with obedient hearts. Do you know his voice? When you hear his voice, do you listen to him? The Women in Ministry Listen Team provides opportunities for you to grow in this area of your relationship with Jesus. We want to encourage active dependence upon God in prayer, meditation, solitude, and community. In the midst of our noisy lives, God invites us to listen to his voice above all others. It is often very difficult for us to slow down and wait on the Lord. The Listen Team encourages us to practice attentive listening to God. We consider praying for you one of our highest privileges. Please contact the Mary (620.0241 or mary@fpcbr.org) if there are specific ways that you would like us to pray for you. May Christ himself be your peace. 
Psalm 131
O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD
from this time forth and forevermore.
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Knowing Christ Through Studying His Word 
Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
Psalm 119.18 God graciously reveals himself to us on the pages of Scripture, since all Scripture comes from God’s own Spirit. The Scriptures of God are able to make us wise for salvation as well as grow us in our knowledge of the truth. Going deeper in Christ, then, involves knowing Him through His Word. To help you grow in your knowledge of Christ, Women in Ministry offers an array of Bible studies, small groups, study opportunities, and one-on-one discipleship. We know that we have many different women with many different schedules at First Presbyterian. Because of this variety, we provide several options for study rhythms (monthly vs weekly) and study times (day vs. night) to accommodate different needs. If you would like to participate in a Women in Ministry Bible Study or find a small group, please contact the Women in Ministry Office (620.0224 or through www.fpcbr.org). Women in Ministry will assist you in finding a place of growth. Different Bible Study Rhythms CIRCLES: Circles meet once a month for Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and service.
SEMESTER BIBLE STUDIES: We offer weekly Bible Studies throughout both the fall and the spring. Some of these Bible Studies meet on the First Presbyterian campus, while others meet in homes or other venues.
SMALL GROUPS: Usually, small groups meet weekly. Some small groups are organized by Women in Ministry and others spring up from the grass roots. Sometimes they are specific to age or life-stage, while at other times they are content- specific. Small groups take on many forms, but the consistent link is that each group intends to draw its women deeper into Christ through the study of the Word.
For further information for these groups please contact the Women in Ministry Office (620.0224).
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Knowing Christ in Community 
In both Old and New Testaments, we learn the value of being in community with other believers for encouragement to become more like Christ. In both Old and New Testaments, we learn the value of being in community with other believers for encouragement to become more like Christ. We apply what we learn through study in the context of community. In order to fellowship as sisters growing in Christ, the Women in Ministry Connect Team plans seasonal events and special gatherings. In the church today, especially for women, our schedules differ to such an extent that connecting at all can be a significant challenge. Women in Ministry offers a variety of times and places for our events so that more of our women will be able to enjoy fellowship. The purpose of these programs is to gather together as the family of God as well as to provide a welcoming place for us to invite friends, especially those who may not have a relationship with Jesus or a church home.
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Knowing Christ Through Engaging His Mission Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:4-7 
Jesus came to serve, not to be served. He calls us to live out humble servanthood as well. Everything we are and have belongs to Him. In his lavish provision for his children, He has given us spiritual gifts to participate with Him in building His kingdom. Our talents, experiences, personalities, and skills all point us in the direction of servant ministry. Servant ministry is joyful ministry. God invites each believer to live a deliberately missional life of sacrificial love. Ministry opportunities abound within our church, our community, and our world. Rather than duplicate efforts of the entire church, Women in Ministry often helps women discern their gifts and their place of ministry through already existing channels. Whether your gifts are teaching, leadership, hospitality, mercy-showing, nurture, or behind-the-scenes service, the Women in Ministry Serve Team desires to help you find a place of ministry and equip you more fully for ministry in this place. Please let us know if you want us to help you in this way.
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