Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia: From 5 to 11 October, the Asia-Pacific Region Nazarene Women in Leadership Team met together for training and retreat. The Australia New Zealand Field hosted the annual team meeting and benefited from the connection with their global church family. While in Australia, the NWL Team hosted a dinner event for local women in leadership, visited and preached in three local churches, and attended the ANWD Women’s Retreat in Bundaberg, QLD.
Empowering both women and men to lead in clergy and lay leadership roles has been a priority of the Church of the Nazarene since its beginning. In recent years, the Asia-Pacific Region has emphasized this priority by creating Nazarene Women in Leadership–a team of women from around the Asia-Pacific Region that seek to identify, empower, educate, and encourage women in leadership.
“The Church is blessed when we see men and women serving alongside each other, and honoring each other, as an embodied expression of Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth that we read about in 1 Corinthians chapter 12,” said Rev. Lynne Bollinger (Asia-Pacific NWL Coordinator). “As each part of the body contributes his or her gifts given by the Spirit, we are a living witness in and to the world, reflecting the image of our Trinitarian God.”
Six team members from the Asia-Pacific Region gathered for an intentional week of collaboration, learning, encouragement, and training. Three additional team members met with them over Zoom.
“We need to understand more deeply and live out our coherent theology, which includes an understanding of women in ministry in all our church practices and ministries,” said Rev. Asnath Mangi (Sealands Field NWL Coordinator). “I learned that NWL ministry is not the same as a female movement. As women leaders in the church we must tell our fellow men leaders that we need them in developing this ministry.”
The NWL team left Australia with renewed passion and encouragement for the task ahead. “The Asia- Pacific Region sings a new song to the Lord (Psalm 96) as we affirm women leadership within the church,” said Lynne. “I believe that we will see an outpouring of the goodness of the Lord as we embrace God’s biblical vision for the Church as it ought to be.”
