Horizons open up for Canadian women

What is it like when more than 300 women from across Canada get together for a weekend? It’s an experience like no other.

Sharon Johnson, conference planner

This is what 51 Mennonite Brethren women found when they attended the second Leading Women conference in Toronto Feb. 19–21. It was a time of worship, learning, networking, making new friends and renewing friendships, praying, crying and laughing together.

Planned around the theme “Expanding horizons with Canadian Christian Women in Leadership,” the weekend featured women in positions of leadership in both the marketplace and the church.

On Thursday evening Lorna Dueck, formerly with 100 Huntley Street, interviewed television personality Anne-Marie Mediwake, former figure skater Barbara Underhill and Eleanor Clitheroe, currently chancellor of the University of Western Ontario and former CEO and President of Hydro One in Ontario. They shared how their faith undergirded them, particularly in difficult situations.

Donna Wong, national director for Multi-ethnic/Cultural Ministry for Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canada, speaking at the Friday morning “Discovery Session” challenged the women to find “True North.” Basing her message on Luke 12, she encouraged listeners to be rich toward God and rich toward people. She then stated that this can be accomplished by making love the aim, by investing in people. Community building should be the focus. “The expectation of our Master is that we are working to take good care of other servants.” She encouraged women to be life-long learners or disciples and aim to fulfill their unique destinies in God. She also encouraged women to end well by uncovering those things which make each one unique in God.

Other Discovery Sessions were led by Karen Hanna, a business consultant, and Elaine Pountney, ministry coordinator with International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. Hanna spoke about “Things Nobody Told Me.” She stated, “Business has taken the place of church in influence,” and encouraged women to hold leadership firmly but lightly. Effective leaders, she said, know and understand themselves, respect others, seek and tell the truth, and are resilient. She encouraged women to divide their time three ways: focus on what needs to be done; have a buffer zone where things get completed and cleaned up, and have a free zone, where no work at all is done.

Pountney used the double helix to illustrate leadership development. One strand of the helix is the “doing,” where, through the seasons of life new skills and confidence are developed but where discouragement also sets in. The second strand is the “being,” where, based on 1 Peter 2:5–7, faith, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness and love are developed.

Following the Discovery Sessions, learning labs helped women make practical applications to their own lives.

Devotional times were led by lawyer Karen Henein, who encouraged participants to become intimate with God, and Miriam Charter, director of Canadian Theological Seminary East in Toronto. Using Matthew 6:25–34, Charter stated that worrying changes only the worrier, and to deal with worry, one should set one’s heart first on God’s kingdom, making the life of God’s Spirit the centre of our lives.

Mennonite Brethren women from across the country – Black Creek, B.C. to Montreal, Quebec – spent the Friday dinner hour together. It was a time of connecting and fellowship.

The weekend concluded with a luncheon at which Maxine Hancock, professor at Regent College, Vancouver, using Philippians as a base, encouraged women to allow God’s plan to be worked out in their lives, to look for the interests of others, to live in the present but lean forward, and to quiet their minds by presenting requests to God. She closed with the prayer that the peace of God would garrison their hearts and minds.

—Susan Brandt

My experience at Leading Women 2004 Kathleen Klassen I really didn’t know what to expect when I came to the Leading Women conference in Toronto. I have to admit I have never before enjoyed a conference so I was mentally prepared to not fully appreciate this one either. This conference had such a long line up of speakers, I was anticipating feelings of fatigue to overtake me. It didn’t happen. Each speaker was articulate, and captivated my attention. I was impressed, not only by their credentials, but also by their sincerity, their wisdom and experience. The learning labs after each session allowed for discussion and a chance to delve into the subject matter in a deeper, more personal level. It also allowed us to get to know the other participants. This is often missing at other conferences. We tend to interface only with the people we know. By putting us into forums deliberately set up for discussion, we were able to be richly blessed by our sisters in Christ! Because of this format, I left this conference having been enriched by other women, not only the speakers, and am likely to maintain contact with some of them. So, all in all, I’d say this was the most amazing conference I’ve ever attended and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to all women, not just women in leadership positions. It’s so encouraging to hear what God is doing among the women of today. I’m actually looking forward to Leading Women 2006! —Kathleen Klassen, Youth Pastor, Black Creek (B.C.) MB Church