Women’s Ministries on the
Move at the General Conference Session
by Rosalie A. van Putten
The Women’s Ministries
Department was busy at the 57th General Conference Session held in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. They held two days of seminars in the Exhibit Hall of the
Metro Toronto Convention Center. On Tuesday, July 4, 2000, the topics covered
were: “End Time Parenting” by Kay Kuzman, Ed.D.; “Instant Bible Studies for
Busy People” by Ellie Green, BSN, RN; “Getting Organized–Seven Secrets to
Sanity for Stressed Women by the renown Nancy Van Pelt, CFLE, CFCS;
“Ministering to People With Aids (PWA), by May Wangai, M.D.; and “Women
Reaching Women” by Linda Crimes-Penick, director of Women’s Ministries for the
Pacific Union Conference. On Thursday, July 6, 2000, another series of topics
covered were: “Effective Learning for
Preschoolers” by Prema Gaikwad, Ph.D., dean of the School of Education at
Spicer Memorial College, India; “Women’s Health issues” by Ruth Lennox, MB, BS,
Family Physician; “Making Sabbath Special” by Celeste Perrino Walker; and “Women’s
Stories—Why They Are Important and How to Preserve Them” by Kit Watts, M.D.,
and Penny Shell, Ed.D.
The meetings were very well attended, with
not even standing room available at each one. Although these were women’s
issues, there were several men in attendance at every meeting. Valuable
information, both spoken and written, was given out at each of the seminars,
and many questions were answered during the various discussions. It was
heartwarming to see the response of women from all over the world to the issues
that affect them.
The Women’s Ministries Department also had an
exhibit booth in the Exhibit Hall where additional information was available.
There you could find information from the Women’s Resource Center at La Sierra
University, Riverside, California and also from Contact, a quarterly
publication for Seventh-day Adventist Women in Ministry that is produced by the
General Conference Ministerial Association in Silver Spring, Maryland.