HHH Workshop at Bethlehem Recap
I still have a grin when I think back to last week's workshop at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Germantown. It is a very large congregation with five church services and not many of the members get to know each other unless they happen to go to the same church service. If their children go to the school and are in the same grade the likelihood that they know each goes up. The women's ministry from Bethlehem Lutheran reached out to us to hold an event to help bridge the gap between women who attended "Moms and Tots" to "Ladies Aid" and anywhere in between. Sound like a challenge? It was!
After setting the event room we went upstairs to the church's teen ministry lounge. There we reviewed our content for the night, prayed that the women coming would find the church despite the faulty GPS address, prayed that the workshop would be a spiritual blessing to the women that came and thanked God for the opportunity to serve even though we felt like timid Moses' with little eloquence.
When we went down to start the workshop we were surprised to see that the tables were already filling up and we had to find more tables! more chairs! roll more yarn! There were more than 50 women of and some of them came from over an hour away. The women of Bethlehem prepared plenty of amazing food and set the tone for a great night! Full bellies and full hearts!
We opened with prayer and sang a hymn accompanied by some of us Hens on piano, cello, and violin. I never realized it until then but I'm pretty sure Holy Hen House could have a pretty terrific music group. ;) It was fantastic hearing over 50 women raise their voices together. After introducing the blog and writers, we enjoyed a fun ice-breaker and covered several topics that included all the women in the chatter.
Women of All Seasons Unite! // by Melissa and Amber
How To Find and Be a Mentor // by Amanda
Trust: Letting Go of Control // by Katy
Being Still // by Sarah
The best part of the night was hearing women share their lives and faith that pointed to the THE Life and THE Savior that unified us all - Jesus.
There were new friends made, laughs shared, babies passed to loving arms, confessions of control freaks, tears falling (the good kind), sincere acknowledgments of God's love even in our weakest moments and it all went by fast. We are still in awe of the great turnout and enjoyable night. It showed us the great need for quality fellowship among women of faith.
To cap the night off we ended with another hymn, closing prayer and asked the women to share some feedback about the workshop. The numbers came out strong that they felt inspired, fired up and would even recommend a Holy Hen House workshop to their friends.
"This was so uplifting and wonderful! Thank you all for your hard work!"
"Great balance of interaction and presentation! I was excited when I saw the flyer. As today went on I thought, "Oh I'd love to just sit home tonight," but I am so happy I didn't give into the temptation of not coming!"
"I appreciated the substance of the event. I personally don't care for a lot of emotional stories or fluff, it was great to dive into God's Word and really see what He wants out of our lives. It was was very strengthening for me personally."
"Thank you so much for your work as young women covering issues engaging women of all ages! I enjoyed a women's only Bible based and supportive event. Very inspiring! Great speakers!"
"Do this again!"
Following that night we were so humbled and blessed by the women that came. If you or your congregation would like to host a Holy Hen House workshop please contact me at amanda@holyhenhouse.com. I will gladly email you a workshop kit and help the planning get started!
