Aspire relaunch in Rugby

After a number of major events, Mary Orange says God gave her a vision to bring women’s ministry back to her church.

Several significant events certainly upended our lives in Rugby Elim.

The death of our Pastor, Simon Whitley, in November 2019, had a big impact on the church. The arrival of Covid-19 further compounded that impact.

It separated us, almost completely, from the routine and events that rooted our lives and connected us as a community.

It intruded into our spiritual lives, the very foundation of our existence. The pandemic forced us to rethink how we worshipped and connected in a way that we were not accustomed to.

Lisa, Simon’s wife, had previously done a wonderful job with the ladies group.

With the opening up of church after the pandemic and a change of leadership, there was an opportunity to connect with the women of Rugby Elim and relaunch the ladies group.

Not only that, the men were way ahead of us and had been getting together, which resulted in the women saying ‘what about us?’

Pastor Jonathan Skelton encouraged us to look at the gifts God had given us and get active in the church.

I believe God had given me a vision and the skills to relaunch the women’s group and I felt very excited about it. It was a vision that would be aligned to the overall church vision and one that would complement it and seek to work in partnership with it.

It is about encouraging women to seek God, to grow in the knowledge of God and the application of his Word, establishing strong roots, and encouraging one another in our relationships, ministry and responsibility to each other.

It is about empowering women both young and old together in the freedom they have in Christ, to celebrate how good God is and to recognise we have a great commission – to connect women within our communities and the wider world to Christ.

I submitted my vision plan to the leadership and they endorsed it.

Pastor Jonathan encouraged me to align it with the national Elim Aspire and simply call it ‘Rugby Elim Aspire‘, which is what we did. We are delighted to be connected with Elim Aspire and look forward to sharing and learning together.

Our first event was a breakfast at a local farm shop restaurant. We had a total of 48 women attend of all ages from 13 upwards.

We had a wonderful time reconnecting and being encouraged in who we are and what we have in Christ Jesus.

Our subsequent events have had similar turnouts and it is growing.

In March we had another breakfast with our very own Samantha Skelton being interviewed. Samantha was inspirational and told her story of the journey to Rugby Elim. She encouraged us to seek God for every direction in our lives.

Other events are planned throughout the year and I know that Rugby Elim Aspire will be a group of women who will reach out, encourage each other and have fun together as we grow and establish our roots in God.
 

Mary has been a member of Rugby Elim for many years and has just retired after nearly 50 years in nursing. She has two daughters and two grandsons.

First published in the July 2022 issue of Direction, Elim’s monthly magazine. Subscribe now to get Direction delivered to your home.

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