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B A P T I S T W O M E N I N M I N I S T R Y O F N C
Volume 10, Issue 2 Summer 2009
Reflections from Convocation ‘09
Convocation „09 was a reverential feast for the senses.
During worship, we used touch, dance, art, and the spoken word
to extol God. Participants wrote gifts to God on ribbons and joined
them together on a cross. An artist told a story through chalk and
a dancer interpreted a song through movement. Three witnesses
shared their journeys of faith.
Mary Margaret Brooks was honored with the 2009 Anne
Thomas Neill Award for her many years of service as Community
Missionary of the Wilmington Baptist Association. Mary Margaret
represents the many women who have served during the past
half century in associational positions across our state.
The Church Award was presented to Sardis Baptist Church
of Charlotte. Sardis has ordained 5 women into the Christian min-
Mary Margaret Books and
Alicia Davis Porterfield
Lynn Odom presenting to Tim Moore, Tillie Duncan and Susan Phillips
istry and has en-
dorsed a 6th as a
chaplain during its 20
year existence and
has women serving as
both deacons and
ministers. The pastors
of the church are the
Revs. Mandy England
Cole, Tillie Duncan
and Tim Moore.
Recently, at June‟s Wilson
County Ministers‟ Association lunch
meeting, members were asked by the
group‟s president, “How do you take
Sabbath?” The question was the thrust
of this month‟s devotional, which she
leads at each meeting. She had pref-
aced her question with comments
about commencement. After a period
of silence, pastors and staff ministers
alike began to share personal ways of
experiencing rest and relaxation during
the week since Sundays were filled
with the responsibilities and commit-
ments of ministry. Cessation of effort
for rest and repose is nearly impossible
for ministers throughout the week. Al-
though their comments varied, the sin-
gular message sounded loud and
clear. A time of Sabbath is necessary
to renew one‟s spirit, to clear one‟s
head, and to maintain good health.
For most of the pastors who
shared, recreation seemed to be an
enabling factor to a proper Sabbath
rest. One shared that he had devel-
oped a daily routine of “working out” in
a nearby gym before going in to work,
energized and ready to start a new day
of ministry. Others purposed to take off
a day during the week to rest and enjoy
recreational activities, mentioning fish-
ing or a round of golf. Our pastor
shared that he often experienced close
encounters with the Lord as he rode or
worked with his horses on Mondays,
his day of rest. He had often gained
godly insights through this form of rec-
reation just as he had during prayer
and Bible study. He also shared how
much his two-month sabbatical last
summer had meant to his spiritual
growth. A young youth minister, whose
husband is an associate pastor to a
separate congregation, shared her at-
tempt to cease work on Fridays to have
quality time and rest with her mate.
PAGE 2
Past scholarship
recipient Jessica Wong
will be working on an-
other degree in theology
at Duke University under
Dr. J. Kameron and Dr.
Willie Jennings. Both of
these professors address
questions of race, vio-
lence, and theology but
make a thoroughly ortho-
dox Christological turn.
Jessica will be con-
sidering questions of
identity, namely, the vio-
lence connected with
identity formation - ra-
cial, religious, and na-
tional - that can be seen
in current events, like the
Xenophobic attacks in
South Africa.
Personally, I cowered in the cor-
ner. I had no answer for the president‟s
question. I could feel my face redden
and was positive the letters g-u-i-l-t-y
had appeared on my forehead. My list
of excuses seemed endless: so many
of my ministry responsibilities are time
sensitive, I care for my elderly mother,
my grandchildren and my children
need my help, I have a home to keep, I
can‟t neglect my husband… When do I
have time to play? I was convicted by
my own question. I‟m the one walking
around with a high cardio-vascular risk
number. I‟m eating correctly, taking my
medications, and keeping medical ap-
pointments, but the number‟s not de-
creasing as fast as it should. I am not
experiencing “a time of rest or repose;
cessation from effort, pain, and care,”
as Webster’s Third International Dic-
tionary defines Sabbath.
As I pondered my dilemma, one
of the pastors advised us to look
closely at the word “recreation.” He en-
couraged us to see it as “RE-creation.”
Just as our spirits are renewed through
prayer and Bible study, our physical
and mental capacities need rejuvena-
tion, also. As we are being transformed
into the likeness of Christ, we need
quality time for rest and relaxation.
Even someone as busy as I!
Rita Caveny Mangum, MDIV, is the
Minister of Education at Bible Missionary
Baptist Church in Wilson.
Renewal and Recreation By Rita Caveny Mangum
You were wearied by
all your ways, but you
would not say,
‘It is hopeless.’
You found renewal of
your strength, and so
you did not faint.
Isaiah 57: 10, NIV
Baptist Women in Ministry, NC,
publishes a newsletter 3 times a year.
Editor: Alicia Davis-Porterfield
Lay-Out Editor: Lynn C. Odom
PAGE 3
This past year, my husband and
I have been writing a study on Prov-
erbs. Gradually, this Proverbs passage
describing Wisdom as an integral part
of God‟s creation process became one
of my favorite parts of the book. Here,
she names herself the beginning of
God‟s work and the first of his acts.
The sages, who gathered and
edited Proverbs into the form we know
today, believed that God intertwined
wisdom throughout creation. Studying
creation, both nature and humans,
helps reveal this wisdom God wanted
to convey to humanity from the very
beginning. The sages personify wis-
dom as a woman who serves as a
street preacher, a faithful woman, and
a teacher. This poem articulates
Woman Wisdom‟s presence and par-
ticipation in God‟s creative process.
Interestingly, most of the poem
describes God’s work in creation: the
shaping of mountains, establishment of
heavens, etc. It isn‟t until verses 30-31
that Wisdom mentions what she was
doing once she was created. The He-
brew translated as “master worker” in
vs. 30a can also be translated as “little
child.” One scholar I read advocated
for the “little child” translation, noting
how that image connected well with the
description of Wisdom “rejoicing” and
“delighting” with childlike joy and aban-
don.
But then it occurred to me that
perhaps both translations are fitting.
“Master worker” connotes, at least for
me, images of artisans using their God-
given gifts and well-honed skills to cre-
ate and to bless. Perhaps rejoicing and
delighting like a “little child” are integral
to the creativity of master workers. Per-
haps there is wisdom in the playfulness
of a “little child” to which all of us are
invited if we are also to be “master
workers.”
Whatever work God calls us to
may benefit from a little childlike play-
fulness. This could be true if we work
with senior adults, in administration, as
proclaimers, as chaplains, as writers,
as musicians, on mission, with youth or
children—or in just about any work we
do. Engaging in a little playfulness may
help us appreciate what God is doing
in our lives. And the more we pay at-
tention to God, the wiser we become. If
nothing else, a little playfulness may
help get us out of our ruts. The more
we play, rejoice, and delight, the more
we may find wisdom in the moments of
our days—at least according to
Woman Wisdom. I‟ll take her word for
it!
Possible “Wisdom of Play” Ac-
tivities:
*Step away from your computer/desk/
phone and take a leisurely walk around
the block or through your building.
Breathe deeply. If you get the urge,
skip, march or hop!
*If your place of work has a playground
or one is nearby, go swing. It‟s hard to
be too serious on a swing.
*Sing a children‟s song and add the
hand motions. Make them up if you
don‟t know any. “Zaccheus” is a good
one, reminding us of Jesus‟ intentional-
ity in reaching out to us. It‟s also just
plain fun to sing.
*If you‟re feeling down about your ac-
complishments or abilities, imagine Je-
sus‟ to-do list or resume. You may
want to jot down a rough draft of it just
to remind yourself what‟s really impor-
tant. Plus, there‟s the automatic relief
(Continued on page 4)
The Wisdom of Play By Alicia Davis Porterfield
Proverbs 8:22-31
Woman Wisdom’s
Speech
(22) The Lord created me
at the beginning of his
work, the first of hid acts
long ago.
(23) Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the be-
ginning of the earth.
(24) Before the mountains
had been shaped,
before the hills, I was
brought forth, when there
were no springs abounding
with water.
(25) Before the mountains
had been shaped,
before the hills, I was
brought forth—
(26) when he had not yet
made earth and fields, or
the world’s first bits of soil.
(27) When he established
the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on
the face of the deep,
(28) when he made firm
the skies above, when he
established the fountains
of the deep,
(29) when he assigned the
sea its limit, so that the
waters might not trans-
gress his command, when
he marked out the founda-
tions of the earth,
(30) then I was beside him,
like a master worker (little
child); and I was daily his
delight, rejoicing before
him always,
(31) rejoicing in his inhab-
ited world and delighting in
the human race.
% Lynn Odom
714 E. Hudson Ave.
Durham, NC 27704
B A P T I S T W O M E N I N
M I N I S T R Y O F N C
Website
www.bwimnc.com
To receive this newsletter
via email, please contact
Lynn Odom at
that you don‟t have to save the world because
Jesus has that covered.
*Color. Draw. Paint. Trace your hand on a
piece of paper and jot down all the things you
feel anxious about. Pray those things out of
your hand and into God‟s hands.
*Imagine a person with whom you have a chal-
lenging relationship as a little child. Imagine
your adult self reaching out to that child in love.
Pray for that person, imagining them as both
child and adult. They are. You are, too.
Please send us some of your own favorite
ways to “play wisely!” ([email protected])
May God help us learn to play and grow wiser
as we do. Amen.
(Continued from page 3)
Lisa Mathis, professional artist and
member of First Baptist Church, Sanford
