Oct 31

Oct 31 Welcomed In: A Weekend Away for the Women of New Community Church

Against the backdrop of changing fall colors, mountain views, and rare October sunshine, a hundred women from New Community Church recently gathered for a weekend away outside Tacoma, WA. The theme for the weekend was “Welcomed In,” an extension of the sense that God was inviting a diverse group of women to come in closer, seeking deeper relationships with Jesus and each other.

About a year ago, New Community Church merged with another church in Tacoma. The merger widened the range of ages, backgrounds, and experiences amongst our women. This weekend was the first time this group of women had gathered together, and God showed his faithfulness as so many women stepped out of their comfort zones and set aside time to be with each other.

The group was greatly blessed by teaching from Tiffany Aicklen of Radiant Church (Visalia, CA). Her teaching focused on welcoming the work of God in your life, welcoming the work of God in others, and looking forward to being welcomed home by God. Through the first teaching, we looked at Mary’s response to God’s promise of a baby and responded by quieting our hearts to recognize where God was growing us to bring about his promises.

On Saturday morning, Tiffany led us to celebrate the generosity of God in others by looking at the friendship and work of Paul and Barnabas. We ended our session with a chance to individually call out and rejoice with our sisters over the blessings God has given to all of us through each other. This was a powerful time of recognizing God’s blessing in each other’s lives and his favor on us.

Our last session focused on keeping eternity in focus, and that all will be well in the mended world. Layered throughout these teachings, Tiffany highlighted the beauty of a multi-generational church and the wisdom that is needed from older women as younger women navigate growing through what God is doing in their lives.

The weekend was also filled with many contributions from the talented women of NCC. Ranging from powerful worship, engaging ice breakers, creative activities of water color painting and floor mat decorating, and a warm and welcoming atmosphere (hot spiced cider included!). God’s giftings were on display! These events take a lot of effort in organization and preparation, and we are so grateful for the women that put in their time and energy to make it possible.

We look forward to gathering the women of NCC again in the near future and are excited about the fruit that is already appearing from the deepened relationships and the time spent welcoming each other in!