by Joanna Wilks (Covenant Church, Newmilns)
There was a warm welcome on a cold day for ministers’ wives from across Scotland gathering for the 10th anniversary of Enspire. This year the theme was “Only Connect” explored through talks and small group discussions.
Rosemary MacDonald (Coatbridge) encouraged us to make our primary connection with Jesus before connecting with others. She warmly encouraged us with real-world examples of connections people in her community have made with their church family seemingly out of the blue, but discovered that there had been many years of faithful prayer by family members who were geographically far away. Rosemary exhorted us to ‘cherish our salvation’, and we encouraged each other by sharing how that is worked out in our own contexts.
Johan Smith encouraged us by sharing about connections she has made and developed and particularly encouraged us to make connections through hospitality to bless others, not impress others. Grace Smith spoke about her ministry making connections in the Borders. She encouraged us in the commitment to connections by being reliable week by week and the slow process of earning trust in the community. Maddie Murray spoke of moving to a new community and making new connections in the context of planting a new church.
We discussed what we heard in small groups and shared the joys and sorrows of connections and disconnections we’ve seen in our churches and communities. We prayed for one another, encouraging each other to be intentional in making and growing connections with those around us to point others to Jesus.
Throughout the day, we were blessed by the Enspire team putting on the event so warmly, the musicians pointing us to Jesus through music and the kitchen team feeding us so well.
Enspire is a day event for the wives of church ministers and those in training from across Scotland. If you’d like more information or would like to receive information about next year’s event, please get in touch with the Enspire team at [email protected].
