Awaken - BIC Network for Women in Ministry

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Awaken - BIC Network for Women in Ministry

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We empower, equip, and engage women for leadership in ministry. Awaken Mentorships
What is a mentoring relationship with Awaken? Who is an Awaken mentor?

Awaken exists to encourage divinely gifted women to fulfill their call to ministry and leadership in local churches, global missionaries, denominational leadership, and para-church ministries. As a network, in which we find connection organically as we connect in our regional conferences, we accomplish this by sharing our personal stories with one another to encourage, empower, and equip one another for the ministry that God has called us to. Awaken is a catalyst for forming mentoring relationships for women in local churches, global workers, and denominational leaders in the Brethren in Christ Church, U.S. Examples of those who may benefit from a mentoring relationships are: pastors, directors, church planters, global workers, spouses of pastors, denominational workers, para-church leaders, and women of all ages who are discerning a call to ministry. Awaken mentorships are not limited to these paid or unpaid roles. Awaken mentorships begin with a three month commitment and can be renewed for additional three month commitments, based upon mutual agreement from the mentor and mentee. A typical mentoring relationship meets once a month for about an hour. This can be done in person or via Skype, over coffee or a meal, at an office or out in the community. Mentorships begin in September and can continue meeting through May. The mentor and mentee can take a break from meeting over the summer (June-August). An Awaken mentor is a woman who desires to provide guidance, attentive listening, and perspective, as another woman seeks to develop their own faith or skills. A mentor can be someone of any age, who can speak to having life experience or specific vocational maturity. Who is a mentee? An Awaken mentee is a woman of any age who desires to develop in their faith, leadership, and ministry skills. A mentee may seek guidance when navigating a new season in their vocation or relationships. Questions? Email [email protected]

09/24/2026

We’ve gotten better at asking, “Are women in the room?”

But what if that isn’t the whole question?

Because being invited into the room doesn’t necessarily mean having a voice in what happens there.

Who gets heard?
Who gets trusted?
Who helps shape the decisions?
Who gets to make the call?

These questions matter because leadership in the Church is about more than titles or seats at a table.

It’s about recognizing the gifts God has given people—and creating a culture where those gifts can actually shape the life and leadership of the Church.

That’s part of what it means to cultivate mutuality.

Not simply making room for women.
Not simply making sure everyone has a seat.

But creating a culture where women and men can faithfully bring their God-given gifts, wisdom, and calling to the work—and where those gifts are trusted enough to matter.

If we believe the Spirit gives gifts to the whole body, what might change if we made room for those gifts to truly shape how we lead?

What’s one thing that helps people move from having a seat at the table to actually helping shape the conversation?

09/22/2026

Authority can get murky.

Especially when we move from talking about biblical principles to real people, real callings, and real leadership.

We often begin with questions like:

Who has authority?
Who gets to lead?
Who gets the final say?

But Deborah gives us another way to think about it.

In Judges 4–5, Deborah is a prophet and a judge in Israel. People come to her for wisdom and judgment. When Israel faces war, she speaks, calls Barak forward, and goes with him.

Her authority is connected to what God has entrusted to her.

That matters when we talk about women and leadership.

Because the question isn't only, “Who gets to lead?”

It is also:
“What has God entrusted to this person?”

That shifts our understanding of authority—from something to possess to something to steward.

And it invites us to pay attention to the gifts, callings, and responsibilities God is already placing in people's hands.

What has God entrusted to you in this season—and how might that shape the way you understand your leadership?

Tell us in the comments. We’d love to hear what you’re noticing.

09/19/2026

We talk a lot about leadership development.

And for good reason. There are skills to learn, practices to develop, and things we can become better at, But leadership formation asks us to go a little deeper.

Not just, “What can I learn to do?”

But, “Who am I becoming while I do it?”

Because leadership is never just about the skills we carry. It is also about the person carrying them.

God is forming us in the middle of our leadership—in the moments that stretch us, challenge our assumptions, expose our need for approval, teach us to trust, and invite us to become more rooted in who God says we are.

And for women, that formation can sometimes include unlearning the messages that have taught us to question our voice, minimize our gifts, or wait for permission to use what God has given us.

Leadership development helps us grow our capacity.

Formation shapes who we are becoming.

Both matter.

So here's a question worth sitting with:

What is God forming in you right now—and how might that shape the way you lead?

09/17/2026

Sometimes a gift is present, being used, even appreciated—and still not fully recognized.

A woman leads, and what gets noticed is that she’s organized.

She teaches, and what gets named is that she communicates well.

She pastors, and people see how much she cares for people.

She speaks prophetically, and it gets called passion.

None of those things are necessarily wrong.

But they may not be the whole story.

Sometimes a gift gets translated into something more familiar. Something the culture already knows how to name. Something that feels more comfortable within the way we’ve learned to understand leadership.

Even in the church.

And this is where the question gets deeper than whether women should be allowed to lead.

Are we actually seeing and naming the gifts God has given women?

Because what we name shapes what we make room for.

And women can internalize those translations, too. We can begin to describe ourselves by the smaller category we've been given.

I'm just good with people.

I'm just a good communicator.

I'm just good at organizing.

When perhaps God has given something more.

For women in ministry: keep discerning. Keep growing. Keep trusting the LORD. Let Him continue to show you what He has placed in you.

And for all of us: may we become better at recognizing the gifts of the Spirit without first asking them to fit our expectations.

What is a gift you've seen in a woman that was easy to overlook, underestimate, or call something else?

I'd love to hear what you're seeing 👇🏼

09/15/2026

What if your calling didn’t begin when someone else recognized it?

We meet Miriam in Scripture as a girl, watching over her baby brother Moses.

Before she is called a prophet.
Before she leads the women of Israel in worship.
Before God names her alongside Moses and Aaron.

She is already participating in God’s story.

Her calling didn’t begin with a title.

And neither does yours.

I think this matters because women in Christian leadership can spend a lot of time wondering whether what they sense God has given them is really theirs to name.

We learn to wait for permission.
To minimize our gifts.
To second-guess our instincts.
To wonder if we are stepping too far when perhaps we are simply stepping into what God has already given.

But Scripture gives us another picture.

God’s calling doesn’t become real when people finally recognize it.

Miriam’s story invites us to pay attention to what God has been doing all along.

What has God already placed in you that you’ve been taught to question?

09/10/2026

Unconscious bias rarely feels like bias.

That's part of what makes it so hard to recognize.

It can sound like wisdom.
It can look like discernment.
It can even feel like just trying to be careful.

But when the same behavior is interpreted differently depending on who's doing it, then there might be something else shaping the response.

Women in ministry can find themselves repeatedly establishing credibility that has already been demonstrated—while others are given trust more freely.

This isn't always intentional. And that's exactly why it's worth paying attention to.

We all carry assumptions about what leadership looks like, what authority sounds like, and who seems “ready.”

The question is whether we're willing to notice those assumptions when they show up.

Sometimes the work isn't proving that women can lead.

It's learning to notice the assumptions that shape how we recognize leadership in the first place.

09/08/2026

Sometimes we read things so often we
stop really seeing them.

I think Genesis 1-2 is one of those places.

Both Adam and Eve are made in the image of God.
Both receive God's blessing.
And both are given the work of tending the garden.

Then there's the word for Eve: Ezer

It's easy to read "helper" and just move on.

But we should slow down and look at how Scripture uses that word.

It isn't a word that places Eve on the edges. That same word is used for God as One who helps his people.

Then keep reading.

Because the women keep showing up.

It's not always in the same way or circumstances, but in participating in what God is doing.

The invitation isn't to force every passage into a modern framework.
It's to pay attention to the framework Scripture itself gives us.

What happens when we slow down enough to notice what we've been reading all along?

Sometimes the invitation isn't to read Scripture differently.

It's to slow down enough to actually see what's already there.

08/11/2026

There’s a particular kind of exhaustion many women in ministry know well: constantly editing yourself.

Wondering if you’re too much.

Too direct.
Too opinionated.
Too confident.
Not confident enough.

So you soften the thing you really wanted to say. You wait for someone else to say it first. You wonder whether staying quiet would be more faithful.

But what if being equipped for ministry includes your voice?

God has not called you into ministry empty-handed. Your perspective, wisdom, experience, discernment, and voice are part of the gift you bring to the Church.

You don’t have to become louder.
You don’t have to become someone else.

You’re invited to become faithful with what God has already entrusted to you.

Your voice is part of God’s gift to the Church.

If you’re a woman in ministry, maybe this is your reminder today: you belong in the conversation. Your voice has something to contribute.

And if you know a woman who needs to hear that today, send this her way. ❤️

08/10/2026

There are moments in ministry when something settles in your spirit, and you think:

Yes. This is where God has called me.

Sometimes that confidence comes while you're teaching or leading.

Sometimes it comes while you're mentoring another woman or watching someone discover her own gifts.

Sometimes it comes in a quiet conversation, a difficult season, or an ordinary moment when you simply recognize that God has given you something to offer.

Confidence in your calling doesn't mean you never question yourself.

It doesn't mean you always feel equipped.

And it certainly doesn't mean you have everything figured out.

Sometimes it simply means recognizing God's faithfulness in the places where He has asked you to show up.

So let's learn from one another.

Complete this sentence:
👉 I feel most confident in my calling when…

Share your answer in the comments.

And then read through the responses. What gives one woman confidence may be exactly the encouragement another woman needs today.

This is part of what makes community so powerful: we don't have to discover everything about our calling alone. We can learn from the women walking alongside us. 💜

08/09/2026

What if you stopped trying to prove you’re called?

Maybe you've felt the pressure.

To prove you're qualified.
To prove you're capable.
To prove you belong in the room.

For women in ministry, that pressure can be complicated. Sometimes we know God has called us, but still feel like we need to demonstrate that calling through how much we accomplish, how well we lead, or how much we can carry.

And somewhere along the way, faithfulness can quietly turn into performance.

But your calling isn't validated by perfection.

It isn't measured by productivity.

And it doesn't depend on everyone's approval.

You can be confident in your calling and still be growing.

You can receive correction without questioning whether you belong.

You can learn from another woman's leadership without comparing your calling to hers.

You can lead with humility without leading from insecurity.

Because the God who called you is still forming you.

“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion...”
Philippians 1:6

So let's talk about something many women in ministry experience but don't always say out loud:

Where do women in ministry feel the most pressure to prove themselves?

Maybe it's being taken seriously.
Maybe it's measuring success.
Maybe it's feeling like you have to know everything.
Maybe it's something else entirely.

Whatever it looks like, you aren't the only one carrying it.

Let's create space here for honest conversation—not comparison or competition, but women learning from women and reminding one another that we don't have to lead alone.

💜 What comes to mind for you?

Address

Carlisle, PA

Website

http://awakennetwork.org/

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