Awaken - BIC Network for Women in Ministry

Awaken - BIC Network for Women in Ministry 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 anoth

er 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]

For the woman in ministry afraid vulnerability will cost credibility…It can feel like honesty about struggle needs to be...
06/06/2026

For the woman in ministry afraid vulnerability will cost credibility…

It can feel like honesty about struggle needs to be managed carefully to maintain trust.

But Paul reminds us:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)

Weakness is not disqualification. It is often where grace becomes visible.

Where are you still performing strength instead of practicing honest leadership?

For the woman in ministry who wonders if there’s room for her voice…Comparison rarely begins as competition—it begins as...
06/04/2026

For the woman in ministry who wonders if there’s room for her voice…

Comparison rarely begins as competition—it begins as awareness, measurement, and quiet uncertainty about your place.

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:4)

The body of Christ is not built on scarcity. It is built on shared calling.

What shifts when you believe there is enough room for your voice?

For the woman in ministry who feels responsible for everyone’s growth…It’s easy to believe that if someone isn’t growing...
06/02/2026

For the woman in ministry who feels responsible for everyone’s growth…

It’s easy to believe that if someone isn’t growing, it must mean you’re not doing enough.

But Scripture reframes this:
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (1 Cor. 3:6)

You are faithful with what you do. Growth belongs to God.

What outcome are you trying to carry that isn’t yours to hold?

For the woman in ministry learning to set boundaries without guilt…Saying yes to everything can feel like faithfulness—b...
05/31/2026

For the woman in ministry learning to set boundaries without guilt…

Saying yes to everything can feel like faithfulness—but over time it can blur clarity and exhaust your capacity to love well.

“Let your yes be yes and your no be no.” (Matt. 5:37)

Clarity is not unkind. It is integrity.

Where are you saying yes without clarity right now?

Lydia is often reduced to hospitality, but Scripture tells a broader story.She was a merchant of purple cloth—a business...
05/30/2026

Lydia is often reduced to hospitality, but Scripture tells a broader story.

She was a merchant of purple cloth—a businesswoman with influence, resources, and leadership in her city.

When she encountered the message of Jesus, she responded immediately. But she didn’t step away from her leadership. She stewarded it.

Her home became a gathering place for the church in Philippi. Not as an afterthought, but as part of how Christian community took root.

Too often, leadership is framed as visibility or platform. Lydia challenges that assumption.

She built space where people could gather, grow, and encounter God—and that kind of leadership helped shape the early Church.

This is not secondary leadership.

It is foundational.
Spirit-formed strength often builds what others will later stand on.

Name one place you are currently building space for others to flourish.

For the woman in ministry learning to lead through tension…Conflict doesn’t always mean something is wrong. Sometimes it...
05/29/2026

For the woman in ministry learning to lead through tension…

Conflict doesn’t always mean something is wrong. Sometimes it’s the place where clarity needs to be formed.

Avoiding hard conversations can feel like keeping the peace, but over time it often creates confusion and distance.

“Speak the truth in love.” (Eph. 4:15)

Not harsh truth. Not silent peace. But grounded clarity.

Where have you been avoiding a conversation because it feels easier than naming what’s true?

For many women in ministry, rest feels complicated.There are people to care for. Messages waiting for replies. Leadershi...
05/28/2026

For many women in ministry, rest feels complicated.

There are people to care for. Messages waiting for replies. Leadership responsibilities that don’t shut off neatly at the end of the day. And even when there is space to pause, it can feel difficult to trust that stopping is allowed—or even useful.

But Sabbath was never meant to be about performing a perfect rhythm. It’s a practice of remembering, in real time, that you are not the one holding everything together.

Sometimes rest looks like a full day unplugged. Sometimes it looks like putting your phone down for an hour. Sometimes it’s choosing not to mentally carry every conversation, decision, or outcome into the evening.

It doesn’t have to look impressive to matter.

What matters is learning to stop long enough to remember that your worth—and your faithfulness—are not measured by constant availability.

Over time, these small pauses become places where trust grows.
And trust, not urgency, is what sustains a life in ministry.

Many women in ministry carry the weight of the week longer than the week itself lasts.Even when the meetings are done.Ev...
05/23/2026

Many women in ministry carry the weight of the week longer than the week itself lasts.

Even when the meetings are done.
Even when the messages are delivered.
Even when the rooms are quiet again.

There can still be a lingering sense that you need to stay “on”—to hold things steady, stay available, make sure nothing slips.

And rest doesn’t always feel easy to step into.

Not because you don’t value it.
But because slowing down can feel unfamiliar when you’ve spent so long holding so much.

But you were never meant to be the one holding everything together.

Jesus speaks into that tension with something steady and grounding:
“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

Stillness is not things falling apart.
It is remembering who holds what you cannot.

So maybe today doesn’t need more effort from you.
Maybe it simply needs a quieter pace.
A moment you don’t have to earn.
A rest that isn’t dependent on everything being finished first.

God sustains what we cannot.

Maybe you’re ending this week more tired than you expected.Not just physically.But from carrying the quiet pressure to a...
05/23/2026

Maybe you’re ending this week more tired than you expected.

Not just physically.
But from carrying the quiet pressure to always show up, hold it together, and prove your value.

For a lot of women in ministry, that pressure doesn’t arrive all at once. It builds slowly over time.

You become the dependable one.
The capable one.
The one who keeps saying yes.
The one people count on.

And eventually, without even realizing it, belonging can start to feel connected to performance.

Like you always need to prove your value.
Prove your calling.
Prove why your voice matters.

But Jesus says:
“You did not choose me, but I chose you.” — John 15:16

Chosen before the proving.
Before the striving.
Before the exhaustion.

Maybe this weekend, instead of immediately pushing harder, you simply notice where you’ve been carrying pressure to earn what God already freely gave.

You do not have to earn your place with Him.

There’s a kind of drift that happens slowly.Not away from responsibility.Not away from leadership.But away from awarenes...
05/08/2026

There’s a kind of drift that happens slowly.

Not away from responsibility.
Not away from leadership.

But away from awareness.

We move through full days—making decisions, caring for people, carrying what’s been entrusted to us—and rarely pause long enough to notice God in the middle of it.

Not because we don’t want to.

But because the pace of life keeps pulling us forward.

The Examen is a simple practice that helps us return.

Not to evaluate the day.
Not to measure what went right or wrong.

But to notice.

To look back over your day with God and gently ask:

Where did I feel most alive?
Where did I feel tension or fatigue?
Where did I sense God’s presence—even subtly?
What do I need to release or receive?

This is not about getting it right.

It’s about staying awake to God in the ordinary.

And over time, that awareness becomes grounding.

It keeps you connected in the middle of real life—not outside of it.

This is how we stay rooted: not by doing more, but by noticing more.

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