Sights and sounds of renewal at National Association of Presbyterian Clergywomen gathering
Worship, workshops and witness mark the National Association of Presbyterian Clergywomen gathering
DECATUR, Georgia — Clergywomen from across the country gathered April 14–16 at Columbia Theological Seminary for the National Association of Presbyterian Clergywomen’s National Gathering, a conference shaped by worship, learning, and shared leadership during a season many named as demanding and hopeful at the same time. The gathering brought together Presbyterian women ministers for keynote preaching, practical workshops and Spirit-centered worship grounded in the Pentecost story.
Across classrooms and chapels, participants engaged with topics ranging from church finances and disaster response to creative expression through music and textile art. Workshops emphasized vocational sustainability and imagination, while worship returned again and again to the language of fire, breath and courage. These images drawn from Acts 2 echoed throughout the gathering.
Pentecost framed much of the week’s preaching and liturgy, calling clergywomen to lives of proclamation, justice and repair. From sermons that named refining fire and holy disruption to prayers at the table and shared song, the gathering highlighted both personal renewal and communal responsibility for ministry in challenging times.
Preaching during worship, the Rev. Shannon Kershner framed Pentecost as an outward-moving force that calls the church beyond comfort and containment toward witness and transformation.
In a workshop blending Scripture, spiritual practice and popular music, the Rev. CeCe Armstrong invited clergywomen to listen to secular lyrics as sites of divine address and prayer.
Participants felt the groove in the Rev. CeCe Armstrong’s workshop on the spiritual sustenance of the music of Earth, Wind and Fire.
Crafts and materials for a workshop on finding God in the ordinary led by the Rev. Neeley Rentz Lane, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Covington, Georgia.
The Rev. Liz Wagner, Gladwyne Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania, led a workshop focused on the practical and often undernamed realities of congregational finances, emphasizing stewardship, clarity and the pastoral responsibility of financial leadership as part of sustainable ministry.
During a hands-on workshop on designing quilted stoles, the Rev. Susan Barnes of John Knox Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky connected textile art to the history and theological legacy of Presbyterian clergywomen, including the life of ethicist the Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon, who once donated her curtain to be added to the available quilt squares.
Drawing on experience with campus shootings and natural disasters, the Rev. Dr. Gini Norris-Lane taught clergy how to prepare pastors and congregations for crisis response and long-term trauma care.
Four women preached a service on the theme of Pentecost, the Rev. Neeley Rentz Lane, the Rev. Anna George Trayhnam, the Rev. Dr. Kathryn Threadgill and the Rev. Karen Fitz La Barge.
Rentz Lane opened the group sermon with a reflection on fire and breath and explained the process of glass-blowing. The Rev. Karen Fitz La Barge, pastor of North Kent Presbyterian Church in Rockford, Michigan and author of “Thoughtful Boldness: 52 Reflections to Feed a Progressive Soul," addressed the misuse of Christian language in political movements and called the church back to Pentecost fire that dignifies rather than dominates to close the multi-vocal proclamation.
The Revs. Anna George Traynham and CeCe Armstrong guided the gathering through Pentecost worship that named resistance, grace, and renewal as shared realities in ministry, grounding communal confession and forgiveness in the presence of the Holy Spirit: “Hear this Pentecost news: The fire will not go out in Jesus Christ; we are forgiven.”
They also celebrated the presence of the Holy Spirit together at the Communion table.
fill this juice and this bread that they become for us grace,
that through this sacrament we may see the face
of our Lord shining back in our neighbors’ embrace.”
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