The Messenger

I have been thinking a lot about gratitude lately. Of course, what comes to mind first is always my family: my husband, children, grandchildren. I am grateful for my home, plenty to eat, good friends and kind neighbors. And I am grateful for the hope of Spring as I greet the new green leaves popping out on trees during my walks. How wonderful to have the light stretch ever more into the evening, beckoning me outside and waking me from winter’s slumber. God’s love for us through His creation is such a gift!

I am feeling especially grateful today for the Church and our Village community. The church has sustained me over the past several years, providing purpose and support and rich community. As I write this, I am remembering so many of YOU who said “yes!” when asked to help with an event or a service, who reached out to someone who was isolated or lonely, or who simply but profoundly displayed love and patience with another soul. It is in this community that I feel at home and have found my voice and have learned, bit by bit, how to be more of myself than I was before. God has blessed me, blessed US, with this beautiful community of friendship and support.

I am deeply thankful for my co-moderator and our amazing staff advisor, the Reverend Sally Wright. It is impossible to overstate just how patient, supportive, creative and wise Sally is! This goes beyond making space in her schedule quite regularly (she does!) or attending our PW events (she does!) or advising us at board meetings or advocating for PW (she does!!). Sally is a collaborator who pushes us to be better versions of ourselves. She is a visionary who helps us be the ones to have vision and supports that process so beautifully. She has provided us opportunities to grow our leadership as women and given us the space to try it out. We are just SO grateful for you, Sally!!

If this experience of community sounds familiar to you, we would love to hear some of your stories. How have you found sisterhood and friendship here? How have you been challenged? How have you been loved? Please share that with us! And if you have not felt included or are still seeking that sense of home here, we would also love to hear from you. How can we better meet you where you are? What activities or studies or programs might be life-giving to you? Please share these insights and longings with us too.

I want to close with this poem by Ann Weems:

THANK YOU

Thank you,

Jesus God Spirit

who is Holy

on us.

Anointing us

with amazing love

you dug a dwelling place

and settled

tenaciously

forever amen within us.

Thank you,

Jesus God Spirit

who is Holy

on us

for your incredible grace.

Happy Spring, dear sisters!

Susan Satterlee and Cindy Henderson

Co-Moderators

Have you been yearning for a small group of women that you could share prayer requests with? Would you like to walk alongside others through prayer as they face the joys and sorrows of life? Have you been needing some company on this journey? Would you love to be able to do that without committing to meeting times or hosting a gathering?

We are introducing “Prayer Pods,” a new Presbyterian Women ministry for all women whether you are a member of Village Church or not. We will have one introductory meeting at the home of Susan Satterlee on April 24 at 7:00 p.m. to meet those interested in participating, learn the ground rules and just have some fun fellowship! Attending this gathering is not a requirement of participating in Prayer Pods but is recommended.

How will this work? You will be placed in a texting group of approximately 4-5 women who will covenant to confidentially pray for one another. When you feel the need to be lifted up in prayer, you can share that need with your group, knowing that they will pray for you. And when someone else asks for prayer, you will be there for them, lifting their needs up to God.

These groups are not to be used to send memes, videos, funny stories or other content. Just prayer requests and support. There is no expectation that groups will meet in person. This commitment is really quite simple yet extraordinarily holy. Just pray!

If you are interested or have any questions, please email Susan Satterlee at sgsatterlee@sbcglobal.net.

Bed of Bags Service Project

On March 8, we gathered for our Bed of Bags service project. Sarah Stolberg, the creator of this project, shared with us the story of how this project began. We enjoyed making "plarn" from all the plastic bags we collected, chatting together and, of course, eating some delicious treats. Sarah taught several women to crochet the "plarn" to make the beds for the homeless. We look forward to hosting another event to support Bed of Bags in the future! In the meantime, if you would like to donate plastic bags or "plarn" you've made at home, you are welcome to deliver them to The Starfish Project Foundation located at 134 S. Clairborne Road in Olathe. For more information on Bed of Bags, check out https://www.facebook.com/Trashes.to.Dreams/ or contact Jan Zimmerman or Stephanie Morrison.

PW Retreat 2024

We continue to work on plans for the 2024 PW Retreat. Stay tuned for more information regarding the retreat in the future.

Jan Zimmerman and Stephanie Morrison

Please come and join us in one of our 8 Circles as we gather for fellowship and discussion of the Horizons Bible Study, Celebrating Sabbath, Accepting God’s Gift of Rest and Delight.

Most Village on Mission Circles meet the second Tuesday of the month at various times of day. The Village on Antioch Circle meets at 6:00 p.m. the second Monday of the month. All are invited to attend the Circle of your choice.

For questions and information regarding meeting times and locations for the Circle meetings, please contact Sherri Robeson, PW Circle Activities Coordinator (srobeson49@gmail.com) or 913-219-9925.

There are two very active groups of ladies who meet for PW at Village on Antioch. The first group is our VOA circle that meets on the second Monday of the month from September until May. We begin at 6:00 p.m. with bring-your-own-dinner and chat, followed by the Horizons Bible study from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Joyce Bardeen leads us in the Bible study and we typically have great discussions and interactions with each other about the lesson and our take on making the lesson resonate with each of us. We are always happy to have additional ladies, so if you miss your circle discussion, feel free to join in at ours! We average between 12 and 14 ladies that participate.

Our second PW group that meets is the "Ladies Who Dine" dinner group. This group meets on the fourth Monday from September until May. During June, July and August, this group meets on BOTH the second and fourth Mondays! We just love to get together to chat, learn to know each other better and share stories about our lives, children, grandchildren or a book we just read! We meet year-round because we genuinely don’t want to cook at least once a month and twice during the summer! No reservation required -- just join us for lots of laughter!

With the help of our Building Site Coordinator, Lisa Harrison, we have also reached out in ways we can connect or serve the community. VOA ladies from both groups have attended the Plarn-making workshops, book clubs and discussions, card making sessions, Habitat for Humanity women’s build days and several volunteer at the Food Pantry. We see PW as a positive place to get our new members plugged in to do the good that is ours to do while being surrounded with other ladies who love our God!

Kelly Thomason

The Amazing Graces Book Club has selected the following books to read and discuss in April and May:

• April 5 - Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post, by Allison Pataki
  
• May 3 - Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
  

We’re happy to have you join us! We meet year round, usually on the first Wednesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. All are welcome (if fully vaccinated). We meet in homes, so please contact Sara Wallace to be added to the monthly email distribution.

Please join the Page Turners Book Group at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 25, for our discussion of Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. Visitors and prospective members receive a warm welcome, having read the book or not.

In 1596, William Shakespeare’s 11-year-old son Hamnet died in Stratford-upon-Avon. Four or so years later, Shakespeare wrote the play considered by many to be his greatest work, giving its tragic hero a variation of his dead son’s name. Almost four centuries later, the author was studying Hamlet at school and learned of the boy Hamnet, whose life had been little more than a footnote in his father’s biography. The result is a reimagining of Hamnet’s death and the long-lasting ripples it sent through his family.

Page Turners meetings are held the fourth Tuesday of each month (except December) in Room 127 at Village on Mission. We hope to see you there. For further information please contact Barbara Lee (lhlee@att.net) or Ann Raikula (ann.raikula@sbcglobal.net).

We’ve settled on Wednesday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall at Village on Antioch for our next PW Quarterly Book Club. We’ll read Life in a Jar - The Irena Sandler Project by Jack Mayer. There are copies avaialbe at the library and it has a wonderful tie to both Kansas and Johnson County. All readers and book lovers are welcome!

Wednesday, May 3, 12:00 p.m. at LongHorn Steakhouse

Hello, WOW friends! We hope this finds you doing well as we announce our mid-spring lunch gathering to which all Village women are warmly invited.

We are scheduled for Wednesday, May 3, at 12:00 p.m. at LongHorn Steakhouse, 9551 Metcalf Avenue (in the site of the former Metcalf South Shopping Center). The restaurant can be accessed from northbound Metcalf, or from 95th Street by turning south at the light on Barkley Street, driving past Lowe's, turning right, then winding your way a very short distance southwest to the restaurant.

LongHorn Steakhouse is a casual, comfortable setting with a frontier theme, and the lunch menu includes sandwiches, salads, and soups that feature steak, chicken, salmon, etc. We would love to share conversation, fellowship, and tasty food with you and perhaps a friend of yours, and hope so much that you will join us. Please RSVP to Diane Lee at 913-432-4321 or dianelee@att.net by Tuesday, May 2. We really look forward to seeing you!

“Do Everything in Love” will be the theme of Presbyterian Women’s 2024 Churchwide Gathering. Save the date: August 8–11, 2024. Village Church women are planning to road trip to St. Louis, MO. for the event. Save these dates, share these dates and plan to join women from around the country!

The gathering's theme is based on 1 Cor. 16:13–14, with daily themes such as: What Does Love Have to Do With It?; Loving Our World; Loving Our Neighbors; Loving Ourselves; and Loving Out Loud.

Connect with Rev. Sally S. Wright (sally.wright@villagepres.org) to show your interest in this once-every-three-years event!

We are all women of Village Church, the community of church, and those who support the purpose of Presbyterian Women (PW) following a path of being invitational, relational, missional and magnetic. You are welcome!

Email: laura.hobbs@villagepres.org
Website: villagepres.org/pw.html
Location: 6641 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS, USA
Phone: 913-262-4200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PWofVC