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SEBTS, NAMB host annual Women’s Leadership Breakfast


PHOENIX (BP) — Transition was the topic of the 2017 Women’s Leadership Breakfast, in which Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and the North American Mission Board partnered together to host more than 92 women on June 14.

The event was held in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Phoenix.

Denise O’Donoghue, outgoing director of women’s life and assistant professor of ministry to women at SEBTS, introduced LifeWay Christian Resources’ Kelly King as the guest speaker.

King was appointed last fall as the women’s ministry specialist for Lifeway Women. She was formerly the women’s missions and ministries specialist for the Baptist General Convention in Oklahoma. She shared with women that morning about many life experiences that led her through times of transition and dependence on the Lord.

“We’re not just talking about one transition,” King said. “We’re talking about life transition.”

King shared that within months, her husband Vic had lost his job and she had been asked by Lifeway to take on the position she finds herself in today. This set the stage for them to move from their home of Oklahoma to Nashville, Tenn.

Also during this time, on Father’s Day in 2016, King shared that she found out she had diverticulitis, a disease that causes inflammation in the digestive system.

“I ended up in the hospital for five days — three weeks before my daughter’s wedding,” she said, but she counts it as a blessing.

“In the midst of all that, God was so good. God was so sweet because in the midst of all those scans, they also found that I had a mass on my kidney that would not have been detected if I had not had those pains.”

King used these stories to highlight the importance of God’s sovereignty in the midst of life’s seasons and taught out of Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 (CSB).

“New leadership — new transitions — mean new opportunities,” she said.

King spoke of the process of grieving that comes with transition and talked about the difficulty that came in uprooting her life in Oklahoma.

In her explanation to women of Ecclesiastes 3:5, King asked, “Can we gather the things that are meant to trip us up and use them for God’s glory so that we prepare the way for His coming?”

She encouraged women that are in new seasons of leadership to learn from those who have had more experience, explaining that God has been teaching her the value of learning to be silent and listen as well as speaking with wisdom.

King also challenged women to remain faithful in their time in God’s Word.

“If you’re in a transition of leadership, there is no better place to be than starting in God’s Word every single day,” said King, “and submitting yourself to Him and saying, ‘OK God, today is Yours and in Your time, You will make things beautiful.'”

In closing, King led women in a time of prayer over those who were transitioning into a new leadership role in the past year.

LifeWay provided resources for the guests who attended the breakfast.

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  • Lauren Pratt