from the Editor’s Desk

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him

Immanuel” – which means “God with us.”

Matthew 1:23 NIV

Happy Christmas to all who read conXion. May the peace and love of Christ our Saviour fill your celebrations this Christmas.

2012 is nearly over so I am taking this opportunity to thank all who have written, those who have taken the time to photocopy, to those who read and those who share conXion with their friends. Without any of you this small publication would not be a reality. THANK YOU

As this year closes it gives us time to reflect – once we stop, of course! The work of Women’s Ministry in Queensland has this year been a time of consolidation, firming up what we do to empower and encourage the women of our state. There have been our two camps, which I am delighted to say have been most successful, thanks to both coordinators, Pam Hine and Carolyn Gee. Both ladies, along with their teams have shown their passion for women's gatherings by heading up a camp/retreat, selecting a theme, choosing a speaker and planning a weekend especially for you, the women of Queensland. Camps serve our smaller churches, giving the women an opportunity to meet and visit with old and new friends, and meet God where they are.

The other excitement for me was the day when Renee Shibuya (our resident Master Chef) called me and asked, “Why don’t we open a blog site for conXion?” It is a great way to read conXion, and through our blog you can also connect with some of our writers who have their own blog sites. The Churches of Christ Queensland web site is also easily available. All you need to do is type in  www.conxionmagazine.blogspot.com and bingo you’re on!

Each year for the past five I have had the pleasure of visiting Adelaide to meet with the coordinators of the women’s ministry in Australia where we share what has been happening in our respective states. Marj Dredge from SA has been our Australian representative with Global Women Connecting, and you would have read in November’s conXion her story of the Global gathering in Brazil.

The main purpose for us this year was to decide viability of maintaining a National Women’s Conference, as there are only two states that have a women’s ministry network. Each of the other states over the past few years have sadly closed. After much discussion and reflection the decision to dissolve was made. We realised that as a group there was little purpose in keeping the national entity going at this time. One of the points made that struck a chord for me was this statement “The era of women being able to express their faith where they could do things they are gifted in has changed, as women today have more opportunities to share their gifts than they did in years gone by”.

Again I wish each of you a Happy Christmas. May 2013 be a year where each one grows in their relationship with God, and we each ‘Shine the Light of Christ in our Communities’

Andi Owen