Mary L. Maxson has been elected as director of the North American Division Women's Ministries Department. She took over the assignment January 1, 1999, at the division headquarters. Mary is already known to many women for her musical abilities, public presentations and her gift of personal ministry as well as serving in many church and conference positions.

In 1996 when Rose Otis transferred to the North American Division from the General Conference Department of Women's Ministries, she was given two hats: director of Women's Ministries as well as Vice President for Ministries. It soon became evident that the assignment was too much for any one person and Women's Ministries has been carried primarily by Evie VandeVere from her home in Tennessee. Evie has been responsible for the Advisory held in San Diego, California, in connection with the NAD Ministerial Convention this past month. Beginning February 1 she will be free to join her husband who has retired. Evie has served in Women's Ministries almost since it began in North America.

In November, at the Division Year End Meetings, Debra Brill was elected to fill the vice presidential position vacated when Rose Otis moved to the Texas Conference. Mary was elected shortly after to fill the WM departmental leadership.

"We are happy and grateful that the North American Division has chosen two good women leaders for these positions," says Ardis Stenbakken, General Conference WM director. "It shows the confidence the division has in its women and their desire to meet the needs of women in a meaningful way."

Mary came to the General Conference in 1994 when her husband, Ben Maxson, became Director of the GC Stewardship Department. They have served in the Georgia-Cumberland, Missouri, Carolina, and the Upper Columbia Conferences. The Maxsons also served in Argentina for three years (yes, Mary is bilingual). Pastor Maxson says they have always had a team ministry, but Mary has also served as a secretary and Shepherdess leader and has recently assisted Sharon Cress with presentations for Shepherdess in a number of divisions.

Two years ago, feeling the lack of ministry challenge, Mary became certified as a hospital chaplain associate. She is well known for her personal ministry and strong prayer ministry. She is certified as a Discipleship Seminar Trainer, a Learning to Care Trainer (reaching out to inactive church members), and has a certificate in Marriage Enrichment Communication Skills. She has written a number of articles and taught cooking classes in English and Spanish as well as presented seminars.

It is Mary's vision for Women's Ministries to "lift up Jesus Christ and Him crucified by enabling women to discover and realize their leadership and ministry within the home, the church, and the community." Through training, the department "will enrich and empower women to realize their value as human beings and their role within church and society."

A Day in the Life of a Devotional Book Submission
by Iris L. Stovall

9:00 - 10:00 AM Louise opens me and sticks me in Iris' mail slot. A while later, Iris takes me to her desk and stamps the day's date and "sample" on me. She types my author's name, address, phone number, biographical sketch, and my title in her computer database file. Then, she checks to see if I was previously sent in. Whew! I wasn't.  I sit on her desk, along with the disk my author sent. Other devotionals received are logged in. Thank you letters are sent to each author letting them know we've all been received.

10:00 - 10:45 AM My scripture text (book, chapter, verse, and Bible version) is checked for accuracy. Flipping the pages of the Bible, Iris sighs. It seems my author's text reference was wrong. After searching a while, she scratches out my text on the submission and writes the correct one.

11:00 AM The director of Women's Ministries, Ardis Stenbakken, comes from her office to say the devotional she's just read sounds very familiar. Iris glances at it, agrees, and puts it aside to research later.

Mail arrives again, and in it two more devotional submissions. Oh, no! Competition. 

Using a list that shows proposed placement of each devotional in the book, Iris makes a check of my scripture to insure it isn't already used in a specific month. Since my author doesn't yet have a devotional scheduled that month, and my subject doesn't appear too many times yet, I am given a preliminary date and put in a file to wait for the director's next devotional reading session.  When will that be?

12:00 Noon Copies of correspondence to the authors are filed away. It's almost lunchtime.  Louise and Ardis have already gone; Lynnetta will be leaving momentarily.

The devotional that needs researching is checked against devotional books from previous years to see if the devotional was already printed. Ah hah! It was in a book two years prior, under a different name. "Duplicate" is written across the top of the first page, along with a notation of when it appeared in print. It is put it in a hold file. Later, the author will receive correspondence advising that the devotional already appeared in a previous book The database will also be updated with this information.

12:35 PM A co-worker delivers a DHL package from one of the WM directors. "Five devotionals are inside," Lynnetta says. "Competition is really getting stiff!" Not to worry I'm well written!

Iris takes a lunch break, so I sit and wait (again). 

1:15 - 2:15 PM Louise is on the phone talking to a devotional author who's called in to say a devotional that GCWM wrote her about isn't hers. Iris, who is back from lunch now, hears bits of the conversation and groans quietly before pulling out her devotional notebook. She begins looking for the author's name and devotional title. Louise continues talking to the author, getting all the specifics.

By the time Louise hangs up the phone, Iris has written down the date the devotional in question is scheduled to appear in the next book and has pulled the book manuscript. Browsing through it, she finds that the devotional was written by that author, but who can blame her for forgetting?  Turn around time between writing, submitting, and publishing a devotional is usually two to three years! A copy of the original submission is located and duplicated. Within a few days, the author will know the submission is hers.

2:15 PM The disk that contains my devotional is "dumped" onto the computer and formatted according to Review and Herald Publishing Association's standards. I'm official.

3:00 PM Ardis mentions that she will be reading devotionals tonight. Iris hands her the "Ardis to Read" stack. I'm on the top of the pile! Lucky me!!

I can't wait... I just know I'll be in the next devotional book.

To be continued

Ludmila Krushenitskaya, Director of Women's Ministries for the Euro-Asia Division, received her Master's degree in Religion on November 6, 1998. She was one of the few Adventists allowed to complete a university education in what was formerly the USSR. Ludmila received a Master's degree in Physics and Mathematics in 1972 from the Ukraines' Odessa State University.

Ludmila has been Director of WM in ESD since 1991. GCWM is very proud of her successes in women's ministries as well as her recent educational accomplishments.

How to Run a Good Meeting

Here are some tips on how to run a meeting Don't compete with group members. Give their ideas precedence over yours.

  Listen to everyone. Paraphrase, but don't judge.

Don't put anyone on the defensive. Assume that everyone's ideas have value.

  Control the dominant people without alienating them.

  Realize that your interest and alertness are contagious.

  Keep all participants informed about where they are and what's expected of them.

  Keep notes on flip charts or aboard that everyone can see.

  Check with the person who owns the problem to find out if an idea is worth pursuing or if a proposed solution is satisfactory.

  Give others a turn at running the meeting. Those who learn to lead learn how to participate.

Source: Financial Times, 14 E. 60th St., New York, NY 10022. Communication Briefing, Ideas That Work.

WM Makes the Cover
and Inside Too

Three different division or union papers have recently featured Women's Ministries activities on the cover.

The entire special issue of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division Outlook featured the Women's Ministries Congress held in Chiang Mai, Thailand. And the whole issue was in full color. Besides the cover and back page, eight full pages are nothing but pictures. Our congratulations to SSD and thanks to John Duroe, editor and photographer.

The third quarter issue of Gleanings, from the Caribbean Union, also was devoted almost entirely to Women's Ministries. The cover is a lovely full color picture of the union director, Heather-Dawn Small. And at least eight of the 16 pages were devoted to stories about Women's Ministries, one of them a nice article by the union president, Peter J. Prime. Again, appreciation should be given to the editor, Vernon E. Andrews.

The Southern Asia Tidings, from India, for July had a cover picture and seven stories about Women's Ministries as well as an editorial by the editor, Dittu Abraham. What a blessing! Congratulations to all who contributed.

Video Series Available in SPD

The Department of Women's Ministries and the South Pacific Division Adventist Media Centre have developed a video series especially for women. There are six programs on three videos, answering questions that women often ask.

The videos are in PAL format only and cover a variety of topics on women's health. Each topic is presented in a talk-show style format.

All six programs can be obtained for $99.95 Australian dollars plus $8.60 freight. A single tape is $33.35 plus $3.60 freight.

They can be ordered from the Adventist Media Centre, South Pacific Division, PO Box 15, Wahroonga, New South Wales 2076, Australia. Fax: (02) 4871659.