Global Conference on Happy Church

What are the necessary roles of women pastoral staff for making a happy church?

As part of women pastoral staff education, a global conference on happy church was held in a seminar room at New Jerusalem Pangyo Temple on April 28. It was a platform for discussing the necessary roles and attitudes of women pastoral staff for making a happy church together with the members. Seven presenters from six countries, including U.S., Nepal, and Zimbabwe, and panels shared opinions with women pastoral staff from all around the world to pool their wisdom.

Before the global conference started, Mother enlightened the women pastoral staff to their roles, saying, “Your role is to take care of our brothers and sisters with love, being united with pastoral staff.” She asked them to diligently deliver God’s love to their church members and neighbors.

Elderess Park Hyeon-ok (from Pune, India), who has been carrying out the overseas mission for over ten years, said during her gospel case presentation, “It wasn’t easy to adapt to a foreign environment and a new lifestyle. But I could overcome the barriers of culture and language when I treated the members with a smile, following the example of Mother.” In the following panel discussion, keywords such as mother and communication were often used. Elderess Stephanie Zapien (from El Paso, Texas, U.S.), when asked by an MC about the role of women pastoral staff, replied that it was similar to that of a mother in a family. She meant that the women pastoral staff had to give ear to the members going through difficulties, and cheer them up with love just as a mother is solely concerned about her child until he grows up. One woman pastoral staff, Silindile Makhanya (from Harare, Zimbabwe), put an emphasis on the importance of communication, saying, “I learned traditional local recipes from the local members. I made meals together with them; in the meantime, they felt a greater sense of belonging and responsibility, and I came to better understand their sentiments.”

The next day, there was a workshop for women pastoral staff all around the world on making a happy church. They gathered together by continent and by region; based on their experiences with the members, they discussed ways to create a happy church. During the discussion, many ideas related to educating students and children poured from them. Elderess Yu Ho-sun (from Goyang, Korea), who hosted the workshop for women pastoral staff from the Gyeonggi Bukseo Church Association, expressed her wish, saying, “Our brothers and sisters have lived different lifestyles with varying personalities. I want to give love as Mother does, so that they may always feel happiness.”

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