Are you familiar with Women in the Academy and Professions?
Here is an excerpt from our recently crafted 3-year Strategic Plan that launches in July:
The vision of Women in the Academy & Professions is to see women flourishing in their God-given callings and living as a redeeming influence in the academy and beyond.
When they do, our chapters prosper, our universities prosper, the Church prospers, our culture prospers, and God is honored.
"If Genesis is true—if you believe male and female are deep categories that are tied
to the creation of humankind and the image of God—then to fail to hear a woman’s voice on a topic
would be to fail to hear something the Holy Spirit is saying to our generation."
John Mark Reynolds Houston Baptist Seminary March 26, 2015
Our mission, therefore, is to challenge, encourage and support women through ministry online at The Well and on campus in graduate student and faculty communities.
We believe that this vision and mission are not new ideas, but articulate essential elements of InterVarsity’s vision, in which we hope to see “lives transformed, campuses renewed, and world changers developed.” As men and women learn to live and work together in an environment of mutual affirmation and support, they develop spiritual maturity and have opportunities to proclaim the truth, beauty, and goodness of the gospel. Hence, we are committed to working with men and women, students and faculty, UFM and GFM staff to provide training, resources, networking, opportunities to gather, and more in order to see this mission accomplished and our vision become a reality.
Online and On Campus
For years, our website The Well has been our primary ministry tool with regular articles addressing the concerns and issues facing women during their time in the university—as students, faculty or administrators. At our Facebook page, we connect our readers with helpful articles, tips, and resources from around the web. Over the next three years we will continue to provide the excellent content that you have come to expect while we increase the diversity of our writers and broaden our topics.
Ministry Idea:
Bookmarks from The Well are available at the staff store. Carry some to campus and give them out to senior women heading to grad school, graduate students, or faculty that you meet. Bookmarks are an easy way to say “We understand the issues that concern you and we have an online community that wrestles with them together.”
A key component in our strategic plan is on-campus engagement. Recently, we were in Texas to pilot a number of events including:
- A panel discussion with Rice faculty and a local lawyer focusing on their work, the way they have navigated various challenges around gender in the workplace, and work/life balance
- A manuscript study for the Rice Graduate Christian Fellowship on issues of gender and power
- A Red River area staff team meeting with Bible study and conversation around serving women on their campuses
- A panel of professional women in Austin addressing issues of work/life balance
Ministry Idea:
Invite us to your campus—we’d love to do something similar with you! We can help you connect with a broader audience on campus: women who may not come to other campus events might attend. We can meet with senior women who are considering grad school. We can help you partner with faculty on your campus to serve women in grad school or headed to grad school or into various professions. We can do training with your area team. We can provide opportunities for you to serve local alumni, get alumni involved in ministry with students, and broaden your networks.
The WAP team from left to right: Ann Boyd, Karen Guzmán, Anna Gissing, and Maricia Bosscher
We invite your suggestions for content at The Well and are available to answer any questions you have about our ministry.
Join us in praying that as we press into our strategic plan God will use our work to serve His people and grow His Kingdom on campus and beyond.
