I had the somewhat appalling realization this morning that the fall CoCo meeting is only a week away. I have no idea where the time goes!! That is the problem with a slow month like August—it lulls you into thinking that everything is way off in the distance, and then you awaken to find that your event is only a week away.

What does the Coordinating Committee do at its meetings? Well, it sets the goals and direction for our work on a national level. For example, the topic and location of the NNPCW Leadership Event are CoCo decisions. Who decides which people get to attend church conferences with NNPCW? CoCo. And if a new resource comes out of NNPCW, CoCo is usually behind it. Most of the inspiration behind our work comes from the Coordinating Committee.

The large items on the docket for this CoCo meeting include a redesign of the NNPCW brochure and a diversity definition. At the spring meeting, CoCo decided that it should show its commitment to racial ethnic diversity by creating a completely Spanish/English bilingual brochure. In addition, CoCo will define what the word “diversity” means for NNPCW and add that to the brochure as well. Now, if you’ve ever seen NNPCW’s main brochure, you know how full of text it is. No one is quite sure how we’re going to add a definition, translate the whole thing into Spanish, and then fit all the text onto one tri-fold. Don’t forget that groups have also told us more photos would be nice. So, in good Presbyterian fashion, we will establish a committee to figure it out.

Of course, we’re never quite sure what will come out of a CoCo meeting. Every business session includes a 45-minute “Brainstorming/Big Ideas” session, in which members just shout out ideas and then assign those ideas to working groups. Once the working groups have refined them, we consent as a group to the outcome. Then Brianne and I take the projects back to the office and work to implement them.

CoCo isn’t all about business, though. We worship God both in the mornings and at night during the meeting. On Saturday night, we also come together as a community to share with one another in a “check in.” At this point, each woman on the committee has the opportunity to talk about whatever she wants for as long as she wants, without interruption. The point is to create a place where our voices as women cannot be silenced, where others see, hear, and acknowledge our thoughts and feelings. Perhaps this component leaves the most lasting effect on CoCo members.

On that note, I need to get to work planning for this meeting. After all, I only have a week left to get ready!

“God’s mercy is for those who fear God from generation to generation.” --Luke 1:51

Kelsey