Spouse of NAMB president to speak to ministry wives

Spouse of NAMB president to speak to ministry wives

Lunch held in conjunction with MBC’s annual meeting

By Allen Palmeri
Staff Writer

August 23, 2005

JEFFERSON CITY– Cheryl Reccord, wife of Bob Reccord, president of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, will be the featured speaker Oct. 25 at a Ministry Wives Luncheon at Boulevard Baptist Church, Springfield.

Tickets for the noon luncheon, to be held in conjunction with the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) annual meeting, are $10. Child care for ages 5 and under will be provided, as well as lunch for the children. Shuttle bus service will be available for those needing transportation from the site of the annual meeting, Second Baptist Church, Springfield, to the luncheon.

Suzanna Clippard, wife of David Clippard, MBC executive director, and co-advisor for the Ministry Wives Luncheon, said Cheryl Reccord will address the theme of “Ministry Island: Surviving or Thriving?” adeptly.

“She’s had lots of experience as a minister’s wife,” Suzanna Clippard said. “She’s a very dynamic speaker, and she has a real heart for ministering to ministers’ wives. I believe that she will have a lot of practical and spiritual wisdom to impart.

“We were in ministry 10 years before David was a pastor. It was a quantum leap to become a pastor’s wife. Somehow or another, there’s just all kinds of unique pressures and expectations.”

The other co-advisor for the luncheon is Weida Spannagel, wife of Roy Spannagel, MBC associate executive director. Weida Spannagel emphasized that the luncheon is for the wives of pastors, associate pastors, youth pastors, music ministers, directors of missions, missionaries, MBC staff, Baptist Student Union directors and Baptist college/university staff members. The goal is to meet these women where they are.

“We want to help the women understand that they can be who they are and do what God wants them to do and not have to be exactly like somebody else,” she said. “They can be themselves.

“Basically, we want this to be a time of encouragement for the ladies, so that they can be who they are in their local churches.”

A Ministry Wives Retreat with the same theme is being planned for March 17-19 at Cross Pointe Retreat Center, Rocky Mount. Kathy Ferguson, widow of the late Rick Ferguson, 11-year pastor of Riverside Baptist Church, Denver, will be speaking at the retreat.

Those interested in attending the Oct. 25 luncheon can call Rose Credille at the Baptist Building at (573) 800-736-6227, ext. 431, or email her at rcredille@mobaptist.org.