Where Leading Worship is Leading One Pastor after the Women’s Retreat

Pastor Deborah Greenidge of Tigard Covenant Church reflects on this year’s Women’s Retreat and shares about what made it the best one yet, how it impacts her whole church community, and where she may be leading next.

You can find out more about PacNWC Women Ministries and read stories from the retreat HERE. To hear the song “The Lord is Here” that Pastor Deborah shares about click HERE. If after hearing about the retreat you’d like to wish Rob Mohrweis a “Happy Anniversary” you can email him, robmohrweis@cascadescamp.org.

Transcript

Lynette Sanchez: Greetings, Pacific Northwest Conference. My name is Lynette Sanchez, your communication specialist, and I am joined today by worship pastor Deborah Greenidge. She is at Tigard Covenant Church in Tigard, Oregon, and she is sharing with me today about the Women's Retreat that happened in September 18th through the 20th. Her and her team led the worship during the retreat. They've done it for many years, so many that she's lost count, and I'm so grateful to have her joining to share a little bit about her experience and what happened at the retreat this year.

So Deborah, thank you so much for being here. Can you tell me a little bit about, after all the years that you've done this, kind of what made this year special or stood out to you about this year?

Deborah Greenidge: I characterize this year as probably the best one I had been to, and I think it had to do with the way all the elements came together so beautifully. For me as a worship pastor, the things that affect what I do, half of those reasons are unseen things like the sound, the instruments, can I hear, can my singers hear, all those things.

And one thing I'd say about Cascades is, as far as the sound goes, they always do such a good job with the sound, helping us get exactly what we need. And this year was no different. Rob stepped in. I don't know how he managed everything for the weekend,  he ran sound, sound checks, rehearsals, all of that. I have a special place in my heart, a thank you to him, because I know that was a big weekend; it was his anniversary weekend he spent at running sound at camp. So, God bless him.

And then working with Jo [Wolfe, PacNWC Women Ministries Team Leader] is always very easy. And this year the speaker [Becca Worl] was very communicative. I'd rather have way too much communication than not enough. And so, she communicated really well what her sermons were going to be about and what she hoped the service might look like. So I had a great framework to plan the stuff that I did, and I really enjoyed the speaker. My people really enjoyed the speaker.

And there was a new space opened up near where we were housing that we could go to after the sessions and play games and eat snacks and stuff, so the fellowship afterwards was good. It was just all around—and the weather was perfect. So I mean, you couldn't ask for more.

Lynette Sanchez: Wonderful. That's so great to hear. I'm really glad it was a great weekend. And it sounds like Rob, Rob Mohrweis, who's the director of camp, was the one running sound. So, we'll all wish him a happy anniversary knowing what he spent the weekend doing!

Oh my goodness. So, in all the planning leading up to it and then the weekend, obviously you said it was a great weekend, but how did you see God at work? Bringing things together maybe for your team or just in your own life?

Deborah Greenidge: Yeah. Well, they asked me, this is the second year they asked me to start out the weekend with a night of worship. And I spent a lot of time thinking and praying about that. I don't think it's a night to pick your eight or ten favorite songs. I'm trying to hear from God what He wants the women to hear and feel on that first night to set up for a weekend of ministry, connection, healing, and all that. So, I really felt like the Lord gave me a track, and when I checked it against what the speaker wanted to do and Jo and everything, it lined up.

Now, on the back end for me, I have a singer who every year wants to go to retreat, and every year something comes up in her family or her work, and for all the years that I've done it, she's never been able to go. So this year, she got to go, and that was especially special for me.

But for my team of people, the process of getting ready for retreat always is a moment that brings us closer together, and I really value that, and I know they do. Even though we're exhausted at the end of the weekend, they all love worshiping together and sharing that with other people.

Lynette Sanchez: Yeah, I love that. And I love that you don't go to this retreat alone. You bring a whole team of people with you. How many people did you bring?

Deborah Greenidge: I know, right? We had... let's see, two, four, six, seven singers, a drummer, and a bass player. No, wait—three, six... yeah, we had eight singers. We almost had nine, but one didn't work out. We had eight singers.

Lynette Sanchez: Oh, that's wonderful. And what's the impact like then for your church? So, you have this weekend, it's really busy, there's a lot of planning that goes into it. When you come back from it, do you see God using that retreat and that time together as a team to impact the life of your whole church?

Deborah Greenidge: Well, there was one new song that I found, "The Lord is Here," that we sang all weekend at retreat, and for our team, it was very energizing. I think the bridge says, "The Lord is here, so anything can happen," which I think builds a sense of anticipation in people that God's going to work today, God's going to work in this moment. And so that's the energy we took back home.

And when we sang that song that first Sunday, everyone was like, none of the people who hadn't gone knew it, but they were all like, "Yeah, God's going to do something." You could feel that anticipation in the house.

So, the other thing I like about retreat is for our church, we took about 20 or 21 women to the retreat. So, it's noticeable on the Sunday that we're gone, and it's an opportunity for the men—an all-male team—to lead worship. You know, and I think that's great. I think it's a great opportunity for the men to have some of their own kind of fun.

Lynette Sanchez: That's a great point. Yeah, it's not just the women who go to the retreat, it's also your church stepping up and doing something maybe new for them because they're so used to being up there leading. Yeah. That's right.

Anything you're looking forward to in years to come or even thinking about for next year?

Deborah Greenidge: I am. Jo and I talked about this last year and I just didn't have the opportunity to put it into fruition, but I'm going to try again this year, which is: I don't necessarily have to be the person leading worship at the retreat next year, but if they did invite me, what I want to try to do is open up two or three days before the retreat starts for people who are interested in learning how to lead in worship. For people who either play piano or guitar or drums or bass, and people who sing, to have an intensive seminar where we work those two or three days learning and preparing, and then that group leads worship at the retreat.

So, I don't know all the details—it would cost money, I need to find some funding—and anyway, that's what I'd like to try to do.

Lynette Sanchez: Yeah, that's a wonderful idea. I think there'd be so many people who could come and learn from you and your background and experience, and then launch right into the retreat would be a perfect way to put that into action.

Oh, I love that. Well, thank you so much for joining me today and sharing more about the retreat, thank you for so many years of leadership at the retreat, and we are looking forward to many more, too.

Deborah Greenidge: My pleasure for sure. Thank you so much.

Lynette Sanchez: Thank you so much, Deborah. Bye!