Emerging Voices
Leadership is not a position. It is who we are.
“Leadership is demonstrated in every aspect of our lives,” says Reverend Dr. Maxine Waddell, director of AJAMM’s Emerging Voices Institute. AJAMM recognizes that ministry training must be comprehensive and go beyond instruction on simply “how” to preach. AJAMM’s newest initiative is a three-year training program that consists of seminars, preaching clinics, and opportunities for ongoing evaluation for women developing a preaching ministry or seeking to improve their public speaking skills.
Leadership is learned most effectively when modeled by the right leader. That is the guiding principle behind the institute’s training seminars, which are offered at AJAMM’s annual Stir Up the Gift conferences and in regional forums. The seminars ensure face-to-face interaction and opportunities to field questions about the challenges of carrying out ministry in arenas dominated by men. Seminar topics cover homiletics, critical reading and thinking, biblical interpretation, and more.
The institute’s preaching clinic is designed for participants to hone their homiletic and speaking skills in a dynamic interactive environment. A group of seasoned preachers hear sermons prepared and delivered by participants in an actual worship setting and offer constructive critiques for the mutual benefit of the clinic’s participants and listening audience.
Emerging Voices aims to make a lasting difference in
participants’ lives, and the institute’s follow-up conferences
and consultations are vital to that mission. “We want to help
women put into practice what they learn at the conferences in
a deliberate way,” says Reverend Waddell. Monthly
teleconferencing and quarterly in-person sessions help draw
the connection between training and practice and guide
participants in navigating the new and sometimes difficult
terrain of church leadership.
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