HOW DID I ARRIVE HERE? OR WHO BROUGHT ME HERE?

Sheryl VanderWagen, President, NAB Antiochian Women

Little did I know that, twenty-seven years after becoming Orthodox, I would become President of the North American Board of the Antiochian Women in the organization’s fiftieth year. How did I get here, or, for that matter how did any of our Board members arrive in their leadership positions? I believe it is all about the practice of mentorship. Mentorship takes on many forms. It might be a mother or a grandmother guiding a daughter or a granddaughter by example. Formal mentorship is mostly found in corporate settings, but I believe that it is also a practice that will carry the Antiochian Women into another fifty years. At its root, mentorship is the practice of guiding and supporting someone who has less experience than you do. I will use my experiences from the last twenty-seven years as an example. I pray that as you read this, you will think of examples from your own life, and consider ways you might pass on to others the wisdom you have gained from your experience.

We came to St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church (Grand Rapids, MichiganI) in September 1996. I remember it well, because our youngest daughter was a month old. We were chrismated the next year on Holy Saturday. We didn’t know anyone at the church, save Fr. John Estephan of blessed memory, who encouraged us to come to a service. The first person to welcome us was our friend, Mae, who invited us to the coffee hour, where we also met Margaret and Margaret. These three Antiochian women played an important part in our introduction to the Church, and in our coming back Sunday after Sunday. Through them, I got involved in the Ladies Golden Links (the local Antiochian Women chapter), where I eventually took on the offices of Vice-President and President. I also learned the fine art of prosphora baking from one of the Margarets. All three of these women have since departed this life, but they are my first mothers in the Church.

In 2005, I was encouraged to become involved in the Midwest Antiochian Women of the Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest. At that time, I had attended one Parish Life Conference and one Midwest Antiochian Women meeting, but I knew that I wanted to be a part of that sisterhood. Over the next ten years I served as Secretary and President. I had many wonderful Midwest sister/mentors as I learned about the diocesan and archdiocesan organizations, among them Elinor Bourjaily, Libby Kohl, and Ramona Darmour. All have departed this life, yet they left me with a strong sense of the tradition, history, and value of the Antiochian Women.

They were fountains of encouragement when I had doubts about whether I could ever fill their shoes. They were sources of inspiration for me as I strove to be like them in their love and dedication to the Antiochian Women in North America. Most of all, they supported and guided me through uncharted waters by continuing as officers or coordinators under my leadership. They were in every sense servant-leaders and my mothers in Christ.

Finally, with continued encouragement, I began my service on the North American Board of the Antiochian Women in 2015, first as Secretary, then as Vice-President, until today, as I begin my term as President of this wonderful organization and sisterhood in 2023, its fiftieth year. I continue to look to my new mentors and my fellow servant-leaders as I embark on this new journey. Most of them continue to serve their diocesan and NAB organizations as officers and coordinators. I am thankful to God, too, for the new group of dedicated diocesan and NAB officers. They are my new mentors; I will learn from them, and pray that together we will move this organization into its next fifty years.

We are off to a good start with the 2024 NAB Project announced at the recent Archdiocese Convention. This year’s Project will honor our widowed clergy wives for their years of dedication and the service they gave alongside their priest-husbands in parishes throughout our Archdiocese. Out of our love, respect and thankfulness, we will establish an endowment fund to support them in their need, as they so often supported us in our times of need.

We will once again have a Humanitarian Act of Mercy in which parishes across the Archdiocese will be able to participate. This past year, many parishes in North America supported our Orthodox Pregnancy Resource Centers, in particular, Zoe House and The Treehouse. The Act of Mercy brings many parishes together with a common goal to show mercy to those less fortunate, thereby shining the Light of Christ in a dark world.

Over the last several years, many women have enjoyed our NAB Book Club. This has been an opportunity for both fellowship and spiritual growth in many parishes. I pray that this year’s book selection will be a blessing.

At the Archdiocese Convention, we premiered a new Antiochian Women documentary, featuring interviews with a few of our Antiochian Women on the topic of what it means to be an Antiochian Women and to be a part of this living, breathing organization. I encourage every woman in every parish to adopt a “daughter/sister,” and bring her into your local Antiochian Women activities. I ask every diocesan and NAB officer and coordinator to do the same. I would certainly not be writing this today had not my dear, departed mothers in Christ done this for me. I thank God for each of you and I pray for the work you do in your parishes, your dioceses, this Archdiocese, and the world.