A Year in Review - 2020
NEWIM’s Annual Report of Achievements
Major Highlights from 2020
Strengthening women in ministry by providing opportunities for spiritual enrichment, personal connections and resources.
2020 started innocently enough for NEWIM. We hosted a mentoring retreat and plans were in place for two Springs Retreats in Three Rivers and one in Arizona, a Writer's Getaways, 5 Pastors' Wives retreats in northern and southern California, a Leadership Team retreat and so much more.
In March, two new Board members were installed and donations were increasing, giving NEWIM the opportunity to offer additional scholarships so more women could experience God in new ways. Then the bottom dropped out—for everyone. COVID-19 shut down the whole world and plans changed.
Change is never easy, especially in the middle of a pandemic. But, the NEWIM Board of Directors got on our knees and prayed, and worked diligently to adjust aspirations and reorganized goals to meet the uncertain times head on. And God was faithful. We've come to the end of the strangest year ever with blessings and accomplishments.
Luann Budd, president of NEWIM, shares specific ways NEWIM is responding to the challenges of the pandemic.
Mentoring Retreat, 2020
Kim Bagato, new Board member
Darlene Derby, new Board member
The NEWIM Board welcomed two new members: Darlene Derby and Kim Bagato. They joined Luann Budd, President; Kim Johnson, Secretary and Chair; Deanna Harder, CFO; and Director She Brown.
Kim Bagato is the Director of Social Media and Newsletter editor.
Darlene is our Bookkeeper.
Deanna is fully transitioned to the role of CFO now that Maureen Moore is retired. Deanna also continues to lead our technology initiatives.
Online and In-Person Retreats
A one-day silent retreat called "The Streams" began in Southern California.
In-person small group gatherings were held in Orange County, the Modesto area, and Kern County prior to the start of the pandemic. Pastors’ wives got together on zoom for connection and encouragement.
Kern County Local Get Together
Southern California Get Together, Feb. 29, 2020
The Arizona Springs retreat was held as planned in November.
The Springs Retreat in Three Rivers had to be canceled in both the spring and fall. All of the pastors’ wives retreat also had to be canceled. We sought to bridge the gap by adding over 45 online retreat segments, 15 playlists, and 20 printed documents for download on the NEWIM website for individual or small group contemplative retreats.
Created a NEWIM YouTube channel to host all of our video content. In July, 2020, we began using this channel and ended the year with 24 subscribers. We had a total of 1,400 women view content, watching 66.5 hours of content.
Opportunities to Connect
Pastors’ Wives get together via Zoom
Cindi and Kathy, Co-Leaders of the Writers’ Group
Local women got together for a morning retreat in Bakersfield
NEWIM’s Writers Group met monthly with Kathy Collard Miller and Cindi McMenamin and stayed up-to-date using a Facebook private group for writers. Several women published books and/or articles this year. Book authors are featured on a new webpage: Newim’s Writers. Unfortunately, the Writers’ Getaway had to be canceled but it on the calendar for 2021.
Began a weekly online prayer time via Zoom called Mondays @ 10.
NEWIM Book Club continues to meet and grow, reading a mix of fiction, devotional, non-fiction, and historical fiction books.
A new ministry was begun! Conversation on Racism
June Chambliss Turner hosted a six-session series entitled: Conversation on Racism. Ten women met on zoom every other week to raise questions, listen to various perspectives, and find out about resources. Resources about racism and social justice from a Biblical perspective were posted with annotations on our website and key videos added to a playlist on NEWIM’s YouTube channel.
Roundtable Conversations
Luann and Sarah Budd (June) and Luann and Holley Clough (July) hosted 2 Roundtable conversations with CEOs, self-employed women, and leaders of other non-profits. The intention was to talk about the challenges and resources for leading during uncertain times. However, we discovered that we just needed to talk about how we were doing and be encouraged by the group.
Fun Evenings
Hosted 4 Fun Evenings online being creative together. We met via zoom and did some art journaling and Marisa Garza taught us how to create book marks and Christmas greetings in brush lettering.
Online Resources
Social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter multiple times a week.
One goals in 2020 was to increase NEWIM’s online presence with the hope that more women would find out about this organization and all of the resources available to encourage them in their ministry. NEWIM’s Social Media director posted 337 posts to Facebook, almost 1 per day, ending 2020 with 213 fans (24 new fans). We had 1,900 reactions, comments and shares to our Facebook posts. We also began using Twitter (33 new followers, 230 engagements) and Instagram (57 followers, 1,100 engagements with our photos).
Monthly e-newsletter with articles written by women in NEWIM.
Website: A Robust Resource for Women in Ministry
Began a weekly NEWIM email highlighting specific resources and events on the NEWIM website.
Videos posted on social media and the NEWIM website so women could become connected with NEWIM. Increased online presence has enabled women to find NEWIM.
Updated webpages with updated information on leading through a crisis, thriving in ministry, and added a new Bible study on Peace, and Guides for Silent Retreats on the website.
In 2020, there were 4,400 unique visitors to NEWIM’s website, making 5,100 visits (many women returned multiple times). 83% came from the United States, 3.4% from Canada and China. The top searches that led people to the website: “Christian silent retreat,” “Christian devotional practices,” “Writing for God.” The most popular contact besides the Home page: Guided Silent Retreats (820 page views), The Springs (Calif: 451 page views, AZ: 413 page views), Coping with COVID-19 (350 pv), Creating an Online Retreat (325 pv), Writing as a Ministry for God’s Glory (229), and A Conversation about Racism (172).
NEWIM - Cape Town, South Africa | Beautiful Day Retreat Team
Administrative Accomplishments
NEWIM Board drafted and implemented a safety response and protocols for hosting events during the pandemic; created a cancellation policy for future events; held Board meetings via zoom; established decision-making processes for events; and continued to monitor NEWIM'S financial situation. The 2020 Budget was increased to allow for more scholarships (including for Capetown, South Africa). Then, due to cancellations of events, the budget was revised. Bylaws were retyped and restated (to organize and re-incorporate Amendments from the past 15 years). Continued to re-imagine the future of ministry for NEWIM. All NEWIM information is now securely maintained in the cloud. NEWIM became an Amazon affiliate.
The NEWIM Leadership Team
top: Kim Johnson, Luann Budd, Pam Cashion, Barb Nurmi, Mary Williams, Tracy Millward, Deanna Harder
Janae Swan, Maureen Moore, Christy Wold, Darlene Derby, Rugena Duff
Betsy Stowe, June Chambliss Turner, Kim Bagato, Cheryl Dale, Rochelle Anderson
Kathy Collard Miller, Cindi McMenamin, Jill Austin, Sheila Brown, Elaine Russell
Sherylynne Carriveau, Heather Simko, Cathleen Lawler
not pictured: Becky Austin, Barbara Willett, Sue Saboni, Holly Kalton, Jackie Rettberg
Looking to 2021
2020 - What a year!
Overall, 2020 has been a crazy, overwhelming and strange year. Yet, NEWIM has continued to dream, reimagine and implement change. 2020 has been a year of amazing accomplishments.
God has blessed NEWIM in ways never imagined. While the year was difficult to say the least, looking back we can see how far we've come. While the pandemic has made it difficult to plan ahead, there are still dreams, hopes and goals for the future of NEWIM. The four areas of focus remain the same; 1) small group gatherings (in person or online); contemplative retreats (in person or online); 3) safe places; and 4) helping women in ministry find NEWIM.