Christian Women Connection
Phone: (765) 648-2102 • Toll-Free: (866) 778-0804
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission
    • History
    • National Staff
    • Our Council
  • Ministries
    • 2020 CBO Remittance >
      • Stories of Hope - Virtual
    • "Change" the World
    • The Linen Chest
    • Children of Promise
  • Resources
    • Unwritten-Suicide Prevention
    • Annual Planning Resources >
      • 2021 Empower Life
      • Local and State Projects
    • God Moments Devotional
    • re:Connect
    • During Covid-19
    • LifeGivers Courses
    • Logos and Artwork
    • Forms
    • Relevance Report
  • Events
    • Convention 2022
    • State and Regional Events
  • News
  • Connect
    • Connector Ministries >
      • ARISE - Women in Ministry
      • You Feed Them
      • Multicultural Ministry
      • Mentoring Women in Transition
      • Becoming a Missionary
      • Planning a Mission Trip
    • Partnership
    • Start a New CWC Group
    • National Newsletter
    • State Newsletters
    • Social Media
    • Links
    • Contact Us
  • Hands & Hearts
  • Give
    • 2020 CBO Remittance
    • Donate to CWC
    • Shop Amazon Smile
  • Store

Lyon Legacy: Great Faith, Great Family, Great Love

1/15/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
​


Mildred E. (Worthen) Lyon
May 24, 1921 – January 11, 2019


Born in the 1880’s, John Worthen and his wife, Pearl, moved from their Iowa home to Washington State at the dawn of the 20th century.  Captured by the mountains and the sea, they found their future at the edge of the continent, building their new home and fortune in the burgeoning young city of Seattle.
 
In 1921, while visiting extended family back in Ottumwa, they welcomed the fourth of what would be five children born into their loving arms.  They named her Mildred, after her father’s sister, who would become a beloved aunt.  Shortly thereafter, the Worthens returned to Washington, where all of the Worthen children would grow, attend school, and establish their own homes.  Mildred, like her three sisters and one brother, graduated from Seattle’s Lincoln High School.  As a young woman, she began her career at The Bon Marche downtown, an elegant department store which immersed her into a world of style and fashion that helped define her world for a lifetime.
 
More influential, though, was the Church of God.  Her parents were Church of God pioneers, both in Iowa and in Washington, deeply grounded in a community of faith which emphasized Jesus, the authority of Scripture, and the wonders of a life lived by the power of the Holy Spirit.  At times, she dared some of the boundaries of that holiness upbringing (which, when she was young, discouraged the wearing of jewelry and make-up, for instance), but chose to follow Jesus just the same.  From an early age, she treasured the Word, the Church of God, the church’s music and message, and a transforming relationship with Christ.  Her living faith, her loving family, and her profound allegiance to the truths and values with which she was raised anchored her throughout a long and eventful life.  She revered her parents and the rich fabric of life in Seattle that framed her.  Like theirs, hers is a story of decades of quiet generosity and grace; Heaven only knows the names of those she blessed and even rescued.
 
That life had its share of disappointments and loss.  Still, on bright mountaintops and in chill valleys, she proved herself fiercely independent, resilient, and strong.  Unable to conceive and longing to be a mom, she prayed without ceasing and waited a decade to adopt, at last receiving a son, Jim.  Abandoned by her first husband in the sad unraveling of a home, she prayed and waited, before marrying in the 1950’s the man who would honor her and her young son, Don Lyon.  Don was to her a prince and a true partner for life; he passed away in 2016.  She, for her part, excelled as a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mom, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother.  A terrific cook and hostess, she loved to entertain in her home, work in the church kitchen, and win others with gifts of generosity and hospitality.
 
Don and Mildred relocated to Anderson, Indiana, late in life, to be near their son and his family, who had moved from Seattle to Indiana earlier.  In Anderson, they found a new church home at Madison Park Church of God which they loved as they did their original church home in Seattle, Fairview Church of God.
 
Mildred passed away peacefully, after a brief illness, on the evening of January 11, in her Anderson home.  She lived independently until Christmas Eve 2018, when pneumonia sent her to hospital.  Her family thanks God for allowing her to be with them so long and in such good form. 
 
Mildred is survived by her son, Jim Lyon, his wife, Maureen (Anderson, IN), her four grandsons:  Jacob (wife Emily) Lyon (Anchorage, AK), Peter (wife Nicole) Lyon (Anderson, IN), Andrew Lyon (Seattle, WA), and Nathanael (wife Kimmi) Lyon (Dayton, OH), six great-grandchildren, and a large, extraordinary extended family, of which she was the last matriarch, the last of a generation of Worthens, modeling faith, family, and love.  She is also survived by a treasured niece, Janet Ropkins (husband Bill) Kockritz (Seattle, WA), who became as close and dear as a daughter would have been, to both Don and Mildred.
 
A service celebrating her life will be held in Seattle at the Fairview Church on Friday, January 18, at 3:00p.  Memorial gifts may be made to the Madison Park Church of God (P.O. Box 2479, Anderson, IN 46018) or the Fairview Church (844 Northeast 78th Street, Seattle, WA  98115). 
                
Picture
She is pictured with her son Jim Lyon, now serving as
​General Director of Church of God Ministries, Anderson, IN (2018)

Picture
She is pictured with her grandson Nathanael Lyon,
​now serving as a Church of God pastor at Church of God, Salem -  Dayton, OH (2018)

Picture
​Photo taken with her three siblings and parents in 1935; Mildred was 14, second from right, next to her brother John. Her mom, bottom left, was a protege of Nora Hunter, first President of the Women's Missionary Society in Washington, and, believed to be on the national Women's Missionary Society board in early years, taking train from Seattle to Anderson. Her name was Pearl Worthen.


0 Comments

For the Love of Dee...You've Got This! by: Rev. Tatum M. Osbourne

1/10/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
​When first asked to write this tribute, everything in me wanted to say no, but I remembered something Dee would always say, “You’ve got this!” I thought to myself, that is easier said than done. How do you encapsulate by the stroke of a pen someone who exuded life?  How do you memorialize the essence of someone who would not be defined by labels or live within the boxes others built for her? I’m still not sure I have answered either of those questions. However, what I want to share with you about Dionesha Antoinette Clarke were the three, biggest lessons her life taught me, all of us that loved her, and those that will experience her legacy through us. Things she strived to live out daily and encouraged all of us to do the same.
 
Dee, as we affectionately called her, believed in counting your blessings. Her life taught us to look around and see the amazing blessings God had granted in family, friends, and life. Her greatest joy and assignment in the earth was that of mom to little Miss London. She would often be heard saying, “everything I do I do for her.” No matter how tired she was or how hard her day had been London and home was her first priority. She loved her parents, her sister, Joscelyn (BFF from day one), her nephew, Ryan and her grandpa, Pop Lawson. That’s a lesson we all need to be reminded of, that our first ministry is to our family. We can be so busy that we neglect the relationships God has given us to nurture and develop. (Exodus 20:12 & Proverbs 22:6)
 
Dee taught us the value of honor and support for your pastor. She didn’t do this just because her father is Bishop Timothy J. Clarke. She did this because she first loved God. He calls His children to honor godly leadership. Whatever she did for First Church or the Berean Fellowship, she did unto God. I believe that she hoped her example would propel all of us to do the same. (Hebrews 13:17)
 
Lastly, Dee taught us to pursue our purpose and while doing so, encourage others to do the same. Dee was passionate about fulfilling one’s destiny. Passionate about discovering the gifts and callings that God has locked up on the inside of you and doing them actually. She believed that if God called you to something, He gifted you for that your call. Your gift is needed on the earth. Over the last few days, I had heard countless individuals all over the country who will never forget how Dee encouraged them when they were at their lowest, wanting to give up, didn’t think they were good enough or equipped enough. She would often say, “You’ve got this.” Her blog that she started back in December, A Daily Dose of Dee…. Motivation for the Soul became just the right amount of daily medicine from God through her to keep those of us who read it, going. The ultimate encourager that was Dee. The ultimate goal-getter, that was Dee. She believed that God had called us to shine and in doing so our light would reflect His glory. (Colossians 3:17)
 
So, I am determined to live out the lessons my sister, not by blood but by love, have taught me. Love family, honor God’s servants, and live out the purpose for which you were born. In doing so, you honor God.
​Sleep well sis until we meet again!
 
Lovingly Submitted,
Rev. Tatum M. Osbourne

 



Picture
We say goodbye. Rest well sis.

Sis. Dionesha A. Clarke Funeral Program: http://bit.ly/DeeClarkeFuneralProgram

Leave the Clarke Family Condolences: http://bit.ly/FirstChurch_ClarkeFamilyCondolences
​

#fortheloveofdee

Picture
A Daily Dose of Dee - Motivation for Your Soul
0 Comments

It's Harvest Time! - Rev. Dr. Arnetta McNeese Bailey

1/2/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture

It’s Harvest Time

 
He said to his disciples, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few.” (Matthew 9:37 NLT).
 
I remember as a child sitting in my backyard, bored because there appeared nothing to do. After sharing my frustration with my mom, I was suddenly given a list of things that I could do. Working in ministry can sometimes seem so routine that it appears that there is nothing meaningful to do, but there is. If we share our thoughts and frustrations with the Lord, the one who is in charge of the fields, he will show us what to do. A new assignment might emerge, or a revitalization of one that was.  
 
For over eighty-five years we have been blessed to partner with the church in women’s ministry. This ministry was birthed out of the need to help our missionaries and educate women and children in the call to mission. This call has not waned nor lost its purpose. How we articulate and promote our methods has changed and evolved, but our message remains the same. There is a harvest of souls waiting for you and me to help show them the way.
 
Yes, we need workers. We need volunteers, we need women who care. As a leader I know that often it is difficult to find people to serve. When that has happened to me, I have learned to ask this question first, “Is what I am asking folk to do, inspiring, transformative, or meaningful.” If we design our ministries to make a difference in another person’s life, God will send the workers.
 
I encourage you to be as creative and culturally aware of your surroundings as possible. There are needs all around you, in and outside the local congregations! This great harvest surrounds us, our cities are ripe, the needs are massive, the homeless are among us, the marginalized are in our midst, and lost souls are abundant. It’s harvest time.
 
Let us pray to the Lord of the harvest how best to meet those needs, and he will send the workers.
 
We in the national office have provided tools to assist your endeavor. I encourage you to use the resources available: Connector Ministries (web-based ministry guides), re:Connect, CBO materials, Friday Connection, and this magazine to name a few.
 
It’s harvest time dear friends! We need workers, persons just like you and me who remember when they met Jesus!


Picture
0 Comments

    Categories

    All

    Archives

    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016

    RSS Feed

Christian Women Connection • PO Box 2328, Anderson, IN 46018 • Toll-Free: (866) 778-0804 • Local: (765) 648-2102 • Fax: (765) 608-3094 • ​frontdesk@wchog.org