Aglow International

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MinistryWatch.com’s Take
A Worldwide Ministry for Women

Aglow International (Aglow) is a worldwide ministry for women and by women. Aglow’s mission is to lead women to Jesus Christ and to help Christian women grow in the faith and minister to others. Aglow implements this mission by means of local chapters (“Lighthouses”), national conferences, seminars, Gospel outreaches, discipleship ministries, and participation in relief and development work. The majority of Aglow’s financial support is comprised of contributions and conference fees from affiliated individuals and fellowships.

Aglow engages in one-to-one ministry and local ministry outreaches via its local chapters. There are more than 3,700 of these groups, 1,500 in the U. S., and the rest spread throughout 153 other nations. Each month, millions of women gather at these local fellowships, which Aglow describes as the heart of its organization. Aglow women reach out to their communities in a variety of ways, including: prison ministry, volunteering at senior homes and inner city neighborhoods, offering help to single mothers, and just being a friend to the woman next door. Regular program activities include Bible studies, support groups, retreats, and annual conferences.

Lighthouse Ministries

In the U. S., these local chapters are known as Lighthouses. An Aglow Lighthouse is described as “a woman to woman ministry shining as a beacon of light in communities, neighborhoods, and workplaces throughout the United States.” These three spheres of outreach: community, neighborhood, and workplace indicate the location of Aglow in a city. Each is a ministry avenue with the same goal – to see women come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior and to help Christian women to grow and develop in their walk with God.

An Aglow Community Lighthouse is a larger gathering of women in a city. Community lighthouses are interdenominational in scope and flavor. They are usually held in conjunction with a meal and/or dessert, and most often feature a guest speaker with a relevant biblical teaching or testimony. Aglow encourages its local chapters to mostly enlist women as guest speakers, but an occasional male speaker is acceptable. A Neighborhood Lighthouse is a smaller gathering of women, normally meeting in a home. These meetings may feature a variety of activities, including Bible studies, mom’s encouragement groups, prayer ministries, and generally those activities by which women can encourage one another to grow spiritually. A Workplace Lighthouse meets in the marketplace where the focus is to encourage spiritual awakening and development in women who work outside the home. From lunches to discussion groups on conflict resolution, management skills, etc., to sharpening communication skills, an Aglow Workplace Lighthouse offers women in the marketplace common ground and the opportunity for personal and spiritual growth.

Recently, Aglow has implemented a new program Church-Aglow. Church-Aglow is comprised of small groups of women in a local church. These groups are designed to meet the needs of women in the local church. Another major purpose of the program is come alongside the pastor to help fulfill the vision of that church. Each Church-Aglow group has a leader and two assistants. Building on the broad base of Aglow’s focuses (see below), a group may choose to pursue a topic within a particular focus. Aglow offers leadership development and ministry resources for these groups.

Why Aglow?

Women are drawn to Aglow for many reasons, some of the most important being:

• Aglow gives women an opportunity to be a beacon of light in their communities and churches (hence, the name “Aglow”).
• Aglow women enjoy the excitement of “Spirit-filled” fellowship and ministry. Aglow emphasizes the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit, and seeks to help women experience “Baptism in the Holy Spirit.” One of the principle evidences of this Baptism, according to Aglow, is speaking in tongues.
• Aglow women develop meaningful and life-long friendships via Lighthouse ministries.
• Aglow enables women to discover and develop their leadership potential.
  
  

Aglow reaches out to all kinds of women all over the world with a consistent call and commission: come to Jesus Christ for salvation and live in his service. Those who are spiritually lost hear the Gospel proclaimed, and those who are seeking to serve the Lord but are not sure where to begin are given training, encouragement and opportunity to minister to others.

The Four Focuses

Aglow has proposed four areas of focus in its ministry activities. These focuses help to bring an overall sense of mission and direction in ministry among the thousands of local chapters. The four focuses are:

Prayer. Aglow’s prayer focus is designed to build a worldwide network of intercessors who will undergird the vision and call of the entire Aglow ministry through prayer. Aglow encourages and facilitates prayer via its Lighthouses and other local chapters, and by making available several resources (mostly literature) for understanding and developing a life of prayer. Aglow’s newsletter regularly details how women all over the world are gathering for regular and special prayer meetings, vigils, and other prayer-focused activities.

Evangelism. Aglow seeks to awaken women’s hearts to the fact that the harvest fields are ripe (John 4:35). Then, they work to prepare women to go out and obey the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19). Aglow women evangelize in many ways: through prison ministries, building relationships in their neighborhoods, by means of care groups, and through short-term missions. Aglow challenges its leaders to purposefully move toward women, especially non-Christian women, in the community, the home, and the workplace. Aglow is also intent upon exploring new territory in order to reach more women. Aglow has placed special emphasis upon reaching Muslim women. Aglow has prepared women in every region of the United States to train others about the religion of Islam. Also, Aglow has a program in the New England area set to broadcast an Arab language television show (with English subtitles) on local public television. This show is specifically designed to reach Muslim women, and will feature a telephone number to call and receive further information and prayer.

Relationship. In a sense, Aglow is all about relationships. Aglow helps women to build relationships with God through prayer, to unbelievers through caring witness, to one another through fellowship, and to the church through preparation for ministry. More specifically, Aglow has published two relationship studies, Honesty and Your Identity. These books have been translated into several languages, and are used not only by Lighthouse fellowships and other Aglow groups, but also in churches, rehabilitation centers, and non-Aglow small group settings.

Reconciliation. Aglow is committed to reconciliation between and among all members of the Body of Christ. They maintain that it is both biblical and practical to practice reconciliation between races, cultures, nations, generations, and between men and women. Aglow believes that the reconciliation between male and female is one of the most important aspects of God’s end-time plan to reconcile all things to himself (Ephesians 1:10). Aglow’s “gender reconciliation” program focuses upon the family and the Church, and seems to involve a reevaluation of the way churches have traditionally understood the role of women. For example: many of the women who occupy leadership positions with Aglow are ordained pastors, including Aglow’s President and CEO, Jane Hansen. Ms. Hansen has written two books on the topic of gender reconciliation: Fashioned for Intimacy: Reconciling Men and Women to God’s Original Design, and Journey of a Woman.

Leadership and Organization

Aglow utilizes a hierarchical leadership structure in order to maintain a high degree of unity and accountability among the thousands of local Aglow fellowships. The International Board of Directors sets policy, gives ministry direction, and provides leadership for Aglow worldwide including the U. S. The President/CEO, Leadership Team, and support staff work together from International (and U. S.) Headquarters in Edmonds, Wash. to care for the Aglow ministry worldwide. The U. S. National office, together with the U. S. Board, serves Aglow in the United States; other nations have national boards to oversee and support the Aglow ministry in their nations. Area Leadership Teams nurture, equip, encourage and give oversight and direction to Lighthouse Leadership Teams in a geographic area. Finally, a Lighthouse Leadership Team is assigned to provide leadership and direction for individual Community, Neighborhood, and Workplace Lighthouses. This basic structure, together with leadership seminars for specific regions as well as national and international conferences, comprises a worldwide support network and helps to ensure that each local chapter reflects Aglow’s essential identity. It is interesting to note that, in keeping with its Pentecostal and Charismatic character, Aglow requires that all Area and Local Leadership Team members evidence the Baptism of the Holy Spirit by speaking in tongues.