Pathways4Women was established to mentor women of faith within the context of nurturing gatherings. This is how our story began:

For many years, in Linda Leitch-Alford’s private practice as a professional counselor, she interacted with women of faith and listened over and over again to women crying out for a place to explore how their womanhood intertwines with faith. As the years went by, a dream began to grow. Linda heard women speak of a longing to grow in their faith and to find a place where their feet could walk on solid ground; where their voices could be spoken clearly. Linda began to envision a movement to support these longings and searched for someone to join her. She was looking for at least one other woman who shared the vision, lived the passion, and embodied the faith journey that would resonate with these deep desires spoken by women of faith.

Over time Linda and Paula Tipton, a fellow therapist, found themselves at the same events and often gravitated to one another, interacting about this passion for women they both held. Paula shared her own story of hearing the cry of women who struggled with faith, life, womanhood, and mission. They discovered a growing kinship in their mutual passion for nurturing and mentoring women of faith. Together they began dreaming about and planning for Pathways4Women. But . . . something was missing.

Was it energy? Was it a need for another voice? Was it creativity? Then they met Katie Keister, a creative spirit on her own journey with experience in listening to the desires of women of faith for connection and support as they wrestled with life, wholeness, and vision.

Each had a passion and a dream. Their dreams came together and Pathways4Women was birthed.

The subsequent development of Pathways4Women has mirrored their vision. Each brought their voice, their dream, and their passion as they gathered to give life to this movement. The next steps were not always the same for each of them. They didn’t always agree about the details, but they never lost sight of the mutual vision. The beautiful piece is that they worked it out in relationship. They asked the Lord to nudge them in the right direction; they thought about how women work through scriptural understandings; and they experienced this beautifully fluid process working over and over. In Pathways4Women, they seek to create and share that mutual mentoring process with future participants.