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South Hills women talk faith, femininity at Mt. Lebanon conference

By Matthew Guerry for The Almanac writer@thealmanac.Net 2 min read
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Different Christian denominations may believe different things, but one thing that they all believe is that they are brothers and sisters in their faith, Cindy Patterson told attendees at a women’s conference held Oct. 20 at Mt. Lebanon Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

They may not all worship the same way, she said, but all were built on the same foundation.

“We fight too much among ourselves as we have in the political realm,” she said. “People are so busy worrying about whether you are an elephant or a donkey, and actually the only animal that you should be concerned that you are is the Lamb of God.”

Patterson encouraged her listeners to let down the “chains that hold them hostage” so that God might pick them up instead. Among the chains the Canonsburg ministry leader and cancer survivor identified were those that bound the sects of Christianity from embracing one another, differences and all.

Patterson’s “Women Living Real” conference included speakers and ministry of Mt. Lebanon Evangelical, and from the Catholic Church on topics ranging from prayer, health and self-help.

In her speech, Sister Bernadette Manning, of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, told listeners that practicing Christians need to balance caring for themselves even as they care for others. A licensed professional counselor and Reiki healer, Manning demonstrated several Reiki exercises for the audience that she said can help them to focus or relax.

Mt. Lebanon Evangelical congregation member Dianne Allen Grecco spoke about another form of alternative medicine, functional medicine, as it related to her experiences with chronic pancreatitis. Another congregation member, Stacy McMahan, talked about a finance career and family life in which she felt she had at times put herself before her faith.

Mt. Lebanon Evangelical Transitional Pastor Carolyn Poteet talked about ways her audience could journal and write out their prayers borrowing the structures of passages in the Biblical book of Psalms.

Patterson thanked the speakers that day for their honesty and candidness with regards to their own private struggles.

“We’re all sisters and brothers in Christ,” she said.

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