Ginny Whitten in whirlwind of planning ministers’ wives luncheon

TAMPA (FBW)—Just as the responsibility of wedding planning falls to the mother of the bride, much of the planning for the upcoming Southern Baptist Ministers’ Wives luncheon is in the hands of Tampa’s Ginny Whitten. As president of the organization, she and her fellow officers are in the final stages of preparing for 1,500 guests June 21 at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville.

Courtesy photo

Tara Whitten Knouse with her mother, Ginny, who is planning the SBC Ministers’ Wives luncheon for June 21 in Nashville, Tenn .

Ginny Whitten, wife of Idlewild Baptist Church pastor Ken Whitten, planned her daughter Tara’s wedding four years ago, and she finds herself in a similar whirlwind of details in preparation for the ministers’ wives’ luncheon.

“I wake up every morning and think ‘What do I have to do today’?” she told Florida Baptist Witness. “It is challenging and a lot of work.”

While the annual luncheon, held during the Southern Baptist Convention each June, has grown from 200-400 only 15 years ago to 1,500 this year, funds budgeted for the event remain the same—zero.

Just as in wedding preparations, keeping the event’s cost to a minimum is a goal of the organizers.

Even with diligent cost-cutting, Whitten expects the final tab for the annual luncheon to reach $40,000 to $50,000.

The sale of 1500 tickets at $10 pays less than half of the $25-$30/ person actual cost. An endowment fund established by Nancy Sullivan, wife of Florida Baptist Convention executive director/treasurer John Sullivan, will contribute $16,000 to covering the luncheon price tag. The remainder will come from sales of advertising in the luncheon program and contributions from churches associated with the organization and the home churches of the officers.

“Right now, we are within $6,000 of breaking even,” Whitten said. Financial concerns aside, Whitten’s to-do list includes details ranging from renting a piano for the hall to enlisting volunteers to help stuff gift bags for luncheon guests and enlisting hostesses for 150 tables. She and her officers are also enlisting a slate of officers for 2007.

This year’s speaker, Kay Warren, wife of Saddleback Community Church pastor Rick Warren, will speak to the assembled wives; Jaci Velasquez will sing. Whitten is especially pleased to have a fellow pastor’s wife as featured speaker.

“Kay has served with her husband in small churches and now a big church. She is a breast cancer survivor and ministers to AIDS patients. She will have a lot to talk about,” Whitten said.

According to Whitten, most of the 1,500 guests will hail from small churches within driving distance of Nashville, although a table of 10 may include ladies from all areas of the country.

The organization’s goal is to minister to the minister’s wife who may find little support in the church where her husband works.

“Some of these ladies are just miserable and are hurting,” she said. “Some love what they do, but struggle in their responsibilities.”

Although describing her job as president of the ministers’ wives organization as “a wonderful opportunity of ministry,” Ginny Whitten looks forward to handing the presidency over to the 2006 leader, Dorothy Patterson, wife of Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.

She also looks forward to June 22, the day after a year’s planning and preparation have produced a memorable event.

To purchase tickets, call LifeWay (Event Registration) at 1-800-254-2022, or go to www.LifeWay.com.

Tickets are also available by writing to Immanuel Baptist Church, 1415 South Topeka, Wichita, KS. 67211. If requesting tickets by mail, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a check made payable to SBC Ministers’ Wives’ Conference.