Let's celebrate!

In February 2015, Sanctuary was birthed with an inaugural two-day, two-night retreat for a small group of ministry wives in attendance. Each guest was personally invited by host Bridgette Tomlin, so no one knew what to expect, who else would be in attendance, what the accommodations were...nothing. "The Holy Spirit was so explicit with me about the initial formula that would come to identify much of what makes up a Sanctuary Let's Retreat today. But it was a scary risk for me personally, as well as for the invited guests. None of us truly knew what the Lord had in mind. But I knew it was going to be good. He crafted a beautiful experience for women who otherwise are often overworked, under-thanked, and filling in all the gaps. Nothing could have brought me greater joy than to honor women like that," Sanctuary founder Bridgette Tomlin recalls.

A retreat for ministry wives is all that was initially included in Bridgette's vision. But it wasn't but a few retreats in that the Holy Spirit began expanding that simple desire to meet the need for ministry wives. From those first successful, meaningful events, connection beyond the gathering in Tulsa, Oklahoma launched what we now call Let's Connects--quarterly lunch, brunch, or coffee gatherings where ministry wives get together simply to connect with other ministry wives who live and serve closer to home. "It is my desire that ministry wives find a way to 'cross the street' and connect with ministry wives in their communities. Sometimes you need to connect, face-to-face, hold the coffee mugs, and just laugh and listen. Being in the same room brings an intimacy that a phone call or video chat, or even social media conversation, can provide," Bridgette continues.

Beyond Let's Connect events, a website was developed and insightful content was quickly loaded from contributions from ministry wives and women leaders across the nation, and around the world. Sanctuary's site now boasts nearly 10 years of blog entries, which includes a variety of blog series and microblogs for shorter reading sessions. Let's Talk with Sanctuary, Sanctuary's podcast for women in ministry and leadership, launched in September 2020 and recently celebrated four successful seasons and 100 episodes published!

It's through Sanctuary's social media platforms that much of the day-to-day interaction takes place as ministry wives quickly discover: this is not a place for competition, status, big I's and little you's. Sanctuary is what it was birthed to become...a place of haven and rest. "With almost three decades of ministry experience myself, I have discovered that ministry wives can be considered some of the loneliest people, despite being perpetually surrounded by people. But isolation is the devil's game to talk her into quitting, distracting herself with work or tedious tasks, or, worse, believing that this is all there is for a woman in ministry," Bridgette shares. "I believe that the awareness that 'you are not alone' and 'you're not the only one who feels this way' can go a long way in providing support, love, encouragement, and longevity to ministry wives across this nation and around the world. We can do better. We must do better."

Sanctuary is gearing up to celebrate 10 YEARS of faithful, fruitful ministry!

So, are you ready for some fun? Sanctuary is gearing up to celebrate 10 YEARS of faithful, fruitful ministry! And we are giving YOU the gifts with 10 DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS! Details are forthcoming within the next week as we launch the celebration on Thursday, February 6, 2025. Follow Sanctuary on IG @sanctuarym2mw and join our Facebook group as members and followers will be entered for each day’s drawing.