Shared Ideas For Women's Ministry
Thank you to those of you who have turned in their "homework" for the 2009 Back To School Assignment for women's ministry. If you still want to get in on the homework assignment, you can find it here!
The following was submitted by
Dyna from Arkansas
Womens Ministry Leader
- Share the one thing you wished someone would have told you before you became a women's ministry leader or pastor's wife.
What I wish someone had told me is that I should not concentrate on quantity of women, but quality of the meeting. I worried about attendance for many months until the Lord spoke to me and help me to understand that the few women that are there, are there for a purpose, and they deserve as much of the effort I put into it as the 50 I was hoping for.
- Share the best event--get together you feel your women's ministry has ever held.
Choosing the best event is difficult, because each time we do something, I feel as though the goal was accomplished, and it is the best. However, My favorite one was the Easter event we did and called it "In the Garden".
We had two rooms set up. The first room they entered, had decor of grapevine and dogwood blooms. I made paper mache' stones and lit candles behind them with cat tails and weed type greenery. I leaned a cross against the wall with a crown of thorns.
When it was time to start, we dimmed the lights and began to show Passion of the Christ. We showed scenes 1-4 and the last scenes of Jesus dying on the cross.
One of the ladies on my committee, quietly stood up when it was finished and turned up the lights, and said, "Welcome to the Garden of Gethsemane"! There was not a dry eye in the room. She continued to say, "Im sure this isnt the garden that you were expecting when you came tonight, but this is the garden that Jesus spent his last day in. In a moment we are going to go into the next room and experience another garden. This next garden is just an example of the goodness that Jesus gave us, when he died for us........"
Another lady prayed, and we walked into the next room where there were flowers, and trees, and birds chirping. It was beautiful! Again, there was not a dry eye in the room.
We sold tickets to this, and sold 38 tickets. Only 18 people showed up. I was so disappointed that my ladies had done so much work for so few ladies, and that is when God spoke to me. It has since become my favorite!
- What's the best advice you'd give to a new women's ministry leader.
Advice to a new leader would be to pray. Pray before you begin planning. Pray before you put the final touches on it (many times He has changed the course of my thinking). Pray in the days leading up to it for attendance and for the committee.
Allow time before each meeting to gather with your committee to pray. I also provide 'favors' relating to the topic, with a scripture attached to each. I pray over those as well.
Most importantly I would tell them not to be discouraged about attendance. God gets to decide who attends, its not up to us.
- Share what you think is the biggest thing that helps your women's ministry run smoothly.
The biggest thing that helps the ministry is the team work of my committee! They are wonderful, can do women, who have serving hearts! They are always ready to do whatever it takes to pull off another successful event, whether its a fund raiser or a meeting.
Every ministry needs a crew like the ladies on my team. Your website is another important tool in our success!
- Share what how you feel prayer has played a roled in your women's ministry.
Prayer has always been an important part of this ministry! I feel it helps to prepare the hearts of attendees for the message. It helps to prepare our team for the message, so that we are all on the same page.
I also feel that it helps when God takes it in a complete opposite direction as what our group has discussed, there are no hurt feelings among the ladies on our committee.
It has also helped us do some amazing things... like hire a christian comedian for 1/5 of her asking price! Thats only ONE of MANY!
- Share ways you've had an impact on your church through your women's ministry.
By announcing our involvement, and by involving the church in some of our womens ministry activities, we have gotten our church involved in helping the Food pantry at our church.
We do "The Amazing Race" as a scavenger hunt, and it is designed to be a fun way to gather items for our pantry. The men LOVE this competitive activity, and are very generous with their purchases.
We also have become involved with the childrens shelter in our area. The men are so gracious in giving us their time and man power for anything we need for our meetings. Many men or teens who are spectator type people have become involved in helping us with chores or needs.
Submitted by Dyna from Arkansas
Womens Ministry Leader
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Related Pages
More WM Shared Ideas!
WM Supply List
WM Kick Off Planning
Evaluating Your Leadership
Women's Ministry Helps
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