In my last post,
I shared the philosophy behind our church’s women’s ministry: process rather
than events. We want women to enter the process through women’s events or
through Sunday mornings but quickly move into one-on-one or small group
discipleship relationships. This is not a perfect or easy process but we
believe that spiritual growth happens best in these relationships, not in large
group events. (You can find out more about this process here.)
The first thing I did was gather a team of women around me
who were already investing in the women in our church. At first there were just
three of us but now we’ve added three more to our team. We talked about the whys of what we wanted to do, our areas
of passion and spiritual gifts, as well as the needs we saw in our church. How
could we create something that would meet these needs but also meet the needs
women might not even know they had?
We prayed, talked, thought, and brainstormed. As a team, we
formulated a basic structure for our women’s ministry that we have since built
upon: we would provide one or two relationally-heavy events throughout the year
so that women could come together and cultivate friendships, we would share the
vision for our women’s ministry, we would meet tangible needs for the many new
moms in our church, we would constantly encourage discipleship relationships,
and we would provide discipleship training opportunities.
We currently have a six-member women’s ministry team, each
of us with an area of focus. These areas fit the needs and makeup of our church
but also the philosophy of our ministry: discipleship, events, meals for new
moms, Bible study, college women, and Side by Side (a ministry to medical
wives).
We’ve fallen into a routine for our calendar year, which
includes a women’s community group, a fall day retreat, a bi-annual
discipleship training, opportunities to get into formalized discipleship
relationships twice a year, a spring brunch, an overnight retreat, and summer
swim days. Our Bible study is a new offering, which evolved from a bi-monthly
get together and discussion at my house for new moms.
In all these things, we try to create an environment of
warmth, honest conversation, and relationship. We also encourage women to
pursue other women through these natural relationships for discipleship. Our
women’s ministry is not perfect, but we continue to evolve. Who knows where our
ministry will evolve next!
I hope this is helpful
in some way. Perhaps you could share with us and help us? What are practical
things you’re doing to reach women in your church? Please share in the comments below.
The countdown
continues. Just 22 days until the book’s release!
