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Stop the “It’s MY Ministry” Mentality
Do you have women who have started ministries in the church and insist they keep going regardless of effectiveness? Has your ministry team been event-driven with one person overseeing Bible studies, another the retreat, & another the Christmas brunch with complete authority in each? If you are a church leader and suggest that some things need to be changed, do they balk at that? We can get so attached to what we want to see happen that we dig in our feet and take on the “it is MY ministry” mentality. Even something good can take our focus off of what is best. Every local church belongs to Jesus Christ…
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Should your Women’s Ministry drop the self-esteem talk?
Have you ever felt like women's ministries kind of have the same three topics on repeat? Women are tired of going to church and chanting "I am beautiful" while wearing Proverb 31 shirts and taking selfies in front of a pink backdrop. I get it…as a female minister who is addicted to church history and loves exegetical preaching, the narrative of women's ministry can stand to be a little less Fru-Fru. Yet before you consider deleting the topic of self-esteem and beauty altogether, I implore you- don't do it! I am living proof that good theology does not do away with crippling insecurity. My in-depth understanding of the Imago-Dei (image…
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Disciplemaking Focus for Women’s Ministry
Has your ministry team been event-driven with one person overseeing Bible studies, another the retreat, & another the Christmas brunch? Does your current women’s ministry need to have more structure and purpose to what you organize and fund? Do you see the same women involved in your ministry with rarely a new face? If you answered yes to any (or all) of those questions, it is a good time to… enhance your women’s ministry for disciplemaking. What Is Disciplemaking? The terms “discipleship” and “disciplemaking” often get confused. Discipleship typically refers to the normal process for Christians to grow in their faith through Bible studies, prayer, worship, & small groups. It…
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A Millennial’s Journey into Women’s Ministry
When asked to head up a new division of our Women’s Ministry I was terrified that I couldn’t cut it and really, I wasn’t so sure that I wanted anything to do with it. There’s a stigma out there about Women's Ministry, if you didn’t already know. Young Ladies like myself tend to conjure up ideas of bake sales, and mentor round ups; we tend to think Women's Ministry is stale without substance. So when I was faced with the challenge of leaving Youth Ministry and joining our Women’s team, I was haunted by questions…. Will the ladies expect me to wear stockings? I never wear them! I’m not the…
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The Tapeworm Gallery: Effective Ways to Minister to Women in Pain
As a women's ministry leader, you will encounter women struggling with all sorts of life circumstances. Whether you encounter those suffering "big T" Trauma or "little t" trauma, you will need to employ the most beneficial words or ideas. Timing is everything. The following suggestions have been successful for hundreds of years. I pray you put them to good use. · Distribute invalidation the way a state trooper hands out speeding tickets. To conserve energy try eye-rolling. · Give pat answers about her struggles. Examples: "God hates divorce," "God is bigger than your situation," "Trust and obey for there's no other way," "You need to submit to your husband,"…
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Five Ways to Kill Your Women’s Ministry
1. Engage in gender stereotyping. Teach women that they are emotional and men are unemotional. Never mind that the ideal man wept (John 11:35, Luke 19:41) and cried loudly with tears (Heb. 5:7); that Paul warned the Ephesian elders night and day with tears (Acts 20:31); that the same elders wept loudly when Paul said goodbye (20:37); and that Paul remembered Timothy’s tears (2 Tim 1:4). Crying is for females. Also teach your women that God wired them only to receive love, not respect. That way those who fall outside this “norm” will know there is something wrong with them.And while you’re at it, segregate by age. Younger women…
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Fight for Intimacy with Friends and God…right around your own table
This Friday and Saturday tens of thousands of women around the world will gather in homes, churches and Austin City Limits Live to enjoy the second IF: Gathering. I loved sitting on a friend’s comfy couch last February to watch the simulcast (my review). Also loved following up around a monthly IF: Table to share dinner and our life with God: 6 women, 4 questions, 2 hours. But you don’t have to sign up for IF: Table to be intentional about inviting the life and power of Jesus into a circle of friends sharing a meal. In his famous description of the armor of God in Ephesians 6 I…
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The Church that Values Women’s Ministry
When I was a young mom back in the 70s (yes, I was VERY young!), I wanted to be in a women’s Bible study. I had been in Bible Study Fellowship before having our first baby. But, there was no nursery for her, and I was new in town knowing no one to trust to care for her. And, I didn’t have a car to drive up to North Dallas from Duncanville anyway. Our church didn’t offer any kind of women’s daytime study. It wasn’t as common back then for churches to offer an assortment of women’s Bible studies during the week. So, I invited a few women from my…
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What If We Only Had 6 More Years?
Driving between Austin and Waco recently, the words on one particular billboard captivated me. It said, “8/2/2027 — Christ stands on Mt. Olivet at NOON — Amos 8:9.” While the billboard’s creator was not predicting a specific date for Jesus’ Second Coming (but it did predict his actual presence on earth on a specific date), my mind went to the “what if’s.” What if Jesus was on earth by then, the 7-year tribulation over, the Rapture of believers having already occurred? What if we as Christian women had only 6 more years to share Christ with everyone we know? Would that make a difference in how we planned this year’s women’s ministry…
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The IF:Gathering, Nail in the Coffin or a Fresh Awakening?
Two years ago Sarah Bessey rocked the women's ministry world with her blog, Why We Don't Need "Women's" Ministry (17 thousand likes). Did the IF:Gathering nail the coffin lid down tight or blow that sucker sky high with fresh resurrection power? What would Sarah say? Well, Sarah, there were no cute cupcake designs and decorating tips, scrapbooking parties or casserole recipes. Instead a parade of diverse nameless leaders opened with unscripted prayers to beseech God to act and empower. They were smart and they were brave and they asked God to use them to change the world. No long introductions full of accolades and sales pitches. Unapologetically…
