Ministry

We need to learn from one another.  What is going well in your Women’s  Ministry? Let’s share what we have learned with others! Email Nan Lingenfelter information about what your women’s ministry has done that worked well (or did not work well) and what you are interested in learning. Include the topic, your full name, church name and location, and the date of the event.

African Adventure (Missionary Speaker)

Sandy Gannon (submitted by Nan Lingenfelter, ECC, Springfield, MA, Saturday, March 11, 2017). We billed the event as a “Come to Africa and hear what God is doing there” event and used an iconic Africa and giraffe picture on the flyers. We decorated our fellowship hall with African fabric, lots of greenery, and things from Africa. It was amazing to hear Sandy’s story of God calling her to go to Uganda three times a year to help set up a school and other ministries. Instead of having a fun element during the morning, we decided to have a Q&A time after Sandy’s talk. That proved to be a wonderful time. We also had a photo area with funny hats. Email nlingenfelter@charter.net for more details and photos. Submitted 7.14.17

The following is a very simple outline of how to start writing:

Before I Accepted Christ (or gave Him complete control)

1. What was my life like (something that will relate to the non-Christian)?

2. What did my life revolve around the most?

3. What did I get my security or happiness from? (The non-Christian is relying on something external to give him or her happiness.)

4. How did those areas begin to let me down?

How I Received Christ (or yielded my stubbornness to Him)

1. When was the first time I heard the gospel? (Or when was I exposed to dynamic Christianity)

2. What were my initial reactions?

3. When did my attitude begin to turn around? Why?

4. What were the final struggles that went through my mind just before I accepted Christ?

5. Why did I go ahead and accept Christ?

After I Accepted Christ (or pledged allegiance to Him)

1. Specific changes and illustrations about the changes Christ has made.

2. Why am I motivated differently?

For more specific instructions on how to write out your testimony.

We all know we are supposed to share our faith with others. But exactly how do we do that? Sharing your faith is like learning how to drive a car. No one is born learning how to drive. You take some lessons. You learn some things you need to be mindful of from a text and you practice with an experienced driver. If you took only one lesson and then never drove again, in time you would not want to drive a car because you know you will have forgotten what that one lesson was. When you learn and practice you soon learn to drive and feel comfortable doing it.

So read, learn, and spend time with someone who shares his or her faith often. Pray for opportunities to share the love of God with others. There are many books written about sharing your faith. Read one at least once a year.

To read how one group teaches students how to share the story of God’s love, click here.

There are a variety of articles online that you can read regarding starting a Women’s Ministry. They have a common thread of prayer, discussion with church leadership, more prayer, dialogue with a wide variety of women in your church, seek others of the same heart but different gifts to join a team, more prayer, gathering women together, decide on goals, objectives, formats, seeking input, seek balance, pray, pray, pray.

The Evangelical Covenant Church Women Ministry has created a PowerPoint presentation explaining the importance of women’s ministries in local churches. To download it, click here.

One author started asking questions about the need for women’s ministries. Read her answers here.

If you’re looking for some fun events for women in your church, click here.

When starting a group decide the following:

• Purpose of the group

• Who will meet: women in the church or is it open to friends?

• When to meet: monthly, or quarterly?

• What time to meet: morning, afternoon, evening?

• Where to meet: a church, a home (same one or rotate). Note if a home has dogs or cats.

• What refreshments will be offered (beverages and food or just beverages) and who is in charge of that?

• What books will be read: will you read only Christian books or will you consider other best-selling books?

• Who will lead the discussion: one leader or rotating?

• How will books be chosen: group discussion, written submissions?

• How will all of this information be communicated: who is in charge of this communication? Note: some groups plan two months in advance so women can plan accordingly.

• Will childcare be offered, and at what cost?

Note: creative women enjoy decorating a bit according to the theme.

Consider having a topic for each month: biography, missionary, classic, historical, top seller.

Many books have discussion questions online. If not, the leader should create questions tailored to the book.

For a list of generic questions for a book club, click here.