|
BEGINNING
A WM
~
by Robyne Beaubien
SMALL - MID-SIZED CHURCH: Okay, you are ready to begin a WM and possibly
even have some other women who are interested in helping. The first
thing you need to do is present a plan with your goals and ideas
to your church leadership - there is a sample plan on our presenting
a wm plan to a church page.
Even
though a WM may be new to a church, the women who step forward to
take on leadership roles are often seasoned teachers or women who
have been in various areas of ministry leadership for many years. Everyone
has a unique perspective so it is important to draw from everyone's
experience and input as you make decisions. It is also important to
have a variety of personalities and gifts on your leadership team.
Following is information from a church that began their WM in 1998
(the church then averaged about
350 in attendance) and have seen God really work in the lives of women.
I think you will find the story of their beginning a WM interesting
and helpful.
Lots of women in our church wanted to see a WM happen. There had been
several women's Bible studies through the years, but no concentrated
effort to organize a ministry focused on women. There were a lot of
ideas bouncing around about how to begin and we finally decided to
kick it all off with a retreat and then glean WM leaders from the retreat
team. Ten women volunteered to help organize the retreat and we had
35 women attend. The retreat was a huge success and from the retreat
team there were four women who stepped forward to serve on the WM Leadership
Team.
We followed up the May retreat with a couple of fun and fellowship
events during the summer to keep interest up and relationships growing.
We also put together a proposal for the leadership of our church which
included a mission statement, short and long term goals, who would
lead, a copy of a survey we wanted to ask the women to take, and a
request for a budget.
We are blessed because we have been greatly supported and encouraged
by the pastors and leaders in our church body. We basically have the
opportunity to follow through on any area we see a need in.We are careful
to be sure that anything we take on is not under the umbrella of another
ministry area. It is important to work within the church and not become
an independent ministry. The goal of a women's ministry should be to
compliment the existing ministries and meet the needs of the women.
Our senior pastor asked us to do periodic lunches for Visitors and
New Members. This was an area we had not considered and yet have found
that it is a great blessing!
The next step we took was to establish the Ladies Night Out. We have
tried to have one each month with a different focus and our goal is
to promote fellowship and relationships. It is difficult in this fast
paced life we live to keep the momentum going and we have found that
sometimes the attendance can be sparse depending on all that is happening
in the rest of the church and community. This type of ministry must
stand the test of time. Women desire fellowship but are so busy they
have a hard time taking time for themselves. We have discussed setting
a specific day each month that this would be held on - like the second
Friday of every month. (Just a note: these began with 4-10 women attending
and in May 2001 they had over 50 women at a Friday night LNO)
Another thing we established
early on was an Inductive Bible Study. One of our primary goals is
to ground ourselves in the Word of God.
There was already a Ladies Bible Study that was more a discussion format
and a Weigh Down workshop going when we started and we did not want
to take from these groups. We tried a couple of different times and
ended up on the same night that the Ladies study is held and we share
childcare. Other ministries have begun with a "low maintenance" study..
a half-hour question and answer format done in class each week. This
is a great place to begin if there is nothing else happening for women.
A time for fellowship can be incorporated into the schedule and even
refreshments.
The third part of our beginning steps was actually the first thing
we did. A retreat. It was a lot of fun and specifically for our women
so we chose speakers for different sessions from our body. We had workshops,
crafts and lots of free time for women to share and get to know each
other better. It was great! We are thinking about the same approach
for this year but plan to have the retreat in October or November.
If you are just beginning a Women's Ministry we would recommend:
1. Forming a leadership team.
2. Put your ideas together into a proposal and submit to the church
leadership.
3. Begin a Bible Study or two - even if the groups are only 4-5 women.
4. Start a Program for fellowship - Like Ladies Night Out.
I think you will find it interesting that this church's WM has grown
in leaps and bounds in participation of the women which has strengthened
the overall ministry of the church. There are leaders and teachers
in other areas of the church ministry that have "grown" through
the WM.
You may not know where to begin and would find it very helpful to
do a survey of the women at your church to see what their interest
level and needs are. However, if there is not a Ladies Bible Study
at your church, I believe that IS the place to begin. Other needs and
activities will fall into place once the women are grounded in the
Word.
LARGE
- MEGA-CHURCHES: A large church often has many components of a
WM in place. Typically,
ladies Bible studies, a yearly retreat and
other events have been happening for several years under the leadership
of a pastor, committee, or other church staff member. Many of these
churches are now moving to establish a position for a woman to lead
the Women's Ministry. Most often these leaders are "grown" through
the existing women who are leading within the ministry, but occasionally,
these positions are hired from the outside.
All this said, most large to mega-size churches will not be starting
from scratch. Often the WM leadership team or new WM Director, will
need to evaluate the current ministries and their effectiveness to
determine what changes or improvements could be made to the program.
( I also love to hold small focus group meetings with different women
from the church to see what they feel are their needs and how the current
ministry is meeting them, as well as, what can be done to better meet
their needs.)
I like plans and I like them in writing, so my recommendation would
be to put together a plan that states the purpose of the WM, short
and long-term goals, leadership positions and responsibilities, and
how often the plan/ministry will be evaluated and adjusted.
The key to an effective
WM in a large or mega-church is good administration and leadership.
Having a plan in place will assist leaders in working
together toward a common goal and building their own little ministry
within the ministry. Mind you, I did not say "kingdom" within
the ministry! Remember:
- A
great WM director will purpose to make the WM an integral part
f the entire church.
- A
great WM director will train women to build their own leadership
teams to train up leaders in the area they are leading.
- A
great WM director will give women the freedom to serve in their
areas and run with their vision for ministry.
- A
great WM director will also hold her team accountable for their
responsibilities
and continued spiritual growth.
- All
of these are very important in a large church where the business
of ministry can take precedence
over the
ministry of ministry.
The bottom line is that ministry is people and not programs. I know,
I know, you will read that over and over again as you read through
these pages, but trust me!
In
Him... Robyne |
