Alabama women learn strategies for ministry leadership

I learned I wasn’t the only one overwhelmed with starting women’s ministry,” said Niki Hurless of University Baptist Church in Huntsville.
   
Hurless was one of 80 women who gained information and encouragement from the Women’s Ministry Regional Forum recently held by LifeWay Church Resources of LifeWay Christian Resources at First Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa.
   
How to begin women’s ministry in a local church was only one of many breakout sessions facilitated by experienced women’s ministry leaders. Other topics included planning special events, leading Bible studies, structuring a leadership team, establishing a mentoring program and special “buzz groups” for churches of varying sizes.
   
Chris Adams, Women’s Enrichment Ministry Specialist at LifeWay, recalled the first national forum held in November 1996 in Nashville. That meeting, designed for leaders to gather and share ideas, was specifically for large churches, responding to what LifeWay perceived as “big church” issues. Women from small churches immediately requested the same type training, and a similar event for small churches was offered in 1997.
   
What began as a one-time event was so well received that it became an annual opportunity for women from churches across the country to meet and share ideas. Now the national forum in November is open to churches of any size.
   
As a result of the national forum, LifeWay began sponsoring regional forums in 2002 in Virginia, Oregon, South Carolina and Alabama. Adams explained that LifeWay sponsors regional forums with the hope that local leaders will take up the vision for planning occasional forums. She described the forums, both national and regional, as  a time for sharing ideas and networking, rather than a formal training event.
   
Networking on a local level is a major benefit of a regional forum, as leaders interact with others in nearby churches to exchange ideas and encouragement. Page Hughes of Westwood Baptist Church in Alabaster said she especially got some creative ideas for special events. She also observed a great need for including evangelism in women’s ministry activities.
   
Although the national forum each November at LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville draws women from across the country, attendance is limited to two women from each church. But the regional forums encourage unlimited participation from local churches. The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham had six members of their women’s leadership team at the regional forum.
   
Dawn Stephens, director of women’s ministry at Brook Hills, believes they all returned home with renewed enthusiasm for ministering to the women of their church and community.
   
The weekend event offered help for experienced women’s ministry leaders as well as those like Hurless who are beginning women’s ministry. Judy Patrick, pastor’s wife at Chapel Hill Baptist Church in Northport, has been active in women’s ministry at her church for several years.
   
Patrick said she has seen a significant growth in discipleship training at their church through women’s ministry Bible studies and small group opportunities.
   
She also said outreach events have encouraged women to invite their unchurched friends, relatives and co-workers to church.
   
Patrick said she received useful ideas and broadened ministry concepts from the forum, as well as enthusiasm to do more in women’s ministry in her church.
   
Margaret Kennedy of Ridgecrest Baptist Church, a LifeWay Women’s Ministry Multiplier, states that as she assists Chris Adams with regional forums, she gains perspective on “learning the heartbeat of women, their struggles, their successes, their failures and their needs.”
   
According to Kennedy, “Meeting needs always begins with discerning what those needs are,” and “the best place to discover needs is at a forum.”
   
For more information on Women’s Enrichment Ministry at LifeWay Church Resources, contact Chris Adams at 615-251-2810, or e-mail Chris.Adams@LifeWay.com. Visit the women’s ministry section of www.LifeWay.com to be added to the Women’s Enrichment Ministry e-mail newsletter, Esolutions.
   
In Alabama, women’s ministry is administered by Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU). Information can be obtained by calling Melissa Bowen at 1-800-264-1225. Also visit the WMU at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions’ Web site, www.alsbom.org.