What do a tea party, chocolate, a secret pal and restaurants have in common? All are ways Baptist women of various ages are connecting to each other through women’s ministries across Alabama.
Barriers to connecting women vary, but Chris Adams, senior lead women’s ministry specialist at LifeWay Christian Resources, said focusing on understanding who each generation is and what reaches that group is the key.
“Tradition, time, generational differences, cliques within a ministry and not seeing the relevance of connecting” are the main barriers existing among women, said Adams, who travels across the country teaching churches how to grow strong women’s ministries.
Tonya Lee, women’s ministry director at First Baptist Church, Montgomery, in Montgomery Baptist Association, said breaking through the age barrier was the greatest challenge she found.
One way she met that challenge was to host a tea honoring their senior ladies. On July 19, 2008, hats, gloves and fine china were brought out to celebrate those women. The fellowship hall was set up with round tables, and women of all generations gathered at each one.
While they feasted on fresh fruit, tea and scones, a video presentation of senior women sharing advice was played, Lee said. Providing transportation and making the event free helped make it a huge success, she added, noting it was the largest-attended women’s event First, Montgomery, had ever had.
“We haven’t solved the problem, but the tea helped,” she said. “You’ve got to start getting women together before they will come together.”
First Baptist Church, North Mobile, Saraland, in Mobile Baptist Association, is also trying to break through the barriers and recently tried something new.
“We heard women express the need for deeper relationships,” said Mark Messick, adult education pastor. Responding to the need, they came up with Expresso, a nighttime event full of chocolate, coffee and live discussion.
During Expresso, a panel of four women in the church answers questions from those attending the event.
Questions deal with various life issues and are given to the panel before the gathering takes place so panelists can prepare, pray over answers and provide biblical application to life’s challenges that might be addressed in the questions.
“Connecting generations by sharing biblical principles and experiences about life has helped build stronger relationships desired inside the church,” Messick said.
Jane Whitt, one of the women’s directors at Decatur Baptist Church in Morgan Baptist Association, said the “secret encourager” concept works well in her church.
“Ladies once a year sign up to encourage each other. All year, they send handwritten notes and gifts to their secret encourager,” she said.
Assignments are not based on age, and the women’s ministry team hosts a secret encourager banquet at the end of the year, revealing the pairings. “The banquet continues to connect women who would otherwise never meet or spend time getting to know each other,” Whitt said.
Connecting women experiencing similar life circumstances is important too, several women’s ministry directors noted.
When Deree Tarwater began as women’s ministry coordinator at Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, in Madison Baptist Association in June 2007, she started reaching out to working women. FOLD — Friends Out to Lunch and Dinner — now meets twice a month (once for lunch and once for dinner). The idea is simple: meet and eat with other women once a month at a restaurant.
“We wanted to connect working women and their friends outside church walls. All you have to do is show up,” Tarwater said.
While Tarwater oversees this ministry, another church member schedules the date, time and location, and the women’s ministry team finds volunteers who are willing to share a devotional each meeting. “Currently, 50 women are attending the monthly meetings, and church members are bringing nonchurched friends,” Tarwater said.
And while many women’s ministries are finding success in their efforts, others continue to discover exactly what will work in their church.
Adams encourages women’s ministry leaders and supporters not to give up.
“Pray and seek staff support and input,” she said. “Seek God’s Word and start with one thing women would like to be involved in. Make sure it is biblically based.”
If one experience doesn’t work, then “pray, scrap what is not working or change it so it is more effective,” Adams said. “Talk to women who don’t participate and find out why. Seek to involve more women helping, serving and leading. The more who take ownership, the more who will attend.
“Successful women’s ministries share no fear of change and promote one-on-one ministry among women,” Adams said.
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Looking for Help?
- www.AlaWoman.com
- www.WMU.com
- www.WomenOfFaith.com
- www.WomensMinistry.net
- www.JustForWomen.org
- www.WomenTodayMagazine.com
- www.ChristianWomenToday.com
- www.Gracefull.org
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