We shouldn’t be concerned about getting more warm bodies in the room but in doing events for the glory of God,” said author and speaker Judy Woodward Bates.
Bates, who recently released her newest book, “Blessedly Budgeted Women’s Events,” addressed a standing-room-only crowd at this year’s Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union leadership conference, held in July at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center in Talladega.
She encouraged the women in attendance to think “out of the box” and “off the wall” to find new ways to reach out to women. Bates challenged women’s ministry teams to embrace change, noting that change can “absolutely be a good thing. The only ones who didn’t like change were the Pharisees.”
Touching on topics included in her new book, she said an event’s title can “make or break” it.
“Boring titles lead to poor attendance. Why not host a workshop on table manners, place settings, etc., and call it Etta Kitt and Other Southern Ladies? Now that will create interest,” said Bates, a member of Gardendale’s First Baptist Church in North Jefferson Baptist Association.
“If we stimulate enough curiosity about our events, they’ll come,” she added.
Bates noted that the primary purpose for any women’s ministry event should be “for God’s glory” and suggested that ministry teams identify seven key categories before planning events for women.
These include:
– women’s occupations,
– women’s current and past life experiences,
– women’s hobbies and pastimes,
– the event’s primary purpose,
– the event’s intended results and
– the event’s target group.
The occupations of the members of a church’s women’s group and other church members could possibly be utilized for future women’s events. For instance, if a member of the church is a law enforcement officer, have him or her host a self-defense class and then speak about putting on the whole armor of God.
Other ideas include a DIY (do-it-yourself) session for floral arranging, sculpting, quilting or decorating or a body, mind and soul conference with a personal trainer and/or nutritionist to focus on the body, a counselor or medical professional to talk about the mind and someone to talk about having a healthy soul checkup.
Bates also advocated hosting fun events — just for the fun of it.
“There’s no reason you can’t just get together and have a chick night,” she said.
Bates encouraged those attending the conference with the words of Psalm 139:14, describing how each individual woman in a church’s women’s ministry is unique. She challenged ministry leaders to develop programs to meet the needs of each unique woman.
“Jesus ordained your women’s ministry, so go reach women for Him,” Bates said.
For more information on her new book and other creative ideas for women’s ministry, visit Bates’ Web site at www.bargainomics.com.
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