As you begin this New Year, I hope you will take time to invest in your relationship with God, His Word, church, ministry, and the people He places in your path. I recently had the opportunity to survey a few Lifeway Women trainers who have been serving in women’s ministry for many years and ask them what their best practical ministry tips are. As you think through leading your ministry this year, consider their thoughts on what marks a faithful women’s ministry:
“I would say a marker of faithful women’s ministry is the progress of spiritual growth/health of your women. Make sure to assess before you plan: how does God desire our women to grow spiritually this year? Pray and cast vision toward these markers to set direction for the year. Assess at the end of the year and look for the spiritual fruit in the women you are leading.”
— Shari Edwards
“This is an obvious one, but many of us need the reminder time and again: Do not let the tasks of ministry take the place or priority over your personal time with the Lord.”
— Salina Kelley
“I would recommend that faithful leaders seek feedback on the last year of ministry service. Ask a friend/confidant/prayer partner to freely speak into your life based on what they have witnessed in you the past year. Also, get feedback from one or two people that either you serve with or you serve. Then step back and prayerfully consider their feedback and how to implement one to two things for the upcoming year. The leader can determine what she wants feedback on.”
—Heather Johnson
“We cannot lead others anywhere we have not been. Leaders should evaluate our own personal spiritual health/relationship with the Lord and commit to intentional personal discipleship heading into new year. Also assess the needs of our women. It’s easy to make plans for new year based on our own ideas, wants, and needs. But the task is to meet the needs of our women.”
— Kathy Howard“I would say [being] faithful to prioritize God’s Word, faithful to encourage spiritual formation and transformation, [and] faithful to point women to see the needs around them.”
— Kelly D. King
“Personal leader’s health. Meaning-healthy emotions, healthy interpersonal relationships, and people engagement. Leading healthy (not operating out of self-preservation and lack of self-awareness in competency (skill set) and emotional intelligence (people).”
— Casey Merrifield
My addition to this would be to make sure that you are still accomplishing the vision and mission of your ministry that God has put in your heart. Confirm that it aligns with your pastor and the church’s vision and mission. Stay focused on the Great Commission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20).
Breaking this down:
Go
- Evaluate what you have done this past year. Sometimes this is hard to measure and do, but it is important to consider.
- What did the women do in the ministry (outreach, missions, community, and so forth)?
- How did the women grow this year (in knowledge, application, connections, and so forth)?
Make disciples
- Think through what your plan is for multiplication and discipleship for both new believers and those who have been coming to church for a long time.
- What is your current strategy for discipleship? There are books out there to help. One of my favorites is Disciple Her by Kandi Gallaty.
- As we consider “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” how strong is the theology of those whom you are making disciples? Do they know why we have to baptize? Why in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit? What do your women believe about God?
- Is there one-on-one discipleship taking place that is organic or programmed? Are there built-in opportunities?
Teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you
There are so many commandments! Where do you start?
- Biblical literacy. How are your women growing in this area of knowing God’s Word? It is hard to know what He has commanded you without getting into His Word. Find ways in which to get women into God’s Word. Lifeway has a number of resources to help with that. You may start with a foundational Bible study like Alive , which goes through the basics of faith, or decide to focus on studying a specific book of the Bible.
I am with you always, to the end of the age
- As a leader, how is God with you?
- Take the time to make sure you are growing as a leader. What does your personal time with God look like? As we connect with others, we need that time spent with them. Take the time to consider what that looks like for this year and plan for time to be with Him.
About Alicia Wong
Alicia Wong serves as the women’s ministry specialist for Lifeway Women and as an associate professor of Women’s Ministry at Gateway Seminary in Ontario, CA. She has served as a missionary with IMB and NAMB and has been teaching in seminaries and local churches on the topics of Missions and Ministry to Women for over twenty-five years. She is a graduate of Gateway Seminary (M.A. in Intercultural Studies and Christian Counseling) and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div. and Ed.D.). She desires to see women be firmly rooted in biblical truth, built up in Christ, and established in their faith so that they may share the good news with others to the ends of the earth.
Get to know Alicia Wong in this episode of the Marked Podcast. Read more from Alicia in our Leading Well blog series.
