Blog - Page 23 of 65 - Retreat-in-a-Bag 23

Choose Carefully

Posted by Debby on February 25, 2014

The target audience for Retreat-in-a-Bag is women’s ministry leaders in small churches. If that describes you, it is very possible that you don’t have a leadership team as we have discussed. How do you find those women to help you? What qualities are you looking for?

Let me begin by saying, you can’t do this alone. Maybe you are not ready to bring other women in as teachers; however, you need women who will support you and share some of the responsibilities. Begin by asking for discernment and God’s wisdom and timing as you go about forming a leadership team. These are women you will basically be discipling and training in the ministry.

What are you looking for? Here are a few questions to ask.

1) Does she have a heart for the Lord and a teachable spirit? Maybe you have a group of women who are young in the Lord. In that case, you look for the woman who is seeking to grow in the Lord, and making it a priority in her life.

2) Does she have a heart for women? If you already have a women’s ministry going, these are the women you see welcoming and ministering to other women.

3) Is she faithful to the women’s ministry? One who is ready to be a leader is already coming to your women’s ministry events. She makes an effort to attend women’s studies and/or events and makes herself available to help. If you have someone who shows up early and stays late to help you, she may be one to seriously consider for your leadership team.

4) Other things may be a red flag as you consider possible women for your team. If a woman is known to be a gossip among the women, that would be a red flag. If there are problems in her home, that is another possible red flag. Look at how she dresses and talks. Will she be a good example for your women?

Posted in: Developing Leadership, News & Information, Realities of Ministry

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Leaders’ Meetings (Part II)

Posted by Debby on February 18, 2014

As mentioned last week, our women’s leaders meet once a month. Denise our pastor’s wife and head of the women’s ministry, has an agenda. Here are some things we have learned over the years regarding these meetings:

We have a “secretary” who takes notes during the meeting. These notes are forwarded to all leaders after the meeting. If someone has to miss the meeting, the notes keep her updated on everything that was discussed at the meeting; Also, the notes include “action points” which basically list who has volunteered to do what. For instance, “Kathy will make calls to find a venue for our women’s event;” “Debby will make a flyer;” “Cheryl will fill out forms requested by the church.” Any leader can look back at this email if she has forgotten her assignment.
We always begin the meeting with prayer. And the agenda always includes an extended time of prayer for the women’s ministry and upcoming events as well as personal prayer for one another;
We always bring our calendars so that we can all record any upcoming dates/events and check for scheduling conflicts. Our preference would be to not schedule an event or meeting when several of our leaders would be gone for a school break or vacation. We always check with the church calendar before making a final decision.
We discuss the current issues in the women’s ministry. If we are in the midst of a women’s study, we always touch base to make sure no one is experiencing any problems.
This is where we plan for upcoming events, and delegate responsibilities among the leadership team women. We also keep one another updated on our progress. For instance, if we are planning a women’s event several months in advance, we would delegate someone to be in contact with the venue and she would report back at the next meeting.

Posted in: Developing Leadership, Lessons Learned, News & Information, Retreat and Event Planning

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Leaders’ Meetings (Part I)

Posted by Debby on February 11, 2014

Our pastor’s wife, Denise, has always been the head of the women’s ministry. But she has a group of women serving under her to support her in the ministry. These are women she has seen to be faithful not only in attending church regularly, but in their involvement in and commitment to the women’s ministry. She has been able to observe firsthand that they have a heart for the Lord, a heart for women and a heart for serving others.

Our leadership team has grown over the years, and we currently have nine women involved in leadership. In our case, that is not too many because Denise is limited by her health, and she needs extra hands.

We currently get together for a once-a-month meeting. Denise normally has an agenda, which may include delegating responsibilities for upcoming events, discussing issues and problems which have arisen, and touching base with the leaders personally. We pray together for our women and for one another. Denise shares her heart and the leading God has given her for the women’s ministry. This meeting assures that we are on the same page as leaders.

More about our meetings next week.

Posted in: Developing Leadership, Lessons Learned, News & Information, Realities of Ministry, Retreat and Event Planning

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Being Lifted Up

Posted by Debby on January 28, 2014

In the weeks preceding our recent women’s retreat, more than once I had a call from the pastor’s wife saying “I’m praying for you.” What a comfort that was, know that I was being lifted up by her in prayer!

Leaders, spiritual attack can be intense as your retreat or event grows near. Be aware that you are not the only one having a face-off with the enemy. Your assistants and helpers are also on the front lines of battle. They may be waging spiritual warfare on the personal front as well as dealing with the spiritual attack that is to be expected in the planning and preparation for a women’s event.

Pray for them and let them know you are doing so. It makes a difference.

Posted in: Developing Leadership, Little Things Make a Big Difference!, News & Information, Retreat and Event Planning

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Teenagers at a Women’s Retreat

Posted by Debby on January 21, 2014

Traditionally, we have opened our women’s retreats to teenage girls. Sometimes they come with their mothers and room with them; other times, we have had a “teen room” with a teen leader with them, who also leads them in some activities and/or workshops specifically geared for teens. Either way, the teens join us in all the main sessions.

This year, I heard some discussion on this question “Should teenagers be allowed to come to a women’s retreat?”

One one side, there are those who think that moms should have their retreat as a time away from their kids. They argue that the teens have their youth camps and youth events, and moms should have something that is theirs alone. On the other side are moms who want to bring their teenage girls so they can have this experience and share it with them.

Actually, I can understand both points of view to an extent. But having had a daughter who attended our annual women’s retreats from the moment that she was allowed to attend (for us, age 13) my personal opinion is that these teen girls are preparing to be women. I wanted my daughter to see and hear godly examples of women worshipping God, praying and fellowshipping together and serving Him. Don’t get me wrong–we loved youth activities also, and were fully involved with the youth group. But this had its place also.

So, I asked my now-adult daughter for a comment, and here is what she said: “How can you grow up if you don’t sit with the grown ups and learn how they know God?”

Something to consider! Read more about teens at a retreat here and here.

Posted in: News & Information, Retreat and Event Planning

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