Quick Guide for Ministry to Women

House Gospel Publishing

Description

Do you and other women in your church want to minister more effectively to women but aren't sure how? A Quick Guide for Ministry to Women is just what you need! This easily accessible guide is organized around answers to your most pressing ministry questions, such as:- What are the needs of women?- What is the role of the church in ministering to women?- Am I qualified to lead women- Where do I start?- What do I do?- How do I do it?Besides being filled with practical guidance, each of the ten chapters includes discussion questions and action steps for you and your team to complete. Five appendices provide additional information for you to work through with your team-to complete the path to healthy ministry to women! Share this guide with your team and inspire them to pursue their calling of ministry to women.

Sujets

• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Gospel Publishing House
• Date de parution: 04 janvier 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781607316404
• Langue: English

Extrait

A QUICK GUIDE FOR
Ministry to Women
© 2016 by Gospel Publishing House, 1445 N. Boonville Avenue Springfield, Missouri 65802. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations used in articles and reviews.
Developed by the national Women’s Ministries Department of the Assemblies of God.
Cover design by Prodigy Pixel ( www.prodigypixel.com ).
Unless otherwise specified, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com . The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All Rights reserved.
Scripture marked MSG is taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Scriptures marked KJV are from the King Jame’s Version of the Bible, which is held in public domain.
Note: All names and individual stories were created for training purposes and do not refer to actual people. 02-4214 Printed in the United States of America
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
SESSION ONE: Who are the women we minister to?
SESSION TWO: Why should we minister specifically to women?
SESSION THREE: What are the needs of women?
SESSION FOUR: What is the role of the church in ministering to women?
SESSION FIVE: Am I qualified to lead women?
SESSION SIX: Where do I start?
SESSION SEVEN: What do I do?
SESSION EIGHT: How do I do it?
SESSION NINE: How can we empower women?
SESSION TEN: What is the desired outcome?
CONCLUSION: Now what?
ENDNOTES
APPENDICES
INTRODUCTION
W hen my husband and I pastored in Kansas, the Lord continually brought new people for us to love. A few of them were new to the area, just like Mike and I were. Others were “dechurched,” having left the church of their upbringing for one reason or another. A few were from other congregations, but most of them were individuals who had never attended church.
While it was exciting, it was intimidating at times.
To be completely honest, I felt overwhelmed by the needs of the women walking into our church. When we reach people, we reach people with wounds. I met women who had been repeatedly abused and neglected as children. Others were bound in life-controlling habits. Some were in destructive marriages. A few of them were living in impoverished conditions. Many of them felt lonely and disconnected from genuine friendship. All of them desperately needed the hope that only Jesus can give.
I served as the women’s pastor, taught adult Christian education classes, and led the sessions for new believers. I planned women’s events and small groups specifically for them. I tried to meet individually with them when they reached out for my friendship—but it was never enough. These women weren’t growing; they weren’t experiencing community. Real transformation wasn’t happening. Sometimes in frustration, I would think to myself, I wish these women would just listen to the Sunday morning messages and get it! But that wasn’t enough; they needed more than just good sermons or a few events every year. The job was just too big for me!
If you’re working in a church and your assignment is to minister to women, you may relate to my story. Does it ever feel like the job is just too big for you?
I’m sharing a piece of my journey with you in this leaders’ guide. I want you to have the strategies and resources that I longed for when I was in your place.
These are the questions that continually filled my mind:
Is this ministry worth all the time and effort? It can be messy and complicated to minister to women. We women can be difficult (you know it’s true!). The words women’s ministries can even carry a negative undertone. Some people think it’s simply a “craft club” or a church clique. The truth is we desperately need healthy women investing in other women. As women fully embrace the life Christ offers, we experience healthier families, churches, workplaces, and communities. Yes, it is worth it!
Once I decided that it really was a valuable endeavor, many other questions plagued me:
• Who are the women we minister to?
• Why should we minister specifically to women?
• What are the needs of the women?
• What is the role of the church in ministering to women?
• Am I qualified to lead women?
• Where do I start?
• What do I do?
• How do I do it?
• How can I empower women?
• What is the desired outcome?
You are called to minister to women. You may not yet feel equipped, but God has placed you in your church at this time for a specific purpose. We are writing this guide to equip you in the important task of ministering specifically to women.
We want to inspire you to embrace your calling as a women’s ministries leader. The word inspire means: to direct or guide by divine influence, to draw forth, to be the cause or source of, to breathe life into, and to stimulate ideals. May this leaders’ guide encourage you to surrender fully to the leadership of the Holy Spirit and may He breathe life into your very being. May He lead you to influence the women He places in your pathway to embrace the promises of God and to live the lives He designed them to live.

—KERRY CLARENSAU
National Women’s Ministries director for the General Council of the Assemblies of God (2010–2016); Women’s Ministries director, North Texas district of the Assemblies of God (2016–)
Session One
WHO ARE THE WOMEN WE MINISTER TO?
Emily is a nail tech and a single mom of active little boys. She struggles every week just to put food on the table.
Amanda is a twenty-three-year-old single woman who is about to graduate from college. She is fearful about repaying her student loans and the next important steps for her future.
Marge just retired and is struggling with depression. She wonders if her life has any value and what is the purpose of living. She is fearful of the future.
Jane , an active church member, has been married for twenty years—and no one knows her marriage is falling apart.
Sarah is a CFO for a major corporation. She struggles under the weight of enormous responsibilities; Monday she has to report the game-changing drop in revenue to the board.
Allison was just diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer, the same disease that took her mother’s life when she was just thirty-five years old.
Kristi faces the one-year anniversary of the deaths of her husband and son, both killed by a drunk driver.
M any women today—such as the women in these examples—either don’t have a biblical worldview or are overwhelmed by life’s issues—or both. Women must receive the hope and healing that Jesus offers before they can reach out to others.
A BIBLICAL DEFINITION OF MINISTRY TO WOMEN
As women come into our churches, receive healing, and form healthy relationships, they will be more compassionate in reaching out to other women—increasing the church’s capacity to minister effectively.
Today, more than ever, it’s important for women to receive healing within their church community. The following passage from Ezekiel describes congregations that don’t focus on the concept of healing within the church body. Ezekiel 34:1–10 shows us the condition of sheep who are not shepherded well:
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock, so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
In her book Shepherding a Woman’s Heart , Beverly White Hislop, quoting from this Ezekiel passage, mentions that the sheep are: scattered, plundered, victims of famine, afraid, objects of scorn, and without hope of rescue . 1
This passage further cautions Christians to: feed the healthy, strengthen the young and the weak, heal and bind up the injured, and search and care for the lost.
This is exactly the goal of a healthy ministry to women in the local church.

A healthy ministry to women will:
1. FEED THE HEALTHY
2. STRENGTHEN THE YOUNG AND THE WEAK
3. HEAL AND BIND UP THE INJURED