Why Women's Ministry?

As the summer begins to head into fall, some of our opportunities for  encouragement and equipping are restarting, rebooting, or relaunching.  One of these is our women’s ministry. Since Church Alive’s inception, there  has been a place and time set aside especially for the ladies of the Body to  come together. At times throughout our history, this has been loosely  carried out, or more structured in nature. In whatever form it has taken, it  has seemed to meet a need in our women. 

After completing a book study we started last fall, we decided to take a  sabbatical for the summer. So, here we are, getting ready to relaunch the  women’s ministry. As we were praying about what to “do” for the coming  year, I realized that I was feeling a sense of discontent with continuing to do  some of the same things we have done the last three years. In my walk  with God, when I begin to feel discontent, I know He is stirring the pot trying  to get my attention with what He wants to do. So, I started with two simple  questions – “God, what are You doing right now? And what do You want us  to do?”. In typical Holy Spirit manner, He asked me a question – why is it  important to have a separate women’s ministry? I knew that the answer to  that was not “because every church has one”. And so began a month’s  worth of praying, listening, and looking into the Word of God for His heart  for this. 

Throughout history, women supporting and teaching women has been  identified in the home setting, the church, and in societal roles such as the  marketplace. While we see no formal women’s ministry program identified  in the scriptures, we acknowledge that this can be and is a beneficial  addition to the formal church gatherings. Ministry among women can and  will take place in a whole variety of ways within a healthy congregation.

The Word does call for women to teach women (Titus 2:3). But the Word  also details that one generation is to tell another generation of God’s  mighty acts or power (Psalm 145:4). This means men, women, and 

children. In both the Old and New Testament, there are scores of scriptures  that compel us to teach one another, encourage one another, strengthen  one another, share our testimonies, gifts, talents, and experiences with one  another. Most of these are not gender-specific, but some are. Proverbs  31:26 speaks about a woman opening her mouth in wisdom and teaching  kindness. In the New Testament, Paul wrote to the Philippian church to  practice what they learned and heard from him (Philippians 4:9). Revelation  12:11 was recorded by John from a voice in heaven about an important  reality of defeating the Enemy, by the word of our testimony. We must raise  up Word-filled women, starting with the youngest to the oldest. I have a list  of approximately 35 scripture references that talk about this. I would be  glad to make this available to you upon request. These scriptures are  meant for everyone in the Body of Christ, not just women. But Word-filled  women bless the whole church. 

Women’s ministry does not stop with becoming Word-filled. There are  opportunities to learn new skills, discover creativity in one another, provide  advice and counsel regarding issues and concerns that are uniquely  feminine in nature. Not to mention, girls really do want to have fun! What  better place to do this than through a bunch of young and older ladies who  love one another and are eager to know each other more?

I would like to take this opportunity to personally invite all the ladies of  Church Alive, 12 years old and up, to come together on August 29 here at  Church Alive at 10:00-11:30 a.m. for a Launch Party to plan for our next  steps in ministry. Since it’s a party, there’ll be snacks, a game, gifts, and  some time to dream and record the vision. Please join us. What an  opportunity, through women’s ministry, to embrace the calling of God’s set-  apart people to be salt and light in the world, for the sake of Christ and His  kingdom.  Anticipating His presence,  Missaha