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Women’s Ministry Toolbox

Posted by Debby on August 19, 2014

I am taking a “blogging break” as my husband and I travel to China to visit family. I would like to introduce you to my friend, Cyndee Ownbey. She is the creator of my hands-down favorite online resource for women’s ministry: www.womensministrytoolbox.com. If you haven’t visited this site, you need to! I have asked her to share below about her website, and next week she will be my guest blogger.

Women’s Ministry is hard.

It’s challenging. It’s often unpaid. It can be a struggle to find good resources and support.

I created Women’s Ministry Toolbox as a place where you can find resources and support that will help you and your team as you strive to fulfill God’s calling in ministering to the women in your church and community.

In addition to sharing wisdom and ideas I’ve gathered and gleaned during 15 years of ministering to women, I invite other leaders share their ideas through guest posts. There is so much we can learn from each other!

You’ll find information on:

Prayer
Bible Study
Team Building
Fellowship
Utilizing Technology
Online Resources
Shopping
Speakers
Budgeting
Icebreakers & Games
Leadership
Mission Projects
Publicity
and more….

I’d love to invite you over to Women’s Ministry Toolbox for a visit. I hope and pray God will use it to help you as you serve. (There’s even a spot where you can subscribe to get each post in your email box, so you won’t miss a tip or idea!) I so appreciate Debby giving me the opportunity to share my calling and extend an invitation to you, her treasured readers! It has been a great joy and pleasure to “meet” you!

Cyndee Ownbey blogs over at Women’s Ministry Toolbox and is passionate about helping other women’s ministry leaders reach and encourage women in their church and community. She and her husband, two sons (12 and 15), and miniature schnauzer, Heidi, recently relocated to the Charlotte, NC area. When she’s not gathering and gleaning great ministry ideas you can find her trying out new recipes or immersed in her latest Christian fiction pick.

Posted in: News & Information, Resources, Retreat and Event Planning, Starting Points in Retreat Planning

Publicity – With a Face

Posted by Debby on August 12, 2014

It is an issue we all face: How do we publicize our events? How do we get the word out?

Often, publicity for our women’s events is fairly impersonal. We use print media–announcements in the bulletin, posters around the church and in the women’s bathroom. Possibly you have used a radio ad to publicize a big event. Plus, now there is social media: events can be posted on the church website, posted on FaceBook, and probably even tweeted if you know how to do that.

However, I think the most effective form of publicity has a personal touch: a personal invite, a hand-written card, an announcement made by one of the women during a church service, class or event–where a face can be associated with the event. And what if we decorated a table with all the pertinent information available, PLUS a person at the table to answer questions and personally invite women who walk by?

Posted in: Lessons Learned, News & Information, Retreat and Event Planning, Starting Points in Retreat Planning

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Do You Micro-Manage?

Posted by Debby on August 5, 2014

“Micro-Manager” is a business term that has been coined for the leader who is controlling and gives excessive attention to minor details. He or she tries to ensure perfection by insisting on reviewing and approving everything. A micro-manager squelches initiative and creativity, and is perceived as having a lack of faith in the employee’s competence. Conversely, the term “macro-manager” refers to one who leaves the employee alone to their assigned tasks, confident that he or she has chosen competent workers who can complete the task.

Outside of the business world, we can still micro-manage and squelch the initiative and creativity of those serving under us. Yes, we want everything to be perfect for a retreat or women’s event. But we also need to give the assigned leader space to learn and grow and even make mistakes as they seek the Lord and use their God-given gifts and abilities. No, they may not do things exactly the way that you would have; but God doesn’t need another “you.” And maybe it’s time for a change in “the way things have always been done.”

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

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New Skits

Posted by Debby on July 29, 2014

If you haven’t been to the website recently, it might be worth your while. I added three new skits this week. All three were added as part of the “Confronting Your Giants” skit series. However, I also listed one of those as a one-act skit. It is entitled “Good Intentions.” While it does deal with the “giant” of neglecting prayer and the Word, it is a powerful skit that could pretty much be used any time because it deals with our good intentions to have a daily quiet time, and the excuses we make. It is a short, powerful skit that can stand alone in just about any setting. Take a look at this skit–you’ll find it here.

Posted in: News & Information, Resources, Skits, Website News

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Responsibilities of a Retreat Coordinator

Posted by Debby on July 22, 2014

The position we call “retreat coordinator” may or may not be filled by the ministry leader. In our case, our pastor’s wife is the ministry leader. But she is called upon for many other needs, and it would be very hard for her to coordinate the retreat both in the planning stages and at the retreat. That is why we have a retreat coordinator. She reports to the ministry leader, but does the organization and supervision involved in planning a retreat. It is important to have this position filled by a strong leader.

The best way to really see what the retreat coordinator does is to look at one of our flow charts. She is like the hub of the retreat, and other leaders are in charge of various aspects of the retreat. But everything is overseen by the coordinator.

The coordinator is involved in the retreat from the beginning – determining the who, when, where and what of the retreat. As retreat planning begins, depending on what is most important to you, you book the speaker and date of the retreat, OR you book the venue on a certain date and then find the speaker who can work with you on your chosen date. The retreat coordinator communicates with the speaker throughout the planning stages and works with the venue so that a contract can be signed. Once you have the date, a speaker and a venue, then the fun begins. If your speaker has not already suggested a theme, one of the preliminary planning activities is determining the retreat theme.

Once the basics have been confirmed, the coordinator works with a leadership team who will report back to her and/or she will hold their hand as they go through the process of planning the retreat. The leadership team is given responsibility to oversee the various ingredients of the retreat: registration, greeting, printed material, prayer team, skit, workshops, etc. In small churches like ours, the members of the leadership team often takes on more than one of these responsibilities. But the need for one person to coordinate remains.

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

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