Ideas For Ministry

[Heart4Him]

Hi, ladies!
I just wanted to ask if anyone has any ideas they'd like to share with me...
I'm looking to possibly try to start some kind of a thing for either pastor's wives in my area, or even just for women. It would be where we get together maybe once a month for fellowship, prayer requests, praises, etc.
I'm not very clear on the details yet, it's just something I think the Lord may be putting on my heart to do.
I thought if I did it for the ladies of my church and held it at my home it might give me the opportunity to open my home and therefore myself to them on a more personal level...
If it was for pw's it might be meeting once a month at a restaurant or even at one of our homes for mainly prayer and fellowship and support for one another.
Has anyone ever done anything like this before?
If you could offer any ideas, or experiences I would greatly appreciate it!!
God Bless!

 

[Ms.Garnet]

Tomorrow night I will attend a Christian Women's Fellowship at our church. It is strictly a community fellowship open to any christian lady. They meet in one another's home or someone offers their church. Our church is being used - so I was invited to attend. I have been one other time. Someone gives a devotional, there is prayer, and refreshments. They take up an offering to use for something - don't remember what.

There is a large church here that has a Bible Study for Women at their church each month - I've never been able to go - meets in the day time.

If you want to do this for PW's find out if the majority work or are at home. If you host the first one - get someone to sing or share a short devotion or both! Choose a theme lunch like : salads - ask each one to bring their favorite salad - you furnish a nice fresh fruit salad & pound cake for dessert, some tea & or lemonade, rolls, etc. This would be good for summer or spring. Find out if others wish to host a fellowship. I can think of tons of things to do each month, but I might bore you to death. One good way to plan is to look at the holidays - pick one each month & work around that. You must decide if you want it to be mainly simple fellowship - or do you want to do more?

 

[Heart4Him]

Tomorrow night I will attend a Christian Women's Fellowship at our church. It is strictly a community fellowship open to any christian lady. They meet in one another's home or someone offers their church. Our church is being used - so I was invited to attend. I have been one other time. Someone gives a devotional, there is prayer, and refreshments. They take up an offering to use for something - don't remember what.

There is a large church here that has a Bible Study for Women at their church each month - I've never been able to go - meets in the day time.

If you want to do this for PW's find out if the majority work or are at home. If you host the first one - get someone to sing or share a short devotion or both! Choose a theme lunch like : salads - ask each one to bring their favorite salad - you furnish a nice fresh fruit salad & pound cake for dessert, some tea & or lemonade, rolls, etc. This would be good for summer or spring. Find out if others wish to host a fellowship. I can think of tons of things to do each month, but I might bore you to death. One good way to plan is to look at the holidays - pick one each month & work around that. You must decide if you want it to be mainly simple fellowship - or do you want to do more?

Thank you! Great tips and ideas! I will definitely think on these and continue to pray for direction from God as to what kind of thing it should be. If you have any other ideas I'd love to hear them!

 

[Sophia7]

I have been attending a women's Bible study/fellowship group that meets twice per month. It is held in one of the Lutheran churches in town and is open to all women although it is particularly targeted toward stay-at-home moms with young children because it is in the morning, and they provide child care. I have found it very helpful for meeting other women in town and encouraging each other spiritually. During the summer, the group is not formally meeting, but we are getting together for a play group in the park with our kids on the days when we would normally meet.

I have also been thinking about trying to start some kind of fellowship thing for pastor's wives. I was thinking of a more informal type of get-together, such as meeting for lunch at a restaurant once a month, which is what one of the ministerial associations in our town does. It could be on the weekends or in the evenings sometimes, or whatever works for most people. We're all busy, and I think it would be nice to just get away from the house and spend time with other pastor's wives and not have to worry about planning a program/speaker or cleaning the house or cooking or whatever.

 

[Heart4Him]

I have been attending a women's Bible study/fellowship group that meets twice per month. It is held in one of the Lutheran churches in town and is open to all women although it is particularly targeted toward stay-at-home moms with young children because it is in the morning, and they provide child care. I have found it very helpful for meeting other women in town and encouraging each other spiritually. During the summer, the group is not formally meeting, but we are getting together for a play group in the park with our kids on the days when we would normally meet.

I have also been thinking about trying to start some kind of fellowship thing for pastor's wives. I was thinking of a more informal type of get-together, such as meeting for lunch at a restaurant once a month, which is what one of the ministerial associations in our town does. It could be on the weekends or in the evenings sometimes, or whatever works for most people. We're all busy, and I think it would be nice to just get away from the house and spend time with other pastor's wives and not have to worry about planning a program/speaker or cleaning the house or cooking or whatever.

I agree! I have thought along the lines of this same thing...the meeting at a restaurant/keeping it casual kind of thing. Thank you!

 

[erin74]

I am in a small town (2000). There are 3 churches in town - one catholic, one anglican, one presbyterian. I meet with the wife of our assistant and the wives of the 2 pressy ministers every week to pray. We get together for an hour and share and pray together.

One of the churches we were at had a womens meeting called WoW (women on wednesday - very origanal hey!). They would meet as a group to start with (creche provided), and might sing or hear a talk. Then they would break up into bible study groups. There was pretty much always a new group studying a christianity explained course or the like. They would then continue on as a permanent group and another would start. It was just on a constant cycle more or less.

So it was basically a bible fellowship that broke into smaller bible study groups. The bible study groups would generally all study the same thing, although not always. Usually a book of the bible using a study guide or something like that.

When we were at college we had a group called Women's Fellowship. We got together each Thursday night and had talks. Sometimes they were bible talks, sometimes topical (like inviting an ethicist to talk about something, discussing a current issue, discussing ministry ideas, etc). Some nights were just for fun. It was very much aimed at future ministers wives, which was helpful.

A group in town here meets once every 2 months to discuss issues. Someone prepares some bible passages and articles on whatever topic they are doing (eg IVF, contraception, the environment, etc) and they read them before they go and get together to discuss it.

That's the ones I can think of off the top of my head.