Looking to enlist women to staff your women's ministry? Consider CREATING opportunities that will CREATE opportunities for women to be identified as potential candidates. It is better than looking for and searching for women who may or may not be a good fit. This slide will give you a quick overview of How-To!

1. CREATING
Your Women’s Ministry Team
By
GINA DUKE

3. Creating vs. Looking & Seeking
Successful women’s ministry leaders preach the mantra to:
• “Look for some women who (fill in the blank)”
• “Find some women who (fill in the blank)”
Quite possibly, you have found this harder than it sounds. How does it really
work? I suggest CREATING opportunities that will help you see these women
who will help make up a great team for your women’s ministry.

4. Creating Opportunities
that Create Opportunities
Host a Women’s Conference!
• It needs to be a large enough event that you will not be able to do all by
yourself. If you are like me, you will be prone to carry the full load
• It will need the total backing of your staff/pastor you report to because he
will then be vested, and help you recruit women to help plan & execute
• In order to get “top billing” among your church, book a pretty well-known
speaker. It ups the ante for things to go well.

5. Creating Opportunities
that Create Opportunities
Use a traditional Women’s Ministry. I know this will not necessarily feel
“progressive”, but that doesn’t mean it should not be considered.
• Look to your denomination and see what they have available. Mine has a women’s
mission support ministry. More than likely your denomination will have a robust
program and resources available at your finger tips.
• It is a fast-track to establishing women’s ministry. Your denomination may even
offer the training and the personnel to help get you started.
• Because women’s ministries like these typically use an election process, you can
quickly gain a team of women that your church women trust to lead.

6. Creating Opportunities
that Create Opportunities
Host a vision-casting session! This is perfect if you a God-given vision for a new women’s ministry. Simply
schedule an informational meeting to pitch your plans.
• Build up excitement by advertising the informational meeting for this new women’s ministry. Enlist a team
to call women and personally invite them. Mail post cards. Announce in your bulletin. Post signs in the
women’s bathroom stalls. Decorate a tablescape (my personal favorite!). Request your pastor to promote it.
• Decorate for the event. Consider using balloons and décor. Have some T-shirts made and wear them and
hand them out, or whatever you can afford.
• Give a thorough overview. It is important to be articulate and cast the vision with excitement!
• Give them a take-away with all the details. This way they won’t forget everything you just said. They will be
able take it home re-read it and process it.
• Give them the opportunity to sign up that night while the excitement is in the air, and a deadline for them to
sign up. Sixty women attended my information meeting, and fifty signed up; 8 of which became facilitators.

7. Creating Opportunities
that Create Opportunities
Have a sharing an attitude! This is a great way to grow an organic women’s ministry and ministry team based upon how God has equipped your
women. You are not meant to be the Be-All, End-All of your women’s ministry. This is not the place for you to be at center stage. Your purpose
is not only to develop a women’s ministry, but to also develop women for ministry.
When a woman who meets the following criteria, approaches you with an idea, think about how you can help launch it well.
• She is a Christian.
• She is a member of your church. Check with your staff to see if they have any other requirements to fulfill before a person can lead a ministry
or teach a class. For instance, some churches may say that you have to be a member for a specific time period, etc.
• She has good church attendance. Obviously, someone who is hit and miss will not be a good role model or mentor to the women in your
church.
• She is a maturing Christian. This is someone that the evidence of the Fruit of the Spirit is EVIDENT. Someone who does not work well
with others should be a NO. Someone who is not knowledgeable of God’s Word should be a NO. Someone who not demonstrated an
authentic relationship with God should be a NO. Some women want to help lead a women’s ministry just want to be in charge of something.
Some want the “prestige” or attention of being a “leader” not realizing that in God’s economy, leading is more about serving. If they don’t
enjoy serving other women, they should be a NO.

8. Final Thoughts
If you are at a point to enlist your women’s ministry team, think about CREATING opportunities
that CREATE opportunities for women to step up and out in faith to women’s ministry. Here are
some of my other recommendations:
• Invite your women to take a Spiritual Gifts survey so they will know where they are gifted, which
should help direct them toward ministry
• Host a class on Spiritual gifts. It is important that every Christian not only know their Spiritual
gifts, but also understand how they work!
• Facilitate a casual, interactive session(s) to help women think about what they are called to
(children’s ministry, shut-in ministry, prayer ministry, and just maybe women’s ministry, etc.)
• Cover everything you do with prayer! Pray for your women. Pray for the development of the
women’s ministry of your church. Pray for wisdom, discernment and creativity!

9. Follow Gina
www.GinaDuke.com
On Twitter & Instagram @TheGinaDuke
Pinterest: Gina Duke/Churchtown Ministries