June 05, 2023

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Colossians 3:23 (KJV)

Into the month of June we go! How is your women’s ministry looking for the summer? I know some churches take breaks for the summer, and that’s okay. That’s the wonderful thing about women’s ministry in our local churches. None of them look the same.

I think sometimes that women’s leaders get caught up in the trap that they need to do what other churches are doing in their women’s ministry. No! Definitely not! Just remember anything you do is for the Lord and not for anybody around you. You don’t have to do the popular Bible studies. You don’t have to do the popular activities. You don’t have to care about what others are doing. You just have to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and what the Lord would have for you and your particular group of ladies.

Never judge your women’s ministry by what you see other churches doing because that’s like comparing apples to oranges. It is just way off base. So, if summer in your church looks different than in other churches, then it isn’t a bad thing. Think of it as something unique that God has just for you and your church and your specific women’s group.

Maybe you are a small church, and all your folks seem to vacation at one time. Or maybe many of your ladies are parents and just need to stay home more for their kids since school is out for the summer. There are so many reasons that our schedule may change up for ministries after school’s out, graduations are over, and the days are longer.

It doesn’t matter what time of year you make plans for ministry, but we all always want to have an impact. We want what we do to matter. We want our time to matter. Even though we may be doing things a little more relaxed because summer is coming, we still want a big result. In the end, we want everything we do in ministry to praise and honor God.

As summer approaches I think it’s a good idea to really think about what kind of place we want our women’s ministry to be. If you are heading into this month and just can’t figure which direction to go, here are four things to think about as you do your planning.

Make your women’s ministry a place of JOY

Yes, your ladies need a little fun and laughter!

Summer is a time of vacations, barbeques, cookouts, picnics, visits to the beach, visits to amusement parks, swimming, gardening, and lots of fun things. We have to put a little fun into our women’s ministry too!

June is a great month to slow down and do some relaxing things with the women in your groups. Maybe go on a hike, picnic, smores around a fire, or just meet at various times to do some walking and talking.

Never underestimate how a relaxing time of chatter and laughter with your ladies can spark encouragement.

Make your women’s ministry a place of UNITY

Yes! Your ladies need to get along!

We always want to get along, but the summer sometimes can make us cranky. It’s those long days. It’s the heat. It’s the thirst. Our bodies can get dehydrated. The sun and heat can cause us to wear out quickly and get tired. And those long days can seem really tiring, especially if you work all day and the evening seems overly long just because the sun doesn’t set as early as it did.

Yep. Even our ladies can get a little bent out of shape, so we have to guard against any upsets. You can do simple things like making sure everyone has water and is hydrated during meetings and activities. Or maybe focus on kindness and good deeds among your ladies for the summer. We have to do something to keep them engaged at being the good of the world and getting along with each other.

Make your women’s ministry a place of NURTURE

Yes! Your ladies need a little care and encouragement!

It’s a great time of year to look out for each other. Maybe it could be a good time to start prayer partners or to really focus in on praying for each other and specific needs. Maybe as a group you want to take this time to focus in and help a needy family in your church. It also could be a good time to do some community outreaches like getting involved in feeding the hungry and other good causes.

We need to learn to uplift each other with not only prayer but kind words and deeds as well.

Make your women’s ministry a place of EDUCATION

Yes! Your ladies need to learn!

What a great time of year to share your skills and knowledge. We need to learn from each other and from the Bible as well. It’s always fun to learn a new skill together. Maybe it’s gardening or canning. Or maybe it’s a good time to learn to make homemade ice cream.

This might be a great month to do a new mini type of Bible study. Focus on something that’s not overwhelming but study a topic you can learn something substantial from, such as prayer, forgiveness, or even how to grow your faith.

And what about just encouraging your women to read the Bible on their own, or even just encourage them to do some pleasure reading. You can even spur them on to take a community class for something that interests them. Things like this can do a world of good for our women. It gets them involved in something but can help them gain some knowledge or maybe even learn a new skill. We are to teach other women, so let’s teach them to be well rounded women.

Final Thoughts

I hope all of you women’s leaders find this helpful. I’ve been getting a lot of messages from leaders as to what is a great thing to plan for the summer.

Please don’t over plan, because that’s a busy trap you can get caught up in and not really accomplish anything. However, I do want you to have a focus as summer approaches even if you don’t plan any deep Bible studies or big activities.

I think more relaxed planning is something women’s ministry needs in general, but as summer approaches and all your ladies may have different things and schedules going on, I want to encourage you to really think about what kind of place you want to make your women’s ministry.

Summer is associated with vacations, eating ice-cream, and all those fun things I mentioned a little earlier. We must make our women’s ministry activities and events the fun place to be. Next, we have to encourage kindness and getting along with each other to make it the unified place to be. We also need to make our ministry a place that is nurturing and loving, and that can easily be concentrated on more during the summer when you may not have as many ladies to focus on at once. And don’t forget that summer can be a great time to hone in on education whether it is through a Bible study or just encouraging your ladies to read or to take a class in the community they might enjoy. All in all, we want an impact.

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (KJV)

Encouraging women to be better people, better Christians, and glorifying the Lord while doing so is what it is all about!

So, are you ready to make a JUNE impact?

Copyright ©2023 Julia Bettencourt

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