THE ORIGINAL SOURCE FOR WOMEN'S LEADERS SINCE 2001
What's Under Your Umbrella, Women's Leader?
Julia Bettencourt
March 2015 Originally part of the Online Leadership Conference notes.
Are you ready for a little exercise? I talk about the 4 Areas of Responsibility for a women's here. If you haven't read that, do so before proceeding on this page. We are going to take those four areas and see what's under your umbrella as a women's leader.
4 Areas of Responsibility
- Teaching and Training
- Missions and Outreach
- Fellowships and Activities
- Administration
Find out what you are really doing
Have you ever thought about what jobs you are currently doing? Have you ever listed your duties before?
Doing so can help you better organize and plan for each specific area. Don’t let it overwhelm you when you see it all written on paper.
Listing it out not only helps you to organize and focus but it can also help you in your prayers about women’s ministry. We should be specific in our prayers for women’s ministry so use your list as a prayer list for the specifics of these four categories. You might want to break them up and bring each area to the Lord at different times.
Also, listing out your responsibilities and duties helps when you are sick or incapacitated or if you end up stepping down from your position. It will help those who need to keep the ministry running in your absence.
Some of you may have received a list of responsibilities when you were appointed or took over your position in your church, but sometimes even then, it really isn't an indication of what you may actually be doing as a women's leader. You really need to see what you what you are doing and what you are spending your time doing.
Copyright ©2015 Julia Bettencourt.
Hey Women's Leader--Make it Happen!Grab five pieces of paper or use a notebook and label five sheets with the following areas at the top of each page.
Okay. Got that done? Alright, let's start with the Basic Duties. List all the jobs you do, but broad jobs, such as if you do any teaching or training, just put that. We will be breaking down each of those teaching and training jobs in the next part. Just put the overall broad responsibilities you are in charge of for this page. Alright. Ready to proceed? Now, start breaking all that down on the next four pages with our 4 Areas of Responsibility. List the specifics such as events, activities, or major tasks for each item on your "Basic Duties" page and place it under the category where it belongs. Even if it is a small task and it's ultimately your responsibility, then write it down. Even if you have teams and helpers doing it, write it down. Include planning and scheduling, preparing for Bible studies, and all the things you are responsible for in your women's ministry. All of the lists combined are the things that will fall under your umbrella. |
Doing this exercise will give you a better understanding of what your responsibilities are or what you are making your responsibility. It can also help you see which areas you concentrate on the most or that you don’t concentrate on enough. It can kind of give you some clarity of what your focus has become. And it can help you see what that focus should and could be with better management and handling, more volunteers and helpers, more prayer, and all of those things that help make us better Christian leaders.
Knowing what's under your umbrella will help you focus more clearly.
Find more women's ministry helps in the Leader Development Index.
