Recruiting women to serve on your Women’s Ministry Team is one of the most important things you will do as a Women’s Ministry Leader.
It can make or break your team. It can also make or break your ministry.
Years ago while I was serving in a mom’s ministry we learned a very hard lesson about inviting friends to serve on the team, rather than waiting on God and seeking His will. There were power struggles and friendships were strained. It got ugly. Really ugly. And in the end we almost had to shutter our ministry.
I would not wish that experience on anyone…
I learned then just how very important it is to have a process in place for recruiting team members.
Start by putting together a list of names:
- Pray God will put women in your path. Expect Him to bring them to you. Keep your eyes open – they may not look like what you expect! Write those names down.
- Ask for suggestions from wise, Godly sources. As your Pastors, Pastor’s wives, and trusted Sunday school/small group leaders for suggestions.
- Use suggestions from your Women’s Ministry Team.
As you ask for names – be specific. Let them know what position you are looking to fill, what the role involves, and what kind of person you are looking for. IE. We are looking for someone who is warm, outgoing, and friendly to serve as our Hospitality Team Leader.
BEFORE you ask anyone to serve:
- Pray – both you and your team need to spend time specifically in prayer over the person and the position. Ask God confirm or remove the names on your list.
- When you are comfortable with your list, submit the name(s) to the Pastoral Staff for approval.
Please notice I did not suggest that you put an “ad” in your newsletter or church bulletin. If you advertise an open position you limit yourself to those who “apply”.
Just because someone is willing to serve doesn’t mean they are called to serve.
Don’t make any phone calls or contacts yet!
We’ll talk through HOW to ask women to serve on your team in the next post.
Other posts in this series include:
How to Build a Women’s Ministry Team
What positions do you need to fill on your team?
Women’s Ministry Team Job Descriptions – Part 1
Women’s Ministry Team Job Descriptions – Part 2
How to Ask Women to Serve on Your Leadership Team
Should chair person of women’s ministry be voted in?
Depends on whether or not that’s a requirement in your church. Is it in your church documents or by-laws? If not, I recommend against it. I wouldn’t want to pit two women against each other with one being voted in and the other not. There should be some process in place though. Some churches have a nominating committee that submits their recommendation to the pastor or team that oversees all ministries or church committees. I hope that helps. Feel free to email me with more details if needed.
I love this, but need more understanding
Vivan, what do you need help with? Can you explain what it is you don’t understand? Thanks!
Thank you so much for the wonderful info. After much prayer and yes tears ( because the Lord would allow me to serve Him in this way) I consented to serve as the women ministry leader in a small church in Arkansas. What a wonderful group of Christian ladies I serve with and I want to do my best. I really believe the Lord lead me to your site, thank you!
Oh Kim! I am so excited for you!! Praying God will will direct your steps and that He will use you in a mighty way to be a blessing to the women in your church and community! Please let me know if there’s anything specific I can help you with! Hugs, Cyndee
I want to thank you so much for your advice. I will pray for God to show me what to do next. Thank you so much. May the Lord bless you for being available to serve in this ministry.
I’m a women’s ministry leader for a small church. We usually have a ladies coffee once a week and one of the team member decided to bring a 21 year old man. I approached her and said that I didn’t think that it was approciate to have him there that other women may feel uncomfortable. Now it appears she hasn’t been herself with me. Very distant. I’m not sure how to deal with this can you help
Kathy, I know if must have been hard to approach her, but you were right to do so!
I think there are two ways you could handle this.
1. You could let it just blow over. Sometimes women just need time to get over it.
2. If it’s really bothering you, I’d suggest asking her to meet you for coffee. Be careful and prayerful to lovingly bring up what happened.
Hopefully time or talking will allow you both to move forward and for her to stay on the team.
Praying God gives you clear direction on what, if any, steps to take…
Hugs, Cyndee
This series lately has been SUCH a blessing as I’m working on a ministry that my husband and I just started and it has NO leadership team so this series has really helped answer lots of questions for us. Tyou!! (we are also in the Charlotte area)
Lisa, you are so welcome! So glad you are finding the information helpful! Let me know if you ever want to meet and have coffee! 🙂