A couple of weeks ago our Youth Pastor asked me a question about a past Youth event that proved to be incredibly revealing.
It’s a question I know you’ll find to be valuable as your team completes a women’s ministry event assessment.
We had participated in an event with another church a few months before and he asked me:
What do you remember about that event?
He wasn’t looking for a super-spiritual response, but my gut reaction.
What stood out most to me from that event?
My response was “the octopus”. For those who are curious, we had a messy game of Ultimate Football with a dead octopus. Um…yeah…
Chances are many of our students would have had the same response…
I’m a big believer in working through a Post Event Evaluation Form immediately after an event to capture those details that are fresh on our team’s minds.
However, I had never considered reflecting several months after the event to evaluate how well the purpose of the event was perceived.
Until now!
I want to encourage you to do the following exercise with your team at your next meeting.
1. Look back at your calendar and pick an event that occurred somewhere between 3 and 6 months prior.
2. Go around the room and ask each team member to write down 1 or 2 things they remember about that event. Then have each team member read their answer out loud.
3. Discuss whether or not that event resulted in the desired outcome.
You may want to encourage conversation with one or more of the following questions:
- Did the event glorify God?
- Were women’s lives changed?
- Were women drawn closer to Jesus?
- Did the event encourage women in their walk with Christ?
- Did we offer something the world cannot?
- What spiritual needs of our women did we address?
You may find that the emphasis or desired outcome was not as your team expected. Or you may find you were right on target.
This exercise can be especially helpful for annual events such as a Table Event, which can often take on a life of their own!
The women’s ministry team at one of our previous churches hosts an annual Table Event.
I wish I had asked that team and some of our women what they remembered about the Table Event. I am confident I would have heard more about the décor one particular year than I would have about the message – although our speaker was spot on and shared a powerful testimony.
Your team may decide:
- That a certain aspect of your event is distracting from God’s purpose for your event.
- Some intentional tweaking is in order.
- That since the desired results were not achieved, you’ll choose not to repeat that event.
We should always strive to better meet the spiritual needs of our women.
Reflecting on an event several months afterward allows time for our teams to gauge if those spiritual needs were meant or not.
So, whether you eat or drink, of whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV.
You may also want to read:
Excessive Decorations
Post Event Evaluation Form (Free Printable)
The Ultimate Women’s Ministry Event Planning Resource List
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