Below you’ll find the transcript of my interview with Debbie Ericksen. You can also listen to the Women’s Ministry Toolbox Podcast interview on your favorite podcast platform (such as Spotify) and you can watch it onYouTube here.

Please forgive any spelling or grammatical errors.

EP 119: Women’s Ministry Leader Interview with Debbie Ericksen

Cyndee Ownbey [00:00:00]:
Ladies, I am so very excited to bring you a women’s ministry leader interview. Today I am going to introduce to you Debbie Ericksen. Debbie was serving on my launch team and that’s how I got to know her this last year. So, Debbie, thank you for that. I’m excited to have you here today.

Debbie Erickson [00:00:17]:
It is a privilege. Thank you.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:00:20]:
So, Debbie, why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about the church you serve in. What size is it? Where is it located?

Debbie Erickson [00:00:27]:
I attend Grace Fellowship Chapel. We’re located in Bedminster, New Jersey. We just went to two services last year. So an average on a Sunday is we have about 400 attendees that attend in person on Sunday and then we have about 335, 340 that attend online.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:00:47]:
That’s fantastic. That’s exciting that you guys have gone to two services. We may circle back to that later. Remind me if I don’t ask you, but that would be a good follow up question. I know there’s ladies listening that have probably two services and those can be a little bit challenging. But let’s start with finding out how your women’s ministry in your church is structured.

Debbie Erickson [00:01:09]:
It’s grown and evolved over the three years. I was invited to be the director of women’s ministry three and a half years ago, actually. And it went from having social gatherings and Bible studies to, once I stepped in, they encouraged me to put more shape around it. And so that’s how we set it up. So our women’s ministries leader, I’m the director. And then we serve together on a team. This year we have three women on the leadership team. Last year we had six.

Debbie Erickson [00:01:44]:
Before that, I think we had seven or eight women that were on it. And those leadership team members have, with the exception of two people, the team members have turned over and either felt called to move on to other ministries or wanted to start a ministry of their own and they were going to pursue that.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:02:05]:
Gotcha. So with your team that you have now, do you guys have specific roles that you serve and how does it work?

Debbie Erickson [00:02:13]:
Because we’re a smaller group this year, we’ve kind of melted them all together. Last year we, when we had six members, we did have different. We called them subcommittees. And it was very interesting how God led us to set that up because we had each taken a spiritual gifting inventory. And then when I was sitting working on, we. We had a leadership retreat ever, because we’re a smaller group this year, we’ve kind of melted them all together. Last year when we had six members. We did have different.

Debbie Erickson [00:02:49]:
We called them subcommittees. And it was very interesting how God led us to set that up because we had each taken a spiritual gifting inventory. We had a leadership retreat every January where we spent the day together in fellowship and planning for the year ahead. The subcommittees that I came up with, unbeknownst to me, because I wasn’t paying attention to the gifting inventory, I was just following the Holy Spirit. We had each of the women perfectly fit to the subcommittees that God led us to set up. So some of the subcommittees that we had were fellowship and events. We had a media person who handled our media, which was a good connection for her because she was also in charge of the media for the church website. We had another woman who took the lead on vetting out Bible studies for us and taking over part of the teaching so that it wasn’t just on my shoulders.

Debbie Erickson [00:03:53]:
We had an outreach person who sent cards or started the prayer chain for a woman in need or whatever the need was. There were multiple avenues for outreach. And then we had one woman who served as our almost like our administrator when it wasn’t me, where she would take the leadership meeting minutes. She would take care of anything that needed to be processed in that regard or to support the ministry.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:04:22]:
That is so helpful to hear. And I know other leaders were probably taking notes as you were going through that there’s so many different ways you can organize your team, but I love how that serves and met the needs of the women on your team and in your church in that season. And now you guys are down to three. So you’ve pivoted and you’re. You’re making it through. You’re working it now.

Debbie Erickson [00:04:43]:
We’re all doing all the things. Everybody’s chipping in and working together.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:04:47]:
Gotcha. That is what you have to do sometimes, right? We never know when the Lord might remove someone from the team. That was really helpful. So do you guys have a mission statement for your women’s ministry?

Debbie Erickson [00:04:58]:
We do, and that was one of the first things. I read it in your Rethinking Women’s Ministry book because I discovered you shortly after I took on the role of ministry leader. And that was one of the things that you recommended in your book. And so we worked really hard prayerfully to really tweak this. It’s guided us through everything that we’ve worked on. And so our mission statement is to deepen our personal relationship to Christ and one another by actively pursuing discipleship, building community, and engaging Deeply in the study of God’s Word. And we love that mission statement because it encapsulated the three things that we believe God put on our hearts when it came to pursuing this ministry for women.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:05:45]:
Love that. That is really good. Could you read it one more time and point out those three things for the leaders who are listening?

Debbie Erickson [00:05:50]:
Absolutely. To deepen our personal relationship to Christ, that’s first and foremost, because that also includes prayer and with one another by actively pursuing discipleship, building community, and engaging deeply in the study of God’s Word. So when you look at actively pursuing discipleship and building community, that’s the building of relationships and the family of God. And the only way for us to grow and mature in our relationship with Christ and with each other and build community and mentor each other is to deeply Scripture.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:06:28]:
Yeah. Oh, I love that. I’m glad I asked you to reread that and explain that a little bit more. That was really helpful. All right, Debbie, would you tell us about your journey into women’s ministry?

Debbie Erickson [00:06:39]:
I spent a lot of time thinking about this question, what got me here? And I have one answer. Every single thing in my life got me to this place in time. I have a very treasured friend who said to me a while ago in one of our Bible studies, she said, God does not waste anything. And so when I look over the steps of my journey to this place and time and this ministry and this way to serve and honor the Lord, it’s all the other spiritual journeys that I’ve gone through that have gotten me to this place. So I don’t know how in detail you want me to go with that, but it’s everything.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:07:26]:
Oh, I love that. Well, give us a little bit of detail. Like what were you doing before women’s ministry? Were you on the team before you became the director? Were you serving somewhere else?

Debbie Erickson [00:07:35]:
It was interesting that the way that I became the leader, being invited to lead women’s ministry. Before that, in a prior church, I had served on the women’s ministry team. That was years ago when our sons were small and we were raising children. I served on that team in a former church. But over the last 20 years, I’ve gone from being a stay at home mom. I went back to school to get my certifications to be a teacher, taught in public education. After I homeschooled one of two of our sons, actually, for a couple years, God reignited that passion that I had had as a child to be a teacher. And I was like, I’m doing this.

Debbie Erickson [00:08:18]:
So I went back and did that. He gifted me with teaching, opened the doors other than motherhood. I love that job. Then Covid says everyone and taught virtually like all the other teachers in the United States did. And I felt the Holy Spirit as we were coming out of that season of time, saying, it’s time to retire. And quite honestly, when He said retire, I was like, great, let’s do it.

Debbie Erickson [00:08:47]:
Because I was burned out. But after about six months of that, I really missed my classroom and my school babies. I loved a classroom full of kids. And so then I was starting to go through a grieving process. While I was doing all of that and we were back in church in person, I was involved with ministries, any way that I could help. I was really in a helping capacity anytime there was a women’s ministry. Eventually I stepped forward to volunteer and help, got to know some of the women, they got to know me, participated in Bible studies, and it was a real spiritual journey for me. And it was a struggle because I’m a doer, and I didn’t realize how much of my identity I got through teaching and how much of it I got through doing.

Debbie Erickson [00:09:35]:
And God was telling me, this is your quiet season. I need you to be quiet and wait on me, wait on me, wait on me. Two weeks before I got the invitation to lead women, I got a phone call from state leadership for an organization I was a member of as a result of a teaching award I had received. And they were asking me to take on the leadership for this. For this organization, for the state of New Jersey.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:10:06]:
Okay.

Debbie Erickson [00:10:07]:
And I was. I was ready to jump at the opportunity to do something. And it wasn’t an audible voice, but it was loud enough in my spirit. It was God saying, this is not for you. And so I didn’t even have to tell them, I’ll think about it and pray about it. I thank them for the invitation, and I said no. And I wasn’t upset by it. I had a total peace that this was not for me.

Debbie Erickson [00:10:36]:
God told me it wasn’t for me. Two weeks later, one of the pastor’s wives called and asked me if I would consider prayerfully leading the women’s ministry. And isn’t it amazing how when God is leading you to something, you know it, Most of the time you know it. And I could just feel it in my spirit. But I committed to praying. I committed to talking to my husband about it, as she had asked me to do. And the next day I called her. And when I had spoken to my husband that night, he said to me, debbie, I just know that this is what God has been saving for you, and you need to do that.

Debbie Erickson [00:11:15]:
You need to do that. So that’s how I wound up here. And he was so encouraging. He was so encouraging for that. That’s an important point to remember, because when you know you’ve been called by God and you hit rough spots or challenges, knowing you’re called by God keeps you there. If you seek to be obedient, which should be something we all seek, it keeps you there. Because it would be way easier to walk if you weren’t sure God, that was where you were supposed to be, or you just on your own decided, oh, I think I’ll do this. This is a great idea.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:11:55]:
Let’s pivot and talk a little bit about women’s ministry events and activities. Is there something that you guys have done in your church that’s been really successful?

Debbie Erickson [00:12:05]:
There’s two things, actually, that I thought of. One is our Christmas event, and that is an event that was going on long before I got there. It was the biggest event of the year when women were. We’re doing something to get together. It’s threefold. It’s done to celebrate and recognize the birth of Christ and worship him. It’s a opportunity to pray, to worship for people who are seeking. Because it’s also a community outreach.

Debbie Erickson [00:12:34]:
So it’s not just for the women in our church. It is for any woman in the community who wants to come, any woman who wants to bring friends or family. It is designed to be an outreach. It’s also supportive of one of our missions. We support, as a mission the Hoving Home for Women, and we invite the Hoving Home sisters in Christ to come join us. The women who are attending the dinner bring a donation off of a donation list that Hoving Home submits to us of what will bless the women. Those are our Christmas gifts to the women, and we collect them and we fill up their vans and send them home with things that they need, things that would bless them. And it’s just a wonderful time to come together as sisters in Christ and at the same time, support each other and support something bigger than ourselves.

Debbie Erickson [00:13:29]:
Yes. So that’s the Christmas event. And we have, on average, we have anywhere from 100 to 120 women who attend that.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:13:41]:
Well, that’s what Christmas is really supposed to be all about, isn’t it?

Debbie Erickson [00:13:46]:
And the other thing that has been growing for us is our Bible studies. It’s been a progression that I’ve tried to build on over the last three years, and we’ve tried multiple setups for how. What would appeal to women. Different setups appeal to different women. Doesn’t all have to be the same. We also have used your READ Inductive Bible study, which was a huge hit, because one of the things that we felt very strongly about as a leadership team was that we not only we wanted women to come to Bible studies and to learn and be blessed and have fellowship with each other, but we also wanted to give them life skills. And the only way to give a woman life skills around scripture study is to teach them how to study inductively.

Debbie Erickson [00:14:37]:
And when I read your book and shared it with the leadership team, we prayed over it, and we knew that that was what we were going to do. And we followed your sample. After we had purchased the book, we had some training sessions, and then we segued right into the study of Ephesians, and it was excellent. Last year, we did three cycles of Bible studies. This year because we’re restructuring things at a little slower pace.

Debbie Erickson [00:15:07]:
We’ve restructured, so it’s a little different. It’s changed. We offer daytime, a daytime study. We tend to meet at night because most of the women are available at night. So that’s what our studies look like.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:15:23]:
I like that you guys are reassessed along the way. Like, you took what was working, but then you also looked at like, is this gonna work in the next season or not? And how do we tweak and change things? Always trying to improve on what you’re doing.

Debbie Erickson [00:15:35]:
Exactly.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:15:36]:
It’s real easy, I think, in women’s ministry to get stuck in a rut. And we just kind of hit that repeat button because, well, it’s working. There really doesn’t need to be necessarily a change or we think that anyway, rather than stepping back and looking at, is this what’s best for our women in this season right now? So I’m glad that you guys did that. That’s fantastic. That leads me to a question that I want to follow up on. Do you all have, like, a theme that you focus in on throughout the year or not?

Debbie Erickson [00:16:07]:
Great question. And the answer is yes. So every year we have a different theme. This year, the Lord put on our hearts at the end of last year, abiding in Christ. So that is our theme this year, which, of course, because when it comes from God, it all ties together. It is all about discipleship. It’s all about studying scripture. It’s all about mentoring each other and forging and maturing our prayer relationship with God.

Debbie Erickson [00:16:35]:
It’s all of that. And we’re learning that sometimes you need to be quiet and slower so that you can abide with, with God and not be busy, busy, busy all the time. And I think in large part for women as a whole, that’s a really heavy lift to just sit still and be quiet.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:16:56]:
You get real busy with that to do list and checking off our Bible study time. I can be real quick to move on to that next thing because my list is long. There’s a lot to be said for slowing down and making sure that we’re not fast tracking through it or we miss something. I like that. So you mentioned discipleship and we’ve talked about your Bible studies. Are there other ways that you all approach discipleship in your church?

Debbie Erickson [00:17:21]:
Our church as a whole has a variety of different opportunities for discipleship. Grace Chapel has groups for just about everybody, including young adults. We’ve got men’s ministries, women’s ministries, youth ministries. There’s lots there. There’s whole church teaching. There’s a moms group, so there’s older moms, which I’m one of them. And we serve as mentors for the younger moms. And it’s a really cool group because once a month they meet and the young moms get to submit questions.

Debbie Erickson [00:17:56]:
And then we sit together and share a meal and answer them. So discipleship and starts to look different depending on where you’re at and what, who you’re working with. And so it can be singular in nature, one on one relationships. It can be small group, it can be whole church teaching it. It can be small group Bible studies. This year, our women’s ministries is using a book called One at a Time by Kyle Idleman. And it is all about discipleship and it is excellent. I had read it just for my own personal growth and then I put the book out to the leadership team and that is what we are focusing on with our book study right now.

Debbie Erickson [00:18:42]:
It’s loaded with scripture, it’s supported by, with scripture. He looks at Jesus being the model for what it looks like to disciple others. And he titled it One at a Time because sometimes, and I am guilty of this, I can look at where there are a lot of people there and determine that success for an event is based on the number of people. But Jesus shows us that the more important thing, while he was surrounded by crowds of thousands, many times he was focused on the person in front of him, He was focused on the one person he had to get to. And that’s a really important reminder when you’re looking at the whole idea of fellowship, because I think sometimes, especially when you’re leading ministries, you can tend to gauge your own success by turnout.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:19:31]:
Oh, I’ve been totally guilty of that. But some of the best conversations happen when just a few people show up. And there have been times I’ve been tempted to cancel some. You know, some of those are the sweetest, sweetest moments, for sure. Well, I’m gonna make a note of that book. Now that I’m not in school, I have a little more time to read things that I want to read. So I’ll put that on my list. I want to circle back to something you brought up at the very beginning.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:19:57]:
You mentioned that you guys have two services that can be challenging. So do you have any tips for leaders and other churches with two services on how do you minister to everyone in the church?

Debbie Erickson [00:20:11]:
So it’s a great question, and it’s one that our church leadership really prayerfully took their time on because there were some concerns about losing, and rightly so, losing that family feeling where we’re all together in one service and. But it got to the point where people were. Even with our extended parking lots across the street and in nearby businesses, people were turning away because they couldn’t find a parking spot. They. There weren’t any more seats left, even in our overflow room. And it got to the point where they had to make a decision, and rightly so. We never want to turn somebody away from coming together for worship and fellowship. And the pastor and the board of elders made the decision to split into two services.

Debbie Erickson [00:21:03]:
And I will say that we also have a fellowship time after each service. So we offer bagels and coffee as part of the extended worship time together to connect with each other and continue building relationships and nurturing those relationships. So having said all of that, just logistically there’s a lot of moving pieces to all of that when they move to the two services in order to have us not be so disconnected. What’s worked out really well is we have our 8:30 service that ends at around 9:30. Shortly after that, we have our fellowship time. The second service starts at 10:30. And then there’s the same kind of fellowship time after that.

Debbie Erickson [00:21:48]:
What’s nice for the fellowship time in between the 8:30 and the 10:30 service is that you often have a lot of crossover. You have some people who are staying later, some People who are coming in early and you still get to see each other. Do you see everybody you saw before? No, of course not. But it provides an opportunity so that you’re not totally disconnected from each other. Our second service is the only one that offers childcare and Sunday school classes. So that’s when most families with young children will come to the 10:30. But there’s a lot of us that will hang around just to connect with people who are coming in the door for the second one. So it’s worked out really nicely.

Debbie Erickson [00:22:33]:
It’s worked out great.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:22:35]:
That’s fantastic. I love that you all have that fellowship time in between. We have two services as well at our church and that that crossover time, we try to get there a little early. So I do get to see some of the people as they’re coming in and out. But we don’t have quite the big window that you all have. I love that you’re taking advantage of that. And especially when you’re the women’s ministry director, that gives you touch points with people in that second service. If you’re going to first service or vice versa.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:23:05]:
Well, that’s good. Thank you for sharing that with us. That’ll be helpful for leaders to hear. So what is your favorite thing about serving in women’s ministry?

Debbie Erickson [00:23:14]:
It’s something that you alluded to a few minutes ago. It is the one on one moments, the couple of women moments. I’m blessed by big events and just seeing women together and corporate worship. But the things that are such a blessing to me are just the, the smaller conversations, the smaller connections or a woman comes up, it could be searching, struggling. She has a wow moment, a moment of success in something that she’s been wrestling with or questions. It’s just those smaller, more intimate conversations. That’s my favorite. It’s my favorite, like learning with the women too.

Debbie Erickson [00:24:02]:
When I come home from a Bible study, I can’t just come home and go to bed because I’m all revved up and all excited about conversations we’ve had and things we’ve learned together and questions that have been asked. And sometimes I can’t answer them. Sometimes I’m like, I need to go look into that for you and get back to you about that.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:24:22]:
It’s neat to hear how God is working in the lives of our ladies. And sometimes at those big events, we don’t get a chance to capture those things. We don’t get a chance to hear about them. So those are sweet moments. I would love to know if there’s a challenge that you’ve experienced in women’s ministry and how you handled that?

Debbie Erickson [00:24:41]:
So the answer I’m going to give you is how I’m learning to handle that. I have not mastered it. It’s balance for me because I tend to get ahead of my skis a little bit or ahead of God, where my creative juices start to flow and I’m. Instead of a simple event, I can get really fancy if I’m. If I don’t rein it in or add details or put too much on my calendar. And sometimes I forget that it’s okay to say no to a good thing because when I get too busy, then it compromises my time with God. It compromises my time of just powering down and thinking through my thoughts and studying Scripture or taking care of something not involved with ministry or connecting with friends or other family members. It’s very easy for me to get out of balance.

Debbie Erickson [00:25:38]:
So I’m learning to put balance back into my life. And it’s not because of the ministry. It’s. It’s a me problem. It’s the way I’m wired. So leading ministry and knowing what I’m responsible for and trying to balance the rest of my life is a process for me. And I haven’t totally mastered it yet. But I’m learning, I’m growing.

Debbie Erickson [00:26:03]:
But it’s. That’s my challenge. It’s a me problem.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:26:10]:
I appreciate your honesty with that. It is hard. You could spend hours doing women’s ministry every single day. Most of us are volunteers, and so we are giving freely of our time, and we can get a little out of whack, when we’re focused on a big project or a retreat or planning something or even deep Bible study. Sometimes we can get so into the weeds that we start neglecting the people in our lives, our family, our children, other things that the Lord has called us to do. So I appreciate you putting our focus on that for a minute. And ladies, if you’re listening, maybe this is an opportunity for you to reflect and to assess. Are you a little out of balance? You don’t have to use the word balance if you don’t like, but is there some place that you need to put a little more focus or emphasis on that you’ve been neglecting? So we’ll let you sit with that with the Lord a little bit and see what He brings to mind.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:27:04]:
What advice would you have for a new women’s ministry leader?

Debbie Erickson [00:27:09]:
Pray, pray, pray. And when you’re done with that pray some more. Don’t do anything until you pray and you give God time to answer. Because sometimes I’ll just speak for myself. I can pray and then go do it. Like, okay, I prayed about this, so let’s go do it. Well, no, no, no, no. So just really spend time in prayer and wait, waiting and praying.

Debbie Erickson [00:27:41]:
And when you feel that God has given you direction on even one thing, then you move. But until you hear from him, you don’t move. And it is okay to spend weeks in prayer before you start anything. Because he was so faithful to me as a new leader when I was invited in January to that. The January, the year I accepted it. And the next couple weeks later I went away on a personal retreat to a little historic hotel that was super inexpensive in the dead of winter at the beach because nobody’s there. And I spent three nights and three days with the Lord, praying, studying scripture, listening to music, worshiping in my room all by myself.

Debbie Erickson [00:28:31]:
Sometimes I’d get tired, so I’d have to pick up my knitting or put a nice movie on to switch gears for a while. But the bulk of my time for that time that I was away was to just connect with God and hear what he wanted first and last. This is God’s ministry. It’s not ours. We are just being servants to take care of it and do what he needs us to do. So that’s my advice, is pray. Other other caution I would give is don’t compare yourself to somebody else’s ministry. God has put you in a place to serve and he has specific plans for where he has placed you and who you are.

Debbie Erickson [00:29:13]:
And He will be faithful to fulfill that for sure.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:29:18]:
As you were sharing and talking about getting away and just spending time with the Lord and, you know, seeking his direction, I had a conversation a couple weeks ago with a couple of leaders at a local church. They co-lead women’s ministry and they were telling me about how years ago they used to spend like a day together, really seeking the Lord’s will for their women’s ministry before they put anything on paper and asking the Lord to give them that scripture verse. They have found that method too, of having that scripture that weaves everything together for the year has really just tied everything together and anchored it in a way that they didn’t have before. And so they said it used to be one day and then it became, I think, a night or two away. And now the two of them go together for a week away. And I was like, oh, that’s fantastic. I’m glad that they’re able to do that. But they had just talked about how sweet that time is that they set aside and they really focus and ask the Lord, okay, we often, like you were talking about at the beginning, we pray and then we go ahead and do.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:30:20]:
And sometimes we do, and then we ask the Lord just to bless our plans. And I have been very guilty of that. And that’s something I have been working hard to do. Like, don’t move. Like you said, don’t move until you know the Lord wants you to move.

Debbie Erickson [00:30:34]:
And I know for some women, financially, it’s not an option to go away. So spending time closed in a room, turn your phone off, don’t put the TV on, don’t open a computer. You can get the same thing. For me, I know me, I’ll be sitting and I can focus for an extended period of time. But there’s some days if I’m in my home, I’m like, oh, let me go do a load of laundry. Oh, let me go send this email. Let me. There’s so many things that I can get distracted with.

Debbie Erickson [00:31:03]:
So for me, it really helps me to focus and. But there’s a lot of times where I am here and I just have to put the blinders on and focus.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:31:12]:
And there’s inexpensive ways, too, whether you just go to a park. You don’t have to do an overnight in a hotel. You can just find a quiet space somewhere if the weather’s nice, sit outside and spend some time with him, and spend some time in the Word. And I am always amazed when I’m asking the Lord for something like that, like, you know, lord, what do you want for our women this year? I have in my mind, admittedly, usually an idea or two, and that’s never what the end process. That’s never where we end up. God has something else, and then you get to watch that unfold. I may not always understand, but then as I see the plan start unfolding and how everything starts to connect and how our women respond, I’m like, oh, your plan’s always better than my plan every single time. So I love that reminder to pray and really seek the Lord’s will.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:32:01]:
That’s fantastic. All right, before we wrap things up, I would love to know, and you’ve mentioned one book already, but do you have some other resource recommendations you’d like to share with the leaders listening.

Debbie Erickson [00:32:13]:
The Women’s Ministry Toolbox was my go to. I really believe that God led me to that, because when I knew that I was supposed to accept the invitation to lead women. I took it. But I did my personal retreat. I still had no idea I knew what he wanted me to do one little baby step at a time. I had no idea how to put shape around it and I knew I needed help. So I just started searching. And I’m very particular about the resources that I go to because I want it scripture based.

Debbie Erickson [00:32:47]:
I don’t want opinions. I didn’t want just frilly ideas for getting together. I needed the meat of scripture to guide me. And I found your website and I ordered your books. And the first one I read was Rethinking Women’s Ministries, which has now been rewritten to Women’s Ministry Essentials. And it’s excellent. So leaders, if you have not gotten your copy, you need it. The Bible and Cyndee’s book is what you need.

Debbie Erickson [00:33:16]:
The ideas in there and the recommendations were key to helping me start to put shape around it. So your books, the read the Rethinking Fellowship, that was the other one that was super helpful for us and helped us to put shape around some existing things we do when to discard some things that maybe we don’t want to do anymore and pick up some new things. So your resources, everything on your website, even down to the devotional packets that you offer for leaders, we would do a devotional. I bought that whole series for us. And every time we have last year, every year up to this year. Now we meet every other month because it’s a slower year for us. But typically we meet every month, including through the summer to do our leadership meetings. And I would read one of the devotions because of the continuity and what you build on in those devotionals.

Debbie Erickson [00:34:15]:
And it really help to support and help spiritually the members of the leadership team. So it was excellent. So all of your resources, I cannot, I cannot thank you enough for what you have been obedient to God to, to. To write and prepare and provide for women who are leading women. Because it’s been exceptional and I, I can’t thank you enough. And God, I recommend it for any leader. I have my sisters in a church where they’re trying to start building a women’s ministry ministry. And I’ve recommended your resources and they’ve used them.

Debbie Erickson [00:34:55]:
So thank you.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:34:56]:
Thank you so much. Well, to God be the glory. Just sharing the things that he has taught me along the way and the mistakes I’ve made and hopefully I’ll spare you some of the mistakes along the way for sure. But I love hearing that they’ve been helpful. Thank you, Debbie, very much. So besides my stuff, are there other resources that you want to recommend?

Debbie Erickson [00:35:18]:
There are some other books by Kyle Idleman, who’s a pastor. His books have been very helpful for me personally. He uses self deprecating humor and I love that he’s very transparent. But he is focused on scripture. So his books have been a huge resource for me in terms of my own personal growth and maturity and leading. It’s, it’s really helped me a lot. And God shows me through the Bible studies we’ve done.

Debbie Erickson [00:35:49]:
It’s a spiritual journey for a leader too. You’re not just there leading and teaching. Other women leaders are learning and growing and hitting, hitting walls, hitting bumps in the road just like everybody else. So just staying anchored to those resources. And scripture especially, especially has been, that’s been my go to when I’m struggling. The first book I open is the Bible. Sometimes I wander through scripture and sometimes there’s a specific place he wants me to go to. It’s all good.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:36:23]:
Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah, absolutely. That has to be our anchor. Absolutely has to be our anchor. Well, before we finish here, is there anything else that you haven’t had a chance to share that maybe you want to share?

Debbie Erickson [00:36:36]:
I’m going to speak to seasoned leaders as well as new leaders. Seasoned leaders will understand what I’m going to say. New leaders be encouraged by what I’m about to say. And it’s this leading women serving in any ministry in any capacity, whether you’re in leadership or something else, it’s really a faith journey for us. And it is learning to walk by faith, not by sight, just like he tells us to. And it’s that one little baby step at a time. Sometimes I felt like the little cartoon character of old where they’d step off the cliff and I wonder if I’m gonna fall down or whether I’m gonna walk on air. He never lets me fall.

Debbie Erickson [00:37:21]:
And if I fall down of my own devices, he picks me up under both arms and picks me up again. It is a faith journey and it is. I feel very similar in women’s ministries to how I felt in the classroom when I watched children learn, when I gave them something to work through. And then I stepped back and I just watched them, which often brought me to tears to watch the miracle unfold. So whether it’s with children or it’s with the women in front of you, or a woman in front of you, you have a ticket to watching miracles happen. And it is. You can’t put words to it. You just can’t.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:38:00]:
Oh, that’s beautiful, Debbie. Thank you so much. I’m glad we ended on that note. Thank you, Debbie, so much for your time today. Leaders. I pray that you were encouraged.

Debbie Erickson [00:38:09]:
Thank you.

Cyndee Ownbey [00:38:11]:
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Women’s Ministry Toolbox Podcast. Leading in Women’s Ministry it can be lonely, but it doesn’t have to be. You’ll find support and ideas you can use in the Women’s Ministry Toolbox Community Facebook group. We would love for you to join us. Search for us on Facebook or visit womensministrytoolbox.com/groups to access the link. May the grace of God carry you through difficult ministry seasons. May he direct your steps as you seek to make him known. And may your love for the Lord be apparent to every woman you serve.

Related (affiliate links):
Women’s Ministry Essentials
READ Bible Study Kit for Groups
Rethinking Fellowship
Devotionals for Women’s Ministry Teams
One at a Time by Kyle Idleman