Dear Women’s Ministry
Dear Women’s Ministry,
You are a vital part of the church. After all, women make up over fifty percent of the people in the pews on Sunday mornings. We are a large demographic that requires a special kind of ministry and care that is different from what our men, our children, and our teenagers need.
You truly care for us well. You provide us time to get away from our mundane tasks and routines to gather with other Christian women who are in various ages and stages of life. You give us a community of like-minded ladies who remind us we are not alone in our daily struggles. You offer us a space where we can confess and share what’s weighing on our hearts and minds. You allow us to cry on your shoulders when our husbands are sick, our children are disobedient, and our seasons of singleness seem to never end. You encourage us and remind us that the God who created the entire cosmos knows each of us intimately and loves us far more than we could ever fathom.
But every church ministry is run by broken, imperfect human beings with flaws in their habits that are difficult to overcome. Some methods embraced in the name of women’s ministry can be unhelpful or can gloss over crucial aspects of discipleship that Christian women need now more than ever. Of course, you look a little different in every church. In some churches, you do an excellent job, and it’s hard to see where you could be improved. In others, however, there is need for renovation and revival.
I write this letter to you to suggest what may be lacking in many congregations across this country and around the globe and reveal how you can be an even better minister and encourager to our women.
Women Need the Bible
I can’t tell you how many pretty Instagram graphics I’ve seen with Bible verses being used out of context; how many devotionals I’ve read that are full of fluff and flattery with just a splash of Scripture; or how often conferences I’ve attended are headlined with empty platitudes that do not reflect the full truth of God’s Word.
We’re busy. We’re exhausted. We have a lot going on in our lives. Because of that, we often think that we’re not capable of deep Bible study. So, we tend to gravitate toward those happy messages that tell us we’re beautiful, we’re loved, we’re worthy. While these may sound nice, they’re actually not very helpful and beneficial to our daily lives. They don’t help us with our real-life problems, and they don’t point us to the one Person who can truly help us and save us—God.
As Bible teacher Phylicia Masonheimer wrote in her book Stop Calling Me Beautiful, “We are tired of the Bible being watered down and made palatable. We need and want truth, because only truth will set us free” (13). We need the Bible because it is God’s revelation of himself to us. We need the Bible because it equips us to pursue obedience to our Creator and King. We need the Bible because it gives us everything we need to live in godliness and fight temptation (1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Tim. 3:16–17; 2 Pet. 1:3). And the only way we can truly understand what the Bible is teaching us is to read it in context and study it in depth.
Women Need a Mentor
One thing you truly shine at is community. You gather women from every different stage of life—students, singles, wives, mothers, widows—and unite us around the one thing we all have in common: Jesus. This community reminds us we are not alone as we journey through life, and there are other Christian women who are willing to walk alongside us, even in our darkest times and deepest struggles.
But we need more than just a community. We need more than just a group to commiserate with about our frustrations, failings, and even wrongful temptations toward gossip. A community that provides pity, agreement, encouragement, and affirmation is wonderful. But we need more. We need someone to challenge us to grow in our faith. We need you to guide us away from idle chatter and give us mentors.
It’s all well and good to gather with women who are near to us in age, but it is even better to gather with women who lived in generations before us, gleaning from the spiritual wisdom they’ve accrued over the years. These mentors can teach younger women how to be pure and self-controlled in their relationships, kind and submissive toward their husbands, and caring and attentive to their children and homes (Titus 2:3–5). In doing this, mentors remind us of the faithfulness of our God (Ps. 145:4) and strengthen us in our walk with Christ (Prov. 27:17).
Women Need to Serve
As I’m sure you know, women like to talk, and we tend to go to women’s ministry events that involve sitting down and talking. These get-togethers, whether it’s drinking afternoon tea, having a paint night, or listening to a guest speaker, are always well-done and well-attended. However, many of us leave these events feeling like we could get more out of them than we did. And some of what we get, shouldn’t be gotten: we often come away with all the latest church gossip and a dread of returning to our regular duties. When we’ve spent all our free time in your programs, we’ve missed out on something that’s truly beneficial for our souls: serving.
Women are greatly gifted creatures, and we have skills and abilities that men do not generally possess. God didn’t give us these attributes to boast about ourselves or to look good to others. No, he graciously gave us our gifts and strengths to bring glory to him and to serve both our local church and community (1 Pet. 4:10–11). So, perhaps consider giving us opportunities to serve! Organize a clothing and toy drive for local refugee families that we can participate in. Sign us up to be mentors for single mothers who are in desperate need of help. Facilitate an evening where we can serve dinner at a nearby homeless shelter. Ask the pastors of your church which practical needs seem to go unmet. Allow us to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Whatever we do, may we do it with gladness and for his glory, as an act of service to the Lord (Ps. 100:2; Col. 3:23). Finally, even as we minister in all these ways, keep reminding us that our righteousness is in Christ, not our works.
Women’s Ministry, you are near and dear to my heart. I have no greater joy than to see a woman growing in her knowledge and love of her Savior, and you’re often a big part of that growth and maturation. It is because of you that so many women know the Lord and love the Lord that they know. And it is because of you that so many women have joined a local body of believers.
I love you and care about you so much that I want you to be the best you can be so that you can help our women to be strengthened in their faith and emboldened to preach the gospel to anyone who will listen. This is why I write this letter to you. This is why I share what our women truly need in today’s world. This is why I implore you to teach the full message of the Bible, establish godly and mature mentors, and provide opportunities for women to serve with the gifts God has graciously given to us. I know you’ll never be perfect and you won’t get everything right on this side of glory. But I hope you will take these words to heart and do everything you can to bring glory to God through the women you serve.
Sincerely,
Your sister in Christ
Tristany Corgan lives in sunny central Florida. She has a master’s degree in Biblical Exposition from Liberty University, and she works as a Database Manager for a local Christian non-profit. Tristany has a passion for encouraging women to know and love the Word of God, and she has written about the Bible and theology for several Christian women’s ministries, including The Daily Grace Co., Hosanna Revival, and Wholehearted Quiet Time. You can read more of her work at tristanycorgan.com.