December 16, 2025
God’s Resort: A Unique Ministry of Transitional Housing
God's Resort is a transitional ministry that equips people to move from semi-stability to full recovery through relational encounters.
Articles for tag: Women’s Ministry
SPOTLIGHT: Kids’ Ministry, Local Outreach Spark Baptisms at Kentucky Church
First Christian Church in Monticello, Ky., had a banner year for baptisms in 2022, according to the annual Church Report compiled by Christian Standard. Senior minister Joe Tipton said three factors accounted for the large number of baptisms at the church (which dates back to 1831) . . .
May 1, 2022
You Can Get Young Adults Involved in Your Women’s Ministry!
By Megan Rawlings Women’s ministry has a nebulous reputation. Whenever I say those two words together, women’s ministry, I get different reactions depending on the audience. I despise overgeneralizations, but I will make one here. People in Generation Z (those born 1999–2015) and millennials (1981–1998) nearly gag when the mere idea of women’s ministry surfaces in conversation. Am I coming on too strong? Have a chat with a few women in those generations and see for yourself. I don’t think it needs to be this way. After studying the situation for the last few years, I have five suggestions that
February 7, 2021
Strangers Start Path to Healing at Emotional Bible Study
By Dee Ann Billings On a recent night I got a glimmer of what a church would be like if Jesus were here in the flesh sitting amongst us. We often refer to Jesus as the giver of freedom—freedom from our sins and freedom from our pain. Unfortunately, the church oftentimes has become the opposite of that. That night was the first of a six-week Bible study called “In the Middle of the Mess.” We opened the class to the community, knowing there were hurting and struggling women who needed freedom from their pain. But we didn’t expect a roster
February 1, 2021
Interview with Kadi Cole: How to Develop Female Leaders in the Church
In her book Developing Female Leaders, author and speaker Kadi Cole provides tools, coaching, and strategies for incorporating the development of female leaders into the leadership pipelines in our churches. After reading her book, I had the privilege to spend some time with her. QUESTION: Why should church leaders invest in developing their female leaders? KADI COLE: Young people have grown up in an age where diversity is the norm for them, so to walk into a worship experience and have everybody be very homogeneous is actually a deterrent. Not because they don’t agree with our beliefs, but because they
February 22, 2020
The Challenge: Learn How to Study the Bible and Equip Other Women to Do the Same!
By Megan Rawlings Do you know how to study the Bible? Studying is very different from simply reading; to study requires more effort. We study Scripture to gain understanding, and understanding entails more than merely skimming through a passage and letting that be enough. For example, in Acts 8:26-40, the Ethiopian eunuch was in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah. After the Holy Spirit directed Philip to go over to the man, Philip asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The eunuch replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” Philip then explained the Old Testament passage
February 2, 2020
The Challenge: Learn How to Study the Bible and Equip Other Women to Do the Same!
By Megan Rawlings Do you know how to study the Bible? Studying is very different from simply reading; to study requires more effort. We study Scripture to gain understanding, and understanding entails more than merely skimming through a passage and letting that be enough. For example, in Acts 8:26-40, the Ethiopian eunuch was in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah. After the Holy Spirit directed Philip to go over to the man, Philip asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The eunuch replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” Philip then explained the Old Testament passage
January 2, 2020
'Fire and Rain': The Power of a Praying Wife
By Megan Rawlings The lyrics of James Taylor’s song “Fire and Rain” (and this verse, in particular, “I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend . . .”) echoed in my mind as I thought about the past year. I’ve received an unbelievable number of calls from disheartened wives during the past 12 months. Many of these ladies live with men who struggle with porn, constantly threaten divorce, have affairs, and/or battle alcoholism. All of these women are Christians who are married to nonbelieving husbands; they all need reassurance they are not alone. I needed a success
December 25, 2019
The Importance of Women, and Women’s Ministry, in the Church
By Megan Rawlings As a young girl, I always wanted to be just like my mom. Whether it was cutting jeans into shorts, teasing my bangs, or thanking veterans in the grocery store, if she did it, so did I. One time, I saw Mom get eye level with a homeless man, hand him a sandwich, and say, “Jesus loves you.” That moment—the small act of telling a nameless person about the love of God—cemented the woman I wanted to be. At the age of 3, “Jesus loves you” was my mantra. I wasn’t a prodigy of the Primary Department.
May 22, 2019
THE BOLD MOVEMENT
Training Multiple Generations of Women to Carry Their Swords and Use Them Properly By Megan Rawlings The alarm wakes me early on a Saturday morning. A few minutes later, I grab my Bible and race out the door, headed to a Bob Evans an hour away. I pray as I drive, asking God for boldness and that my millennial heart will be content with him receiving all the glory. I walk into the bustling restaurant and sit down in a booth across from a new disciple of Christ. The waitress brings me my usual, a cup of half coffee, half
June 16, 2018
Cam Huxford: A Portrait of Faithfulness
By Jerry Harris What is faithfulness? Where does it come from? What builds and strengthens it? What sustains it over time? While all church leaders would like to be described as faithful, for many it’s an elusive target. That’s why it’s important to know the story of Thomas Campbell Huxford—or just Cam—and his wife, Sarah. Their life and ministry together have been an incredible living illustration of faithfulness. Faithfulness Begets Faithfulness Cam grew up in a small Christian church in a town of less than 500 in coastal South Carolina. His father, also named Thomas Campbell Huxford as was his
December 4, 2016
To Women, By Women: GUIDING LIGHT
By Jenny Knowles Juliet Rose Hardee burst into tears when she heard a magazine wanted to know more about Guiding Light, the faith-based residential program for women overcoming addiction and abuse that she started and directs. A local TV station called for an interview the same day, and Hardee was overcome with the thought that more people will hear about the ministry. Guiding Light is in its ninth year. It was birthed in Hardee”s personal story of childhood abuse, prostitution, and drugs (see “From Vile to Victory” in the July issue of Christian Standard). Her life changed when she was
December 2, 2016
To Women, By Women: NATALIE’S SISTERS
By Katelyn Grounds Life-changing ministries often start simple, with a handful of people and a common vision. That is true for Natalie”s Sisters. In 2000, three women sat down over lunch and decided it was time to answer God”s calling on their lives to minister to women caught in the sex industry. Soon they were taking home-cooked meals to women in Lexington”s strip clubs. That”s when Bruised Reed (as it was originally known) was born. The mission statement captures the group”s vision: “. . . to create life changing opportunities for women in the sex industry by extending hope, support,
Ministry Synergy
By Michael C. Mack Church ministries often find themselves working as silos, fixating on their own specific objectives and depending on their own resources. Imagine what could be achieved for God”s kingdom if different ministries learned to work together to make a difference in their towns, cities, and the world! For the body of Christ to work effectively to carry out Jesus” mission, ministry leaders must first learn to listen to the Head, that is, Christ, as well as to local church leaders who can coordinate teamwork. They must also see themselves as stewards of the ministry; they refer to
July 12, 2015
Group for Women Grows Online
By Jennifer Johnson It started as a regular small group. In October 2013, Hasandra Heyward, a member at Burnt Hickory Church of Christ in Marietta, GA, began talking to women experiencing marital issues, job struggles, and parenting problems. “It burdened my heart,” she says. “I prayed and fasted about it and decided I was going to start a group for women in my home. But it was difficult to find a time that worked, and here in Atlanta the traffic is so terrible I knew some women wouldn”t be able to participate. I thought, what about trying this online?” Heyward
May 1, 2015
A High-Tech Small Group Solution for Busy Lives
You are leading a small group or you want to start one to reach out to people who are struggling””in their marriages, in their jobs, with the lives and choices of their children, and sometimes with life itself. You are passionate about building a community that makes a difference. But what do you do when people tell you, over and over again, that they simply don”t have enough time for another commitment in their already stressed-out lives? This was the question Hasandra Heyward was dealing with. In response, she helped start a Women”s Online Growth Group and set up a
February 24, 2015
A Voice at the Table
By Mark A. Taylor New York publishing executive Joanne Lipman wrote last year about the subtle barriers and “benevolent sexism” she”s experienced in an industry that says it”s open to women leaders. After reading her article, “Women at Work: a Guide for Men,” I couldn”t help but wonder: Do women working in my world, i.e. local churches and parachurch ministries, also feel stymied by the men who dominate their workplaces? I wrote several women church leaders to get an answer, and I reported last week all of them answered “yes.” Since then, I have heard from a couple more women
February 17, 2015
Your Church: a Boys Club?
By Mark A. Taylor Many, many years ago I bumped into the president of a parachurch ministry who was considering a woman for an executive role with his organization. “You know,” he said to me, as if he couldn”t quite believe the statement he was about to make. “She”s really sharp.” She would be the first woman to serve (with distinction, I might add) with such authority at his institution. That incident reminds me of a Christian college teacher who wrote on a student”s paper, “You write really well for a woman.” Admittedly, both these incidents occurred decades ago. But
January 24, 2015
My Experience Working for a Verbally Abusive Pastor
By P.J. Bierma At first we couldn”t believe what we were hearing, and seeing. And then we struggled to decide how to cope with an ongoing pattern that threatened to undo us. A true story. All names and places have been changed. “Well, ladies, the big conference is next week.” Trudy, head of the women”s ministry was talking to my wife, Annie, and another volunteer helping plan the annual women”s conference. “Since there will be a lot of women coming in from out of town,” Trudy continued, “it would be nice to have someone who could greet all the newcomers.
September 26, 2014
When Ministry Isn”t Fun
By Susan Lawrence “I have to work hard enough at my job””and I get paid for that. Volunteering for ministry shouldn”t take that much effort. If it”s not going to be fun, I”m not going to waste my time. I have more important things I”d rather do.” It”s the new epidemic of faulty reasoning about serving in the local church. A previous generation often served sacrificially out of obligation or guilt, sometimes at the expense of joy. But too many today refuse to serve if the task doesn”t bring them excitement or at least pleasure. “No one can make me.
