CATHE CLEVELAND | GUEST

If you serve in women’s ministry, you may or may not know about the PCA’s annual Women’s Ministry Leadership Conference, what many affectionately call, “LT.” It is not hyperbole to say that the PCA has led the way in providing focused training and resources for women’s ministry and for women who serve in any type of leadership role. You may not know what LT is all about and why you should attend. You might think your role in your ministry isn’t significant enough to merit attending or perhaps your ministry is chugging along just fine, and you doubt you’ll benefit from it. Or maybe you think you’ll be the only one there whose ministry has struggled just to get off the ground. Whatever the state of your ministry, there are important things you can gain from LT as a leader in women’s ministry.

My favorite definition of a leader is: a person who influences people to accomplish a purpose. There are three parts to this definition: the person leading, the people they lead, and the purpose they accomplish. The action in this definition is to influence.

Even if you have a grand purpose, you are not a leader if you have no people you are influencing. If you have the wrong destination in mind, you might have some great relationships, and maybe even conduct some wonderful events, but you are not really leading anyone to a place they should be. There are situations such as the military or law enforcement, where leaders legitimately use some level of authority or force to compel other people to accomplish some purpose even if they would not want to otherwise. But effective ministry leaders influence others to develop proper motivation so that they desire to work towards accomplishing the purpose together.

One goal of leadership training is helping you as leaders clarify your purpose and develop your plan to influence people to accomplish that purpose. With the purpose of God’s glory as your goal, there is a path in front of you for getting there. Effective training seeks to equip you as leaders with tools from Scripture and the experience of those who have gone before you that could help along your way. It also points out potential potholes you may encounter along the way that could hinder you from accomplishing your purpose.

Planning in local women’s ministries can feel like spending months or years trying to invent the wheel. Once you understand the covenantal framework, it not only enables you and your team to see the path more clearly, but it also provides e-bikes for the journey. The power source is always ultimately the Lord. The language of the covenant provides ways of understanding how to use the parts of the bike (pedals, handlebars, etc.). Intentional actions that reflect characteristics of the covenant and include practicing the means of grace in community with your church family keep you on track. Making sure plans are true to the churchwide mission statement your Session has laid out avoids the temptation to merely focus on building a great women’s ministry.

As leaders, you may be unaware of potential road hazards, or you might know something is wrong but are unable to diagnose and take corrective action. There are common errors that occur when we put building a strong women’s ministry ahead of building the church. There are also common errors that occur when we replace God’s glory as our purpose with some program, felt needs, promoting a personality, or getting things done through exercising authority over others rather than influencing.

CDM’s LT conference is a unique and amazing resource where you can gain the language to describe what is happening, whether your women’s ministry is thriving or struggling. That language alone sometimes helps avoid many hazards or it makes corrective steps obvious.

LT is also an opportunity to meet others who have faced the road hazards in the past and can encourage you to respond biblically. Personally, I attended around twenty times. I learned almost every principle mentioned here from truths that were taught from the podiums and one-on-one discussions with women I met there. They helped me see how to better respond biblically to the circumstances I was facing as a leader. The relationships you form there and renew time and again over the years will serve to keep you focused on the important things—thinking biblically and living covenantally for the glory of God alone.

Learn more about the conference here.

Photo by Giu Vicente on Unsplash