MOLLY THOMAS|GUEST

What a gift that CDM Women’s Ministry has been to me, our church’s women’s ministry, our presbytery, and our denomination.

CDM (Committee on Discipleship Ministries) stands by its mission of connecting people to people and people to resources, and the trellis it has built to connect women is bearing abundant fruit across the nation and around the world. I grew up in the PCA but had never heard of CDM or the work they do.

I first stumbled upon CDM the day that I had agreed to serve as the volunteer Women’s Ministry Director at our church. I knew I had stumbled upon a treasure trove of resources, but I hadn’t yet discovered the people.

Registration had ended for Leadership Training 2024, but in God’s providence, He had a spot for me on the wait list. The theme that year was “A Covenantal Framework for Life and Ministry,” and for the first time in my life, I received a full overview of Covenant Theology and what it meant for me as a redeemed woman. Not only that, but God used the many speakers and facilitators there to show me that to be a Helper is a calling and a command, and that I had work to do in the Church!!

It was a firehose of information coming into my mind and heart, and when I returned back to our local church in Wisconsin, I brought back with me a fire for the women in our church to see themselves as life-givers and to bring our women’s ministry beyond events to functioning as an integrated part of our church.

Many conversations, prayer, tears, meetings, and spreadsheets followed. We used the book Women’s Ministry in the Local Church to work with our session on what it would look like to build a Women’s Ministry that would support the work they are doing.

Our Regional Advisor drove two hours to meet a fellow elder’s wife and me for lunch. She listened to our challenges and dreams for our church’s women’s ministry and continued to provide resources and support.

Last fall, we hosted a Thinking Biblically, Living Covenantally training for the women of our presbytery, and over 275 women attended. Our Session generously sent our church’s women’s ministry team to Leadership Training 2026, which is an airplane ride away from Wisconsin!

I am now part-time on staff at our church as the Women’s Ministry Director, and in the year I have been on staff, my responsibilities have continued to grow and change beyond what many would consider strictly “women’s ministry” tasks, such as events and Bible studies. A partnership between the women’s ministry and the deaconate has grown to care for women more comprehensively than before. We have developed a Theology and Leadership class for both men and women, and in this class, we lead the women through the CDM resources Women’s Ministry in the Local Church and Life-Giving Leadership, and we are seeing the culture shift as God grows women’s knowledge of His Word and how to disciple one another.

It has been almost two years since the day that I stumbled upon the women’s ministry website. I have had countless women pour into me—Regional Advisors, Trainers, Kathy Wargo, and Karen Hodge—and I can say with confidence that our church and presbytery would not be where it is today without their faithful work in fulfilling the work that God has called them to in the lives of women throughout the PCA.

I now have the privilege of serving as a Regional Advisor, and it is an honor and joy to be part of this network of people and resources equipping women in the Mid-America region and beyond. None of this would be possible without the generous support of donors to the church’s work. My husband and I now support CDM Women’s Ministry monthly because we have seen firsthand the fruit borne from their labors and believe it is being used to steward leaders’ gifts and talents well.

It is so humbling to continue the legacy of the women who have gone before us as we walk each other home to glory.

I am inviting you to enjoy this gift and share it with others!

  • Grab some women in your church and join Molly and the National Team at the 2027 Women’s Ministry Leadership Training Conference; you can learn more here.

Photo by Jacob Sangster on Unsplash

Molly Thomas

Molly Thomas serves as the Women’s Ministry Director at Jacob’s Well Church in Green Bay, WI. She is the new Regional Advisor for Mid-America. She is married to her childhood sweetheart, Spencer, who serves as the Pastor of Care and Counseling at Jacob’s Well. They have three children and a dog who acts like a 4th child sometimes. When she’s not working or caring for her home or her people, you’ll find her doing some sort of gardening, landscaping, organizing, or DIY project!