One of the most common questions I get in my work is, "What is girls' ministry, exactly?" Some are people I meet on airplanes who have no background in church. Others are interested people trying to get a grasp on the scope of what this ministry entails—is it for preteens? teens? school-age girls?
To help explain what girls' ministry is, it might be helpful to explain what girls' ministry is not.
Girls' ministry is NOT a stand alone program of the church. Girls' ministry must fit within the overall mission of the church and the student ministry. If you find that you are at odds with your student minister or your pastor because the girls' ministry is going in a different direction than the church, then there is a problem. The goal of girls' ministry is to function within body of faith in a way that connects girls to other generations as well as each other so that they grow in their relationship with God.
So how do you know if you're guilty of creating a stand-alone, Lone Ranger ministry to girls? Here are a few things to think about:
1. Does someone on church staff (like your youth minister) have to open the building an extra night of the week to accomodate the needs of your girls? Hosting periodic events is ok, but if your staff is forced to make arrangments for you week after week after week, then you may need to evaluate what you're doing. If you are adding work to other staff members instead of weaving your ministry into theirs, then reevaluate what you're doing.
2. Do your girls' events/Bible studies/small groups compete with what's going on in the student ministry or the church? Girls should never have to choose between working in Vacation Bible School or attending a Bible study or cook-out. Again, you need to find ways to weave girls' ministry into what is already going on in your ministry whenever possible. For example, Jimmie Davis, director of girls' ministry at FBC, Spartanburg, tells the story about how on a mission trip, the women on that trip gave the girls pedicures. While serving these girls, the women asked about the week and prayed for girls. This was a simple ministry to girls that didn't compete with anything (it was during free time) and allowed girls and women to connect.
3. Do you have the support of the pastor and/or student minister? If you are trying to "go behind their back" to get ministry done, then you seriously need to consider why you're doing ministry under the radar.
4. Does the staff member assigned to oversee girls' ministry have a clear understanding of your mission, stragegy and activities? If he or she is constantly in the dark about what's going on with the girls, then evaluate the reason. If it's a lack of communication, then work toward a solution. But if that staff member is in the dark because you're always doing stuff without his or her knowledge, then that's a red flag.
In future posts, I'll offer more clues to help you define what girls' ministry is NOT, and in doing so, help you shape your girls' ministry into a healthy, positive ministry.
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