READING
Listening
What…you might say! Ladies, since it’s not our ministry, only God knows how long we will be leading as we are now. He also knows who will come behind us and take the mantle. He also knows we cannot and should not do ministry alone.
Who came before you to lead you? How long have you been in leadership? Did you even expect to be in the place of leadership you are in today? Who trained you and who are you training?
Remember the first thing Jesus did once He began His earthly ministry? He gathered around him a group of 12 very unlikely men to disciple, train, and leave the ministry in the hands of after the crucifixion. He knew He would not be in that place for a long time and prepared for the future of the ministry once he was gone.
I have seen ministries with women die once a leader left. That should never happen. If we build teams of spirit-led godly leaders and trust them with responsibility, the ministry will grow. I am also aware of a ministry led by a director who had a heart attack just prior to a major event. She was able to come back part of the day during the event and I asked her how it all fell into place without her. She said her team didn’t even miss her. They took over and the event went so smoothly. She had trained them well. That is a mark of a great leader.
So, who are you pouring into who could take over if you moved to another city, or if the Lord took you home. That’s not morbid, that’s reality.
We also have to make sure that as the younger women come along, we are willing to let go of doing it “our way” and hand off well so that “future generations will know the Lord.” (Ps. 78:1-6) Read more about the younger generations here.
Let’s pray for God to direct us to teachable women who in turn want to lead others to
lead others…..
Women Reaching Women
Comments
You make several great points in this post. But in regard to female lead ministries dying after taking over for a male, it doesn't surprise me. As the work of the lord is a male dominated age old following. To my knowledge there is no mention of any female prophets in the bible leading groups of any kind to something great. So today, the suit follows and we see the same in our churches or ministries.
Thanks so much for your comments, but I am not sure I fully understand what you meant. I am specifically speaking about women's ministries, led by women. Titus 2:3-5 specifically speaks to women teaching and leading women. I actually had an incredible male staff supervisor 20 years ago who was one of the best leader-developer I have even known or worked with. He truly equipped women to lead and disciple women. He is the one who told me, You can do it, and pushed me to do things in leadership I'd never done before. I know of many women's ministries today doing "something great" that are effectively reaching women for Christ, and helping them find their place of service in the kingdom and who are helping change the world one person at a time. It seems your experience has not been so positive.