Leaders of Women's Ministry Interviews

For one of my classes, I was asked to conduct interviews with leaders of women’s ministries in different churches, and ask them about ministry. I chose to sit down and talk to three wonderful ladies: Stephanie Elder, Linda Baxter, and Sandy King. Stephanie Elder is the current Executive Assistant and Women's Ministry leader at Christ Chapel Community Church in Zebulon, GA. Linda Baxter has served for over fourty years as a Women's Ministry leader and is now retired from Flat Creek Baptist Church in Fayetteville, GA. Sandy King is the new Women's Ministry Pastor at Rock Springs Church in Milner, GA. This post is a summary of the findings from the interviews.

What is your philosophy and mission/purpose of ministry?

Stephanie Elder: I feel women's ministry is used to equip women to make them whole to you know, I guess like to find the walls and disciple, the final unit and like, send the whole you know, like, any Christian vision statement when it just bogs it down to just for women. My mission or purpose with women's ministry is, I take the little things off of our women's ministry leaders plate so that she can handle the big things and support her however I can. 

Linda Baxter: Basically, my philosophy and purpose in women's ministry is just connecting women together and seeing what their needs are and leading/equipping ladies to be able to be more like Jesus in their daily walk. You can't can't lead somebody to Jesus until you connect with them and have a relationship with them. I also believe in ministry we should give women accountability and prayer partners so that they can have somebody that's going to come lift them up and lead them to the word, as well as will pray, share their heart with them, and is going to be there for them.

Sandy King: Well, I will tell you that I was a little surprised when I felt God calling me to women's ministry as this had not been an area that had been a focus for me. Now I think what I am developing is a passion for women to know God's word. I want women to understand their relationship with Jesus Christ and His word. With the philosophy of ministry, I will not answer that directly. I would just tell you that our church has a ministry goal that was set forth by our leader, Dr. Benny Tate. Every ministry in the church flows under that goal/vision statement, “Making Heaven Bigger By Caring Better.” Pastor Benny always says, “People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” That's kind of an over-blanketing vision that every ministry here has. 

What hints or guidelines do you use in program planning?

Stephanie Elder: First we pick our theme, then we pick our topic. Then we talk to the decorating team to come up with decorations and the devotion team to come up with the biblical concepts and then trust God to help us pull it all together. 

Linda Baxter: I look at the ladies that are involved in the ministry that I am doing and see where they are in life, the needs that they have, and whether they are younger or older ladies, and set up ideas based on that thing. Their needs, I think, is where you have to start thinking and planning for an event.

Sandy King: So, one of the things that I like to do is work with my women's ministry team and listen to past experience. I've only been in this position for a year and three months now, and I've been able to lean on the lady who had this position before me and follow the model for which she started. So I would say with planning, find somebody that has been there and done that. Pastor Benny uses the illustration of a road. If you're going up the road, find somebody that's coming back down and let them pour into you. Even though it's not going to be exactly the same, you'll get some good foundational ideas, and you can implement them to whatever God's called you.  

How do you develop leaders within the ministry?

Stephanie Elder: Well, a couple of years ago I had to replace myself as volunteer coordinator, and I developed my replacement and continue to develop her as my replacement. First of all, I prayed that the Lord would send me somebody, and once that person was identified, they would be open to learning how to be a better leader. I believe in teaching by example. Also we're always in the middle of some sort of leadership book as a staff, and we do a lot of the Craig Groeschel leadership principles and stuff like that. But I think it's more of just, you know, just believing that it’s better to let them see the leader within me and try to mimic it or duplicate it or just seeing me trying my best. All and all, just lead by example. 

Linda Baxter: First of all, I talk to people one on one to see where their heart is. If your heart's not in leading women to a point of growing and discipling, you can't be a leader. So, I meet with people one on one, to see their hearts and vision, see what they think women’s ministry needs. Then, it’s a training, a one on one mentorship, to equip them with somebody who has walked that path and let them mentor them for a while before they dive into the ministry.

Sandy King: So the women's ministry team was actually the team that was together when I got here. That was a gift from the person who came before me. I added a few people because I saw their potential to better my weakness, and we work together as a team. As far as developing leaders, you have a great emphasis here on what’s called “small groups”, and leaders are grown and developed out of those small groups. There's an advantage there, you see people doing it already and you invite them to join in and plug into the ministry. We have women that are on the team, but also women that volunteer through women's ministry who join us and fellowship with us. 

These three topics were only a small portion of the questions I asked in these interviews, but the key takeaways I had from my interviews with Stephanie Elder, Linda Baxter, and Sandy King is a shared commitment to connecting women, meeting their needs, and fostering growth through discipleship. Their approaches to program planning involve themes, biblical concepts, and responsiveness to the specific needs of women involved. Developing leaders is centered on mentorship, leading by example, and drawing from past experiences. Overall, I saw a common thread emerge:  a passion for women to know God's word. I'm excited to use all that I have learned from these amazing women to further whatever ministry I go into.