Rethinking Women's Ministry invites leaders to take a fresh look at their women's ministry framework through the lens of Scripture and prayer. Cyndee tackles the common obstacles women's ministry leaders face: generational gaps, unwilling mentors, biblical illiteracy, cliques, social media, sacred cows, and more!
In this companion to Rethinking Women's Ministry: Biblical, Practical Tools for Cultivating a Flourishing Community, seasoned women's ministry leader Cyndee Ownbey invites women's ministry leaders and teams to prayerfully evaluate their events, activities, mission, and structure.With guided worksheets and exercises for each book chapter, Cyndee provides the tools you need to expand the reach of your ministry and accelerate the spiritual growth of the women in your church.Resources include:?Women's ministry health assessment?Sample job descriptions?Women's ministry needs assessment?Women's ministry team covenant?Bible study health assessment?Discussion group guidelines?Post-event evaluation form?Publicity form?Sample leadership retreat plans?Over 175 icebreaker questions?Bonus chapter - Rethinking Technology and CommunicationThe Rethinking Women's Ministry Workbook will help guide your discussion and shine a light on the areas of your ministry that need attention. It isn't necessarily a matter of doing more, but determining if there's a better, more effective way.Cyndee Ownbey is the author of Rethinking Women's Ministry: Biblical, Practical Tools for Cultivating a Flourishing Community. She serves as a mentor to thousands of women's ministry leaders through her website and Facebook community, Women's Ministry Toolbox. Pulling from over twenty years of experience ministering to women, Cyndee shares tried-and-true women's ministry tips and ideas that equip leaders to cultivate a Christ-focused community.
Planning women's ministry events that attract women of all ages, encourage community, and focus on our faith is a challenge!There are so many things you could do, how do you decide what to do? Rethinking Fellowship will break through the overwhelm of event ideas and teach you how to select the best ideas for the women in your church. Rethinking Fellowship will help you:?Apply fellowship principles modeled by the early church in Acts 2?Determine which types of fellowship events your ministry needs?Create an effective framework for women's ministry fellowships and meetings?Select décor, door prizes, and devotionals that point women to Christ?Rethink your fellowship format so it also encourages discipleshipHaving planned church events of all sizes for over twenty years, Cyndee has discovered the secret to hosting meaningful women's ministry meetings that women want to attend. She'll inspire and guide you through the planning process with hundreds of event ideas.For author bio: Cyndee Ownbey serves as a mentor to thousands of women's ministry leaders through her website, podcast, and Facebook community, Women's Ministry Toolbox. She is the best-selling author of Rethinking Women's Ministry: Biblical, Practical Tools for Cultivating a Flourishing Community. A veteran women's ministry leader (20+ years), Cyndee serves on the women's ministry team in her local church.
In a world that is more culturally diverse than ever, pastors and lay leaders need skills and competencies to serve in multicultural contexts. This rich blend of astute analysis and practical guidance offers a praxis of paying attention, study, and discernment that leads to genuine reconciliation and shared life empowered by the gospel.
How can the church move forward in unity amid such political strife and cultural contention? As Christians, we’ve felt pushed to the outskirts of national public life, yet even within our congregations we are divided about how to respond. Some want to strengthen the evangelical voting bloc. Others focus on social justice causes, and still others would abandon the public square altogether. What do we do when brothers and sisters in Christ sit next to each other in the pews but feel divided and angry? Is there a way forward? In How the Nations Rage, political theology scholar and pastor Jonathan Leeman challenges Christians from across the spectrum to hit the restart button by shifting our focus from redeeming the nation to living as a nation already redeemed rejecting the false allure of building heaven on earth while living faithfully as citizens of a heavenly kingdom letting Jesus’ teaching shape our public engagement as we love our neighbors and seek justice When we identify with Christ more than a political party or social grouping, we can return to the church’s unchanging political task: to become the salt and light Jesus calls us to be and offer the hope of his kingdom to the nations.
Women in all seasons of life can feel alone, longing for encouragement, guidance, and wisdom from someone who has been there before. They would value the wealth of knowledge and wisdom from older women's experiences, but often these women don't feel equipped to offer help. This book is a starting place, meant to be a springboard for mentoring discussions between older and younger women, setting the biblical basis for mentoring from Titus 2 before outlining 11 lessons that guide their time together. Each lesson focuses on a topic such as God's word, prayer, contentment, temptation, and church, with activities for before, during, and after the mentoring session. Younger and older women will grow together as they use these lessons to walk through life together. Published in partnership with the Gospel Coalition.
Outlines six principles and best practices for hiring and retaining women with challenging backgrounds Recently, business leaders have shifted their focus from a profit-only mindset to considering the impact of their businesses on all stakeholders. At the same time, the United Nations set aggressive Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) to improve our world by 2030. These SDGs address all major needs facing our world today, such as: eradication of poverty and hunger, access to clean water, gender equality, and decent work and economic growth. These are significant problems facing the world that have in the past largely been left to nonprofit organizations and governments to solve. Investors and customers have higher expectations for companies to make a positive social and environmental impact. They want to know business can do good. Following suit, today’s business leaders are starting to recognize we will never fill the gap between where we are and where we want to be if businesses do not also do their part to contribute sustainable solutions to these enormous social problems. This book provides a guide for businesses to make a significant positive impact while also benefiting their businesses. Business Doing Good outlines six principles business leaders can implement to effectively hire women who have experienced incarceration, poverty, addiction, and/or engagement in the sex trade. While making a difference to both these women and communities, businesses benefit from the women’s resourcefulness, resilience, ability to motivate, and other unique skills and perspectives only available to someone who has overcome difficulties. Investments in women, in general, are exponential as they are more likely to return that investment to future generations. The impact is endless. If we are going to end poverty and create economic development, women who have overcome challenging pasts cannot be excluded.
A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.
With the risk of burnout at an all-time high, pastors need a new framework for ministry that will help them move from survival to flourishing. Drawing on the image of the shepherd leader, Tom Nelson offers pastors wisdom and timely vision for leadership that integrates in-depth biblical teaching and whole-life discipleship, providing a roadmap for ministry resilience and longevity.
Work. For some this word represents drudgery and the mundane. For others work is an idol to be served. If you find yourself anywhere on the spectrum from workaholic to weekend warrior, it’s time to bridge the gap between Sunday worship and Monday work. Striking a balance between theological depth and practical counsel, Tom Nelson outlines God’s purposes for work in a way that helps us to make the most of our vocation and to join God in his work in the world. Discover a new perspective on work that will transform your workday and make the majority of your waking hours matter, not only now, but for eternity.
