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Do you hear crickets when you ask a women’s group to share about themselves? See how you can build connections in women’s ministry!
Easy Steps To Encourage Authenticity & Connection
Crickets?
Isn’t that the sound that you hear whenever you ask your women’s group to share a bit more deeply about themselves? Or at least that’s what it feels like to you!
You stand there awkwardly staring at those faces and you can almost hear the hands on the clock ticking!!!
Why is it that we are so reluctant to share personal things with others in our group?
Is it nerves … fear of judgment … can’t think of anything to say … or perhaps it’s just a mixture of all of these?
I can hear you asking right now, “Is it even worth the effort to get them to share? Does it make a difference?”
Some of you may even be blaming yourselves. You think that people aren’t comfortable with the way you lead the group, so they won’t share.
Please, stop right now –– take a breath. Remember, God has led you to these women, and He can and will equip you to make that heart connection with them. Just ask Him!
Here’s just a small part of what He has taught me.
Create Quality Connections In Women’s Ministry
God desires us to have a ‘relationship’, not only with Him but with each other as well. Relationships are personal.
Our relationship with God gives us the privilege of being part of His family! We know that families have to work at establishing and maintaining good relationships!
Your group will experience so much more joy and exhibit God’s love much more if you work at getting to know each other’s hearts.
Hebrews 13:16 says,
“Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices.”
Part of sharing what we have is sharing ourselves, who we are, our joys, our struggles, our dreams … God is pleased with this because He knows it’s building the family up!
5 Engaging Activities For Building Connections In Groups, Events, & Retreats
Well, I have five easy ways to get your women to start sharing about themselves and building connections with each other. And it won’t hurt one bit. Hey, you may even find it’s a little fun!
1. Memory Sharing Through Toys
We all have memories of childhood that make us a bit nostalgic and it’s a great segway to get women to share a bit about their life.
Have each person in your group bring a favorite childhood toy (or representation of it –– obviously, some are obsolete, so Google a picture and print it out, or bring a toy that is similar –– we found some people still had the actual toy!! What a treasure.) We did a ‘Show & Tell’. We allowed others to ask questions, and it was a fun ‘throwback’ kind of start to our gathering!
Looking for a step-by-step to starting or restarting your women’s ministry?
Check out the Women’s Ministry Bundle For Small Churches!
2. ‘What Is True’ Game
Have each woman make out an index card with three little-known facts about themselves, and add one ‘fabulous fabrication’ statement (made up completely)!!
Hint: You may have to print out a sheet of prompts to get them started. That’s okay!
After everyone has their card made out, pick 2 or 3 people at a time to come up front and simply read their card aloud. Then have the group vote on which one they think is the ‘fabulous fabrication’.
It’s fun to participate and to do the voting. All the while, you are learning things about others in your group that you can connect with.
3. Comfort Food Recipe Share
We all have one of those dishes or baked goods that just evokes such warm thoughts or emotions. Ask your women to bring in their favorite recipe and be ready to share why and where it came from.
Now if you’re really brave, you could have a dinner gathering where they not only bring the recipe card but the dish as well!
Make it your own according to the makeup of your group. It’s also nice to be able to make a photocopy of the recipes and send everyone home with a copy of their own.
Just think, with this small piece of knowledge, you could encourage and care for someone in such a special way if they were sick or going through a struggle by delivering their favorite food. How much would that mean to them?
4. Getting To Know You: Personal Points Game
I have shared this game before, but it is such a great tool to share ourselves in a group, that it’s worth mentioning again!
Make sure everyone has a piece of paper and a pen to keep track of their points. Have a couple of small prizes ready for the top two winners! At the end of the list, read it over again and make people raise their hand if they got a point in that category. This way, it shares the information with others, and they can see if they have things in common.
I usually make up my own game depending on the group I am working with, but here are some examples of different categories you could use.
Give yourself a point if you:
- Have dishes sitting in your sink at home
- Still have your wedding dress
- Own a pet (1 point per pet)
- Know how to knit or crochet
- Love to go out to lunch
- Have ever been in a helicopter
- Visited Europe
- Have a collection of some kind
- Have been a teacher before
- Own more than 10 pairs of shoes
- Were born in another state
- Have performed a solo before
- Know how to play an instrument
- Played on a high school sports team
- Have been on TV before
5. Play The ‘Mystery Woman’ Game
Before your gathering, interview a couple of your women. Ask them some questions about their life (e.g., What kind of jobs they have had? Do they have a hobby? Do they have a talent? How do they spend their spare time? Where have they traveled? What’s a favorite item they like to eat or cook?).
Then, when you have your gathering, have a small piece of foam core and print out the woman’s name that you will be giving clues about. Cover it up with a piece of cloth or colored paper.
Then have the emcee read off clues about the person, starting with some lesser-known ones. Work your way to more obvious ones, then very obvious … at any point in the game, someone can try to guess who it is.
Reveal the name if they are correct –– a thunderous round of applause and move on to the next ‘Mystery Woman’, or if you have a weekly meeting, do a different one each week for a few weeks.
This gets everyone participating and having fun learning about each other.
Try These Simple Ice Breakers In Your Women’s Ministry To Build Connections
So, you’re saying, “Sure these may be fun, but do they work to get our ladies sharing about themselves and connecting more deeply?
Look at it like this: It’s a stepping stone in the process. These fun, easy games get women more comfortable about sharing things. It’s a very non-threatening process.
These are also stepping stones in building connections and relationships. If someone hears a bit of information about another person, you may see them connecting because they like the same things or have the same hobby, came from the same place, or have the same kind of pet!!
You would be very surprised at how God can lead them into deeper relationships and connections just by sharing some of these simple games and activities with each other.
Remember, it’s very hard to develop relationships within God’s family if we are not caring for one another, deepening those bonds, and truly sharing life!
The most important job for us is to pray for God’s intervention, for His love to truly be shared and exemplified in the lives of the women in your group!!
Looking for a step-by-step to starting or restarting your women’s ministry?
Check out the Women’s Ministry Bundle For Small Churches!
Read More
9 Meaningful Tips To Strengthen Your Women’s Ministry
These are great ideas! The Comfort Food Recipe Share is fantastic – I think it gives that extra glimpse into the heart of the woman as she shares her history – when she first made it, how they had it for every Summer Family Picnic when she was growing up, etc. Thank you for sharing these ideas!
I would love to learn more about the women ministry being that this is my first time to lead women at my Church iam not sure of how to go about with it.
Come join our Facebook Community – you’ll find lots of help in there!! And also, check out this resource: Women’s Ministry Bundle. It’s fabulous for starting!