12 Tips And Ideas To Help Set Summer Women’s Ministry Goals

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Summer! At different stages of our lives, that one word created very different feelings and expectations. As school children, summer embodied freedom, joy, and excitement. As older teens and young adults, our expectations were often tempered by new adult-level responsibilities. As young professionals and perhaps parents of young children, we embraced a modified version of summer with some highly anticipated breaks from our daily routines. Now, as women’s ministry leaders, we contemplate summer from a new perspective.

Throughout the year, you have ministered, mentored, and perhaps seen growth in the women’s ministry. Your small church had an expected cadence to the way you ministered to women and you have watched the Lord do great things. Now as the end of the school year approaches, you realize that everything will change! This change in season means a change in everyday routines and church attendance for most people.

For small churches, these changes can feel drastic, affecting the way you minister. You are not alone! Here are 12 tips and ideas to help you look at summer differently this year. I hope you will embrace the wonderful opportunities that summer presents to you as the leader of women’s ministry in a small church!

12 Tips To Help Plan Out Your Summer Women’s Ministry Goals

1. Pray

I know this suggestion feels “self-evident” but honestly, we have all been guilty of rushing. Please, take time to sit with the calendar and ask our Father for His plans for the summer months. We find our model for prayer before action throughout the Book of Acts. Pray and seek His guidance before you begin to plan.

2. Gather A Team

In small churches, our teams look different. Your team may consist of you and one other woman. But the support of a team member is a blessing. You can bounce ideas off of each other and you can encourage each other if you face disappointment. On the days that you have a larger turnout, your team member(s) are extra sets of hands.

Your team member(s) are also able to trade off leading when you take your summer break. As you plan the summer, go ahead and compare schedules. Each of you will need time for summer fun and relaxation. Ministry can ask a great deal of us. Be diligent in reserving some time for refreshment for yourself and your team.

3. Survey The Women In Your Church And Community

Short surveys allow women to share valuable information with us. I encourage you to ask specific questions about how their schedule has changed. If they are moms of school-age children, the family calendar may have shifted drastically. Surveys also allow the women we’re seeking to serve, the chance to share what they need in this summer season. 

Perhaps they are longing to have a cup of coffee and adult conversation. Maybe, the children will be gone to camp and they finally have time to do a deep dive into some scripture studies. What if they would like to meet for a thirty-minute walk in the cool of the evening after supper? What about sitting together at those Little League games or practices to pray for our children? If we forget to ask, then we may miss out on low-cost, simple-to-plan ministry opportunities that meet the needs of those we seek to serve. 

Your survey could be pen and paper or online. No matter which you choose, keep the number of questions to 10 or less to prevent decision fatigue and leave some space for them to add any ideas or thoughts they have. Make sure to share how and where the surveys can be returned.

Use a wide variety of ways to share the survey with the women in your church and community: email, distribute in small group gatherings/ Sunday school classes, pass out with the bulletin or newsletter, consider how social media can either share the survey or let women know the survey is available. One last tip, clearly communicate a “due by” date so that all the feedback can be used to help you plan summer ministry opportunities for women of all ages.

4. Look With New Eyes

The temptation is strong to have a “go-to event.” After all, past success gives us a sense of confidence and comfort that repeating the event will yield similar results. However, summer is the perfect time to try new approaches. Lifeway Research completed a study on the State of Ministry to Women in 2023 and I found the results compelling.

For example, is there an age group that you have struggled to reach? You are not alone, in a survey of 1001 American Evangelical and Black Protestant female churchgoers and 842 leaders of women’s ministries, we learn that only 7% of women aged 18-25 participate in women’s ministry events or Bible Studies. The percentage for women aged 26-40, is only marginally higher at 20%, and in the age group of 71+, we are connecting with only 12% of the women in our churches. 

Embrace the slower months of summer as an opportunity to build relationships in the age groups you have struggled to reach. Be intentional and seek out women that you can pray for and serve.

5. Plan

Confession time, I am a planner! What I have learned is that not everybody (gasp) is a planner. I have also learned that sometimes, we need to allow some situations to unfold organically. Unfolding organically does not mean that ministry occurs by happenstance. Indeed, not! To illustrate, allow me to share a lesson I learned from a wild blackberry plant and an elderly neighbor. 

In rural South Georgia, blackberry plants grow wild and if you find one in its natural habitat, you can sample some of the sweetest and juiciest berries you have ever tasted. Blackberry plants naturally occur in areas with thick surrounding brush so the plant struggles to grow and often produces berries small in size and quantity. Another downside of finding blackberries in the wild is that you will not be alone as you eagerly harvest your found bounty. 

Because of the surrounding undergrowth, and their shared fondness for blackberries, snakes are often your unwanted companions for berry picking time. I had an elderly neighbor who loved wild blackberries. Each spring and summer she searched her property for any wild blackberry plants and marked the area. Then, in the fall and winter, she carefully cleared the underbrush and if necessary staked the plants to support further growth. 

The results? Strong plants, that produce larger berries, in a safer environment. The plant was still wild and grew organically. But, the planning and preparation of the site supported that organic growth. As we plan for summer events, Bible studies, prayer times, shared meals, or any of the other myriad offerings, lay the groundwork that will foster organically occurring relationships and spiritual growth for the women you minister to.

6. Use Summer As A Time To Mentor Women As Leaders

We have established that the summer season usually means lower attendance. This is a perfect opportunity to encourage the budding leaders in your group. A smaller number of attendees at a small group, Bible study, or prayer time can feel much less intimidating for a woman who is new to teaching or even praying out loud in front of others. 

Be a wise steward of this silver lining of lower attendance in your small church during the summer and foster the growth of women you are mentoring for a leadership role. Build upon small victories, discuss challenges of leadership, and step with new leaders through known pitfalls of ministry, all while encouraging them in their journeys.

7. Consider Short Or Non-Sequential Bible Studies

Summer is the time to take both scheduled and spontaneous breaks from our normal routines. Capitalize on the “unsettledness” of summer plans and offer a series of mini-studies. Consider a one-session study of the Book of Philemon, Second and Third John, or the Book of Jude.

Another option is to choose one Fruit of the Spirit to study each session and be intentional in creating each session as a stand-alone. Advertise and build excitement about a series of studies that the women can “drop in” as their schedules allow. Eliminate the uncomfortable sensation of joining a study mid-curriculum. By emphasizing the one-session aspect of each study, women may feel more comfortable joining sporadically.

8. Connect With A Sister Church

Does your community have several smaller churches? Then chances are that each smaller church in your area is facing the same reality of lower attendance. Reach out to the women’s ministry leaders of the other churches and plan fun activities off-site. Build on the excitement that accompanies a larger gathering and take turns being responsible for planning and leading the activities. Encourage one another in these challenging months and build relationships that foster cooperation.

These connections may also build the foundation for larger joint ministry opportunities later in the year. For example, each church is responsible for collecting specific items to be combined for Christmas gift bags for a target ministry focus (think shelters for the unhoused population, nursing homes, and foster families).

9. Reach Out To New Members Of The Community

An article from USA Today shares the statistic that 44% of people who moved in 2021-2022 and hired professional movers, moved during the summer months. If you have ever moved, you may identify with the overwhelming number of decisions and choices that are required when moving to a new home much less to a new neighborhood, city, or even state. What if you chose to focus on ministering to individuals and families who moved to your area? Who could you reach with the Gospel simply by offering a warm welcome and maybe a cup of coffee, or a small welcome basket?

Reach out to your local Chamber of Commerce for the free resources available. Make a point to smile, offer a welcome, drop off a map of the community, or a list of your favorite restaurants, shops, or hair salons that include addresses and phone numbers. There are many low-cost to free ways to minister to those new to your community. 

10. Learn Something New

This summer may be the perfect time to learn something new for women of all ages in your small church. I was encouraged and challenged by the article Women’s Ministry Ideas to Build Community for Small Churches. The author shared the basics of hosting low-cost classes to help women learn a new skill or hobby.

I enjoyed her vision for planning monthly offerings for everything from cooking classes, to how to prep a garden, to self-defense. Include a question about what types of classes the ladies of your small church would like in the survey you create. Don’t forget to include a follow-up question about classes they may like to teach or lead. You may just find some hidden jewels!

11. Service/Community Ministry

Adding a community ministry project to your summer schedule is a great idea for creating an inclusive event. Women of all ages can participate and women who aren’t part of your congregation can be introduced to women of faith in a more casual setting. For example, if you choose to pack gently used purses with essentials for women who are currently unhoused, there are a variety of tasks involved.

Almost everyone can help in one or more tasks such as sorting, packing, handwriting a note of encouragement, or even attaching the note once the purse is packed. Women may participate in a community service activity even if they aren’t ready to accept an invitation to a church service.

12. Come Together And Celebrate

In June, start advertising a special gathering that will celebrate all that happened throughout the summer. During the event, provide conversation prompts that will guide women to share their favorite summer activity, one thing they learned, or even how the events helped them grow spiritually. Promote the End Of Summer Gathering at every event, during weekly services, on social media, in the church newsletter, hand-written notes, or any other creative way you can imagine.

Let the anticipation build all summer about how you will all celebrate in August. The end of the summer gathering can also serve as your kick-off event for Fall ministry plans! This will be a great way to keep the momentum flowing from one season into the next.

When It Comes To Ministry Ideas, All You Have To Do Is Start

Today, as you stare at your empty summer calendar, take a deep breath, pray, and… well, just start! Don’t let the blank pages bully you into inaction. Starting is the hardest part, but I hope that at least one of the 12 tips mentioned in the article has sparked a stirring of encouragement and a glimmer of imagination.

The lower numbers of attendance during summer months can allow you opportunities to try something new and a chance to start growing the next generation of ministry leaders in your small church! Survey the women and strive to be inclusive as you minister. After all, when we plan and provide support then sometimes we are surprised at the way relationships grow organically and the Gospel is shared successfully.

Read More:

Women’s Ministry: Low-Prep Summer Event Ideas 

24 Ideas To Renew Your Women’s Ministry

Women’s Ministry Ideas To Build Community