ministry

Weak at Work: How God Supplies Our Strength

JENNIFER WHITE |GUEST Editor’s Note: this article contains stories of infancy and pregnancy loss. My husband, a newly elected church elder, put the car in park. We locked eyes. “Wait,” I said. “Before we go in, let’s think through what we are going to say.” We agreed to tell the young couple that we loved them. We wanted to remind them of God’s great love for them. We planned to pray and offer various resources available through our church. As we entered the hospital room, we both froze. The mom sat in bed quietly crying. The teary father held their baby boy wrapped in a crinkly cooling blanket, protecting his body and skin so his siblings could meet him. He had died unexpectedly the day before in an emergency c-section. As we looked in the parents’ eyes, we crumbled, grieving and crying with this family. We prayed the truths of God’s word over their lives: that He is near to the brokenhearted, that He loves little children, that He is our shepherd and our rock. Even in the newness of grief and shock of pain, they rehearsed God’s truths along with us. Then, we left them to hold their baby boy, to grieve and cry together. As we exited, I felt overwhelmed and helpless. “Lord,” I prayed, “are you sure? Am I the right person for this job? Was I capable or strong enough? Did we say the right things? Did we stay long enough? Too long? Did our visit make things easier or harder for these grieving parents?” When We Are Inadequate This hospital visit happened during my third week serving as Women’s Ministry Director at my church....

Weak at Work: How God Supplies Our StrengthChristina Fox2026-02-27T20:49:31+00:00

Weakness in Ministry

JULIANNE ATKINSON |GUEST It’s easy to proclaim the gospel with our words. It’s not as easy to follow Christ’s path, embodying the gospel as we inevitably fail, embracing our sins, frailties, weaknesses, and limits. Can you remember a time you felt weak as a ministry leader? I once talked with a prospective volunteer about her background and quickly found that I disagreed on biblical grounds with her father’s profession. It wasn’t a controversial field that he worked in, but an illegal one. Knowing her father wasn’t a Christian, I assumed that she agreed with me. I was wrong. I tried to convince her using Scripture to no avail. Unsurprisingly, this was not what she wanted to hear. It didn’t change her heart about her father’s profession. She couldn’t believe a ministry leader would speak out against how her father provided for her family. Needless to say, she decided not to volunteer with the ministry. This encounter was humbling for me as a ministry leader. It revealed to me the complexities of working with people with different life experiences than mine and my need to have patience as God works in people's lives. Weakness Before Strength We want to look like we have a glazed clay pot among the rest of the basic ones....

Weakness in MinistryChristina Fox2026-02-24T16:22:07+00:00

A Practical Way to Support Life

KRISTI MCCOWN | GUEST On January 22, 1984, President Ronald Reagan issued a presidential proclamation. He declared the third Sunday of January as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. This date marked the 11th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the ruling that legalized abortion nationally. Much has changed around abortion over the past four decades. In 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned. For the pro-life movement, this was a major victory and a step in providing legal protection for unborn children. Today, abortion is limited or prohibited in 26 states; however, it is still protected in 25 states. However, the need to pray and advocate for life in our community and nation remains important. Pastors, churches, and life organizations use this day to bring awareness to daily assaults on human life by the abortion industry. One way to protect unborn lives is to expose the darkness of abortion and support local Pregnancy Help Organizations, which daily reach women and families with hope and life. Making an Impact on Life I work at one of these ministries as a counselor. When I began at the Pregnancy and Family Resource Center in my small Mississippi town, I was overwhelmed. This ministry is hard and heavy, yet miraculous and healing. One of my first clients I met there was a 13-year-old girl and her mother. The pain on this mother's face was heartbreaking; her child was about to have a child. We walked with this mother and her daughter through the birth of her baby with compassion and care...

A Practical Way to Support LifeChristina Fox2026-01-09T20:38:37+00:00

Windshields, Rearview Mirrors, and a Sunroof in 2026

KAREN HODGE | CONTRIBUTOR Navigating a Costco parking lot a week before Christmas will make you a prayerful person. We eagerly scan the windshield for the perfect parking spot near the door while checking our rearview mirror to make sure we do not hit an innocent woman with a cart full of toilet paper. As we circle a parking row one more time, we may be tempted to give up and go home without ever praying at all. As a follower of Christ, there is a value in looking backwards, forward, and upward to gain perspective. The reality is, we often get stuck with a singular view. The New Year provides the perfect crossroads to examine all three viewpoints. We can glance in the rearview mirror with gratitude and thanksgiving for God’s protection and provision. These blessings fuel our faith to believe God will continue in His Fatherly care. As we step into a new year, we can gaze through the windshield with hopeful anticipation mixed with hazy uncertainty. Forward momentum requires walking by faith and not by sight, a kind of Christ-confidence. Looking backward and forward quickly leads us to recognize the gift of our finite limitations. We take no credit for where we have been and need His grace to move forward. This gap compels us to look up. (Bonus blessings if you have a sunroof or convertible!) We feel our need of God, lift our eyes and heart, and pray like Jehoshaphat, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chron. 20:12)....

Windshields, Rearview Mirrors, and a Sunroof in 2026Christina Fox2026-01-05T16:56:29+00:00

When You Feel Uncertain in Ministry

KATELYNN ROSS|GUEST Cognitive itch. Existential unease. The antsy-ness of feeling like you need to do something, but can’t figure out what you’re supposed to do is a familiar intrusive visitor in my mind. The Christian life is itchy for those of us who serve in ministry, wrapped up in a tug-of-war between our local community and the larger world. “Am I doing enough for God’s kingdom? Is any of this work making a difference,” I ask myself while I chug my second cup of coffee of the morning. The itchiness feels like some sort of spiritual allergy and somebody moved the holy Benadryl. I have learned over the last fourteen years in ministry, both from the Lord and from people much wiser than I, a few balms for healing this itch before I scar myself that I’d like to offer you in case you too are afflicted. More often than not, the Lord’s workers are burnt out, overworked, and overtired, and find themselves wondering “What is the next thing I should be doing?” Wouldn’t it be nice if God would let us in on the plan? If only we knew what He wanted us to do we’d obey Him perfectly. I think the Israelites of the Old Testament might prove that theory wrong! While we wait to understand what is next–living in the tension of working too much and never knowing if we’re doing enough–these three actions are supported by Scripture: meditate on the Word and character of God, pray for more than just direction, and obey where you are while you’re there. Meditate on the Word and Character of God...

When You Feel Uncertain in MinistryChristina Fox2025-11-18T00:07:49+00:00

Telling the Reformation Story to Our Children

SHERRY KENDRICK | GUEST A year ago, I had the privilege of going on a Reformation tour with fifty people from my church. Several pastors who had both interest and training in church history served as guides. It was a wonderful learning experience for me and deepened my faith. The more I learned about the Reformation, the more I came to treasure the power of God’s Word, the gift of salvation by grace alone, and the steadfast courage needed to stand for gospel truth. This year’s Reformation Sunday is October 26, and I find myself asking: how do we pass this history on to our children? The Protestant Reformation is a story of God’s faithfulness to His church—and it is a story worth telling them. What Was the Reformation? The beginning of the Reformation usually dates to October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, a German monk, nailed his 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The 95 Theses was a list of Luther’s arguments against the Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences—which were like "get out of jail free" cards for sins—often sold for money to raise funds for the church. The Protestant Reformation would continue for over 130 years throughout all of Europe. There were many “reformers,” men and women, who with courage stood in the face of persecution and death for believing the five key truths that came from the Reformation. They are known as the Five Solas: Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone Sola Fide – Faith alone Sola Gratia – Grace alone Solus Christus – Christ alone Soli Deo Gloria – To God alone be the glory To prepare for the Reformation tour, my pastor recommended reading The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation by Michael Reeves. He describes the Reformation as a fire that could not be put out—a flame of gospel truth blazing across Europe. That imagery has stayed with me. It is my heart’s desire for the flame of these gospel truths to burn in me and into the hearts of the children we are discipling today...

Telling the Reformation Story to Our ChildrenChristina Fox2025-10-03T19:48:25+00:00

Why Attend Leadership Training

CATHE CLEVELAND|GUEST If you serve in women's ministry, you may or may not know about the PCA's annual Women's Ministry Leadership Conference, what many affectionately call, "LT." It is not hyperbole to say that the PCA has led the way in providing focused training and resources for women’s ministry and for women who serve in any type of leadership role. You may not know what LT is all about and why you should attend. You might think your role in your ministry isn't significant enough to merit attending or perhaps your ministry is chugging along just fine, and you doubt you'll benefit from it. Or maybe you think you'll be the only one there whose ministry has struggled just to get off the ground. Whatever the state of your ministry, there are important things you can gain from LT as a leader in women's ministry. My favorite definition of a leader is: a person who influences people to accomplish a purpose. There are three parts to this definition: the person leading, the people they lead, and the purpose they accomplish. The action in this definition is to influence. Even if you have a grand purpose, you are not a leader if you have no people you are influencing. If you have the wrong destination in mind, you might have some great relationships, and maybe even conduct some wonderful events, but you are not really leading anyone to a place they should be. There are situations such as the military or law enforcement, where leaders legitimately use some level of authority or force to compel other people to accomplish some purpose even if they would not want to otherwise. But effective ministry leaders influence others to develop proper motivation so that they desire to work towards accomplishing the purpose together....

Why Attend Leadership TrainingChristina Fox2025-09-12T12:13:26+00:00

Clay Like Calling: God’s Glory in Our Weakness

KAREN HODGE | CONTRIBUTOR We stand on the precipice of a new ministry year. Let's gather the team, formulate a stellar plan, whip out a shiny brochure, and rally the women! And while we're at it, let's try to make it bigger, faster, or shinier than last year. Been there and tried that strategy. “Shiny Plan” seems like a bulletproof proposal in September, but by October, cracks began to form in our well-formulated plan. CRACK… You try to recruit women to execute this shiny plan and find that many of them are just "too busy" to participate. CHIP… You put the Women's Connect Event in the bulletin, announce it from the front, send an email, and then wonder why more women didn't show up when you are cleaning up. CRUMBLE…. After teaching a Bible study you spent hours preparing and then receive stinging criticism in the hallway, you hastily vow you will never teach again! SHATTER…. Although you meant to send the shiny plan to the Session ahead of printing the brochures, upon reading it, they suggest that you scale things back to avoid draining the church's resources....

Clay Like Calling: God’s Glory in Our WeaknessChristina Fox2025-08-10T15:08:46+00:00

When You’re Weary at the Start of a New Ministry Year

SUSAN TYNER | CONTRIBUTOR I thought I’d be ready. More rested. Eager to begin. Instead, as I look down the barrel of my calendar, I feel tired. In May I imagined the summer months would give me the rest and rejuvenation I needed after a hard spring. But, as I face August and the upcoming “kick offs” of ministry, my body is slow to move. My brain sputters as I start making lists. My heart questions once again if God will provide the volunteers. I focus on my present limitations much more than I remember God’s past help. But thankfully, God reminds me of a time His disciples felt the overwhelming ratio between a need and their ability to meet it. This story—found in all four gospels—gives me a template for facing a new year of ministry: the sack lunch approach. When Jesus and His disciples were chased down by the crowds in a remote area, and it was approaching dinnertime, He told the disciples to feed the crowd of 5,000. What did they have on hand? A first century Lunchables: a boy’s two fish and five loaves of bread...

When You’re Weary at the Start of a New Ministry YearChristina Fox2025-08-08T13:50:24+00:00

Eve: A Helper and Hope Bearer

MEAGHAN MAY | CONTRIBUTOR Ministry life can feel like a strange mix of beauty and burden. You might find yourself wearing multiple hats, holding sacred confidences, and offering wisdom to others while you are weary. You truly love the Lord and His Church, but some days isolation and confusion seem more pressing. As expectations swirl— both spoken and unspoken—you question your adequacy, your purpose, your place. You’re not alone. Eve was the first woman and ministry wife, but she also stood in a place of tension—called by God, yet wrestling with doubt. She struggled to trust His words, to wait for His timing, and to understand her place in His redemptive story. Eve’s life reminds us: we are not the first to waver, but also not the last to be sustained by grace. Her story, like ours, is complex, marked by beauty, brokenness, grace, and growth. And in her story, we find perspective for our own. Like Eve, we are learning to trust and are invited to listen again to the voice of God. His voice still beckons us out of hiding, clothes us, and sends us out with hope. Eve’s Calling, Struggle, and Growing Faith Eve was created with purpose: to live in relationship with God, to reflect His glory, to walk alongside her husband as a helper (ezer) and life-giver. Eve’s identity wasn’t an afterthought; it was intentional. Before God created her, He let Adam name the animals but among them, no suitable companion could be found. This is the first “not good” in all of creation (Gen. 2:18). Afterward, God caused Adam to sleep and took a rib from his side, fashioning it into the woman. When Adam saw her, he exclaimed with joy and recognition: “At last, this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!” (Gen. 2:23). She was an ezer—a strong helper—a word used of God Himself in Scripture (Deut. 33:26; Psalm 121:2). Yet Eve struggled. “She saw that the fruit was… desirable… so she took it and ate” (Gen. 3:6)....

Eve: A Helper and Hope BearerChristina Fox2025-07-31T23:35:51+00:00