Questions to Connect Around:
Here are some frequently asked questions about Women’s Ministry Training events:
- Who needs a training?
Any church, Presbytery women’s ministry, or group of PCA churches wanting to equip women for ministry leadership in their church. This includes all women in your church(es)/presbytery, not only those who serve in women’s ministries but any woman wanting to be equipped for ministry in her church. A common comment we get after the event is that women wish they had invited/encouraged more women they knew to attend.
- What is included in a training?
At least 5-6 in-depth talks. Each talk is tailored to your group’s needs after discussion with the trainer assigned to your event.
- A 100+ page training workbook in PDF format for your group to photocopy for each attendee.
- Pre-training conference calls with your trainer to determine your needs and to determine the event schedule.
- A call with your trainer after the event to discuss your follow-up plans and to collect feedback.
- One purpose of a training event is to help you connect with your Regional Advisor and additional denominational resources to assist you in follow-up.
- What content is covered in a training?
Women’s Ministry Trainings are designed to give the women of your church and/or presbytery a framework to think biblically about who God is and who He is calling women to be in the context of the home, church, workplace, and ministry. This valuable equipping resource is a series of in-depth sessions that provide both a biblical framework for women in ministry as well as many practical tools. It has been used to establish and reinvigorate women’s ministries across the country. Some of the in-depth topics covered include Christian worldview, the Covenant, Church, Womanhood, Kingdom Discipleship and many nuts and bolts of Women’s Ministry.
- How long is a training?
Typically, a training is a Friday evening and a Saturday morning through mid-afternoon. Trainings can be done in one day; however, it’s a very intensive day. All of this time is needed to cover the material presented, and you should typically not plan to add additional activities into the schedule.
- What about discussion time?
Trainings typically include several discussion breakout times. Ideally the schedule should include 5-6 messages with discussion time after most or all of them. Many groups even schedule a discussion to take place over lunch.
- How is a Trainer assigned to my event?
Karen Hodge works with you to match the best trainer for your needs. The material is the same but each trainer has a different background and a unique style so Karen helps you to think through the best approach for the women attending.
- Is there a cost for a training?
Trainings are intensive 5-6 session seminars. The cost is $700 (which covers the trainer’s honorarium and a fee to CDM for overhead costs) plus travel, meals, and lodging expenses for the trainer. Typically, trainings are multi-church events with a nominal charge to the attendee, which covers the cost of the workbook and may include one or two meals.
- Why is the training workbook 100+ pages?
The workbook contains much more than the structured notes for the five to six messages. There are many follow-up discussion activities, many case studies, thought provoking articles answering many FAQs we have had over the years, an annotated bibliography, and a Titus 2 Discipleship appendix. There is no way to cover all of this in a single event. But the additional material can be used for discussion activities after the event.
- Some of our women cannot attend the training; are we allowed to print extra copies of the workbook to give out?
The training workbooks are copyrighted (similar to a book). Unfortunately, copies of the workbook are only for attendees. They may not be distributed to women who did not attend the training. If you use additional material for discussions later, additional copies of short portions may be made by your group for this purpose.
About Cathe Cleveland:
Cathe Cleveland has served the PCA at the presbytery level and at the local level as a Director of Women’s Ministry at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, AL. She has also served as a Women’s Ministry Trainer since 2001. She and husband Paul are members at Briarwood Presbyterian Church.
