Women's Ministry Help

Event Planning Tips

Many women in ministry find themselves assigned to oversee a retreat or conference. With no experience, they set off on a journey to plan a spiritually enriching experience for the women of their church … but they don’t know where to start.

If you are new to women’s ministry, here are some tips that might help you plan an event.

Get it on the church calendar.
Before you even know exactly what you want to do, reserve the dates and the rooms. Talk to whoever is in charge of your facility and get their support and advice. Ask them to begin praying for the event.

Create a leadership team.
Try and assign responsibilities to a variety of people. When possible, match individual gifting and skills to the responsibility. For instance, if Jane loves to keep things organized, ask her to oversee registration. If Sherrie is creative, maybe she can do decorations. The more women on your leadership team, the better.

Identify the purpose for the event.
Whether it’s a retreat, a one-day conference or a special dinner, what do you want for the women who attend? Do you want them to know more about the Bible, make new friends, grow spiritually or maybe be introduced to Jesus for the first time? Take some time to pray with your leadership team about the purpose for the event.

Pick a speaker.
Picking a speaker is an important part of planning your event. You can bounce around ideas together, or even get some new ideas. If your speaker is a part of your church, try to not have her be involved in the administrative details of your event. Get your speaker booked as soon as possible.

Pick a theme.
This can actually happen before you have a speaker, but some speakers may have difficulty adapting their talks to your theme, or creating new talks. If you are set on a theme, let the speaker know up front. When picking a theme, consider how you can incorporate it in skits, decorations, music, ice breakers, door prizes, snacks, meals, etc. Some fun themes I’ve heard of include a cruise, chocolate, ice cream, and a spa. Coffee is always good too.

Assemble a prayer team.
Identify a group of people who will agree to pray for the event even months before, and even afterwards. These people might be available at the event if the participants want prayer.

Plan and Pray
Once you’ve got your leadership team in place, the speaker picked out and the theme identified, you can proceed with the planning. It won’t seem so overwhelming now. Make sure you have regular meetings, create a countdown calendar with deadlines and pray over it all. Then, when it’s time for the event, you can focus on ministry and having fun.

I’ve been in women’s ministry for many years and overseen lots of events. If I can help you with any questions, please contact me.