Women’s Ministries Director at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Heather-Dawn Small, is admonishing women in the Central Jamaica Conference (CJC) to improve their Biblical literacy which she laments is often unsatisfactory.
Speaking at a virtual seminar titled "Building an Engaging Women’s Ministries" on Sunday, April 23, Small said while women nurture each other in ministry, they must also be strengthened in the Word of God.
Heather-Dawn Small (Director, Women's Ministries, General Conference)
“Many of us don’t know what we believe…but if you are going to share this with someone else, you need to understand it (first). We need to improve our knowledge so we can open the Word of God and teach,” she said.
She suggests keeping a note with the key Bible verses that anchor our beliefs close at hand so it will be easier to witness to others even if the verses are not memorised. She also suggests that women’s ministries groups organise regular Bible studies where women can become more anchored in scripture.
In local churches where the ministry may lack resources, Small encouraged leaders not to be fazed by the challenge.
“There are so many stories about women’s ministries at the church level with zero budget and God has provided every cent for outreach events. If you have zero or a small budget don’t get upset and say, ‘they don’t care about the women in the church’. God cares and He will provide the funds that you need,” she said.
In order to build an engaging and effective ministry, Small noted that collaboration with other church departments is key.
She also said leaders should pray for the skills to run the ministry and be willing to learn from the preceding ministry leader.
Small said the ministry should not be allowed to fizzle out as it has a long history of enriching the church.
Women’s ministries started in 1898 and ran for two years before halting. It was revived in the late 1980s due to increasing interest in the global church. In 1990 the ministry became an office in the General Conference attached to the president’s office. It was voted as a full-fledged department in 1995.
The seminar was organised for women’s ministries leaders, assistants and women in ministry by the CJC Women’s Ministries and Education Department both of which are directed by Roxanne McKoy-Chambers.