Kelly King offers words of encouragement to women’s leaders. (Staff photo by Mary Alford)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Women from across Arkansas gathered in Little Rock on Saturday, April 20, for Leadership Collective.
The one-day workshop for women’s ministry leaders in the state offered a time of networking, training, and friendship development for women serving in the local church.
Jessica James, who leads in women’s and children’s ministry at First Baptist Church in Maumelle, heard about Leadership Collective last year but was unable to make it. This year, she made it a point to attend.
“I love to come to anything the Southern Baptist Convention has,” James said. “I hope to leave with encouragement and, maybe, some gained wisdom.”
James said she also hoped to use the opportunity to grow in friendship with other ladies in women’s ministry.
Karyn Jones of First Baptist Church in Monticello also enjoyed the spiritual encouragement of the event, noting there was a variety of women, differing in age and stages of life.
“It’s so great,” Jones said. “We were called to make disciples and women’s ministry is a vehicle for making disciples. It gives us a platform with women to lead them to God’s word, to lead them to prayer, and to help them share in their faith.”
The guest speaker at the event was Kelly King, who currently serves in women’s ministry at Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. King is the former Women’s Ministry Specialist for Lifeway Christian Resources as well as the Women’s Specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.
King led two sessions: “Ministry to Women: It’s not just nice – it’s necessary” and “Putting it into Practice: Nuts and bolts of ministry to women.” Each session was followed by table conversation.
“Women play an important part of the Kingdom,” King said. “Sometimes I feel like we look at women in ministry as the JV team and not the varsity. So, today I want you to consider how you are part of the varsity team and why, what we need for you and your women in your church, and how we’ve seen what women are already doing in the church.”
King referenced several verses in the book of Acts, which she said painted the picture of the importance and necessity of women then and now.
“The things we find true of these women are still very, very true for us today,” she said.
King said the scripture demonstrates ministry to women is necessary because there is a call for women to pray and a call for women to be spiritual mothers.
“The local church needs women to pray. We need to be united in prayer and we need to be role models. We need to be spiritual mothers and spiritual sisters,” she said. “When we are united and focused on prayer that is where the power is. A prayerless ministry is a powerless ministry. … It’s part of our legacy to be prayer warriors.”
Additionally, King said ministry to women is necessary because women have a particular call to serve others, a call to lead in community, to give generously and live hospitably, a call to share their faith, and a call to lead and lead generously.
“Each one of us has the responsibility of sharing the Gospel,” King said. “When we get women into God’s Word it transforms. We cannot not be changed when we get women in God’s Word.”