Women Intergrating Their Skills In Church Leadership Positions

LEADERSHIP WOMEN

Integrating Their Skills in Church Leadership Positions

Psalms 78:72 …led them with skillful hands. (ISV)

By Min. Tonia R. Williams

As I reflect on my life, I can see that I was born to be a leader. At times, the journey has not been easy, but with God in my life, I can clearly see how His hand has been upon my life. I am grateful for the courage and confidence He has given me to lead women skillfully, spiritually, and with excellence.

At the age of ten, my family and I joined a church which became our “home church,” and we were actively involved in Sunday School, Sunday Morning and Evening Services, Tuesday Night Bible Study, Evangelistic Service, Friday Night Prayer, Children’s and Youth Choirs, 4th Sunday Youth Program, 5th Sunday Children’s Program and more, and I cannot forget 8:00 A.M. Saturday Family Devotion at home!

Early on with my church involvement and home training, I began serving in leadership positions as a teenager. With my academic skills, I began to integrate them into my positions and continued to do so as I furthered my education.

Incorporating skills from my formal education, work experience, classes, trainings, etc. (also understanding church dynamics and its inner workings), has been an ongoing process. While professionally a financial analyst, I am currently the Women’s Auxiliary President for the Northern California District Council. In this leadership position, I have integrated skills, such as, supervising, interpersonal communication, problem solving, project management, financial reporting, just to name a few.

Shortly after being elected to this position, I spoke with my staff individually. I asked specific questions that allowed me to learn more about them and assess their skill level for their elected position. Having been a supervisor, I also understood the importance of professional development, so I offered them the opportunity to develop skills within the scope of their elected position. By serving in other capacities (e.g., president, vice president, secretary, treasurer), I understood the responsibilities of the elected positions, and that coupled with my professional skills has helped me in coaching and mentoring, where necessary.

I remember speaking with a women’s ministry director who shared challenges she was having in leading women at her church. Professionally, she was employed by a major corporation as a supervisor.

While she spoke, I can recall actively listening—a skill I acquired through formal education and training. As a result, because of this skill and others I possess, I was able to recommend ways for her to utilize her supervisory skills in approaching the challenges and in being successful with them. She had never given any thought of incorporating her supervisory skills in her role as a women’s ministry director.

For women in church leadership positions, I encourage them to educate themselves through courses, programs, trainings, books, etc. that will allow them to develop and acquire the necessary skills relevant to leading effectively (Proverbs 22:29 Do you see someone skilled in their work? NIV). I also encourage them to have a mentor, a woman leader who can provide practical and spiritual advice and guidance (Proverbs 11:14 They that have no guidance fall like leaves: but in much counsel there is safety. BST). To integrate their skills in leadership, I recommend they go through the following exercise.

Job, Church, and Volunteer Positions

1. List job, church, and volunteer positions you have held and currently hold 2. List the responsibilities for each position (optional) 3. List the skills you acquired from each position

Courses, Programs, Trainings

1. List courses, programs, trainings, etc. you have taken 2. List the skills you acquired from each one

Now list the skills (from the two areas above) that you can incorporate in your current leadership position(s), and begin to utilize them in leading those God has placed in your hands.

_________________________________ Scriptures ISV: International Standard Version (Psalms 78:72) NIV: New International Version (Proverbs 22:29) BST: Brenton Septuagint Translation (Proverbs 11:14)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Min. Tonia R. Williams Minister | Author | Leader

Email: info@ToniaRWilliams.com Website: www.ToniaRWilliams.com Facebook: AuthorToniaRWilliams

EVENTS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY

July/August

1963

June-August. Civil rights protests took place in most major urban areas.

August 28. The March on Washington was the largest civil rights demonstration ever. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

1964

July 18-August 30. Beginning in Harlem, serious racial disturbances occurred in more than six major cities.

1965

August 11-21. The Watts riots left 34 dead, more than 3,500 arrested, and property damage of about 225 million dollars.

1966

July 1-9. CORE endorsed the concept “Black Power.” SNCC also adopted it. SCLC did not and the NAACP emphatically did not.

1967

May 1-October 1. This was the worst summer for racial disturbances in United States history. More than 40 riots and 100 other disturbances occurred.

1970

July 1. Kenneth Gibson became the first black mayor of an Eastern city when he assumed the post in Newark, New Jersey.

August 7. There was a shootout during an attempted escape in a San Rafael, California, courthouse. Implicated in the incident, Angela Davis went into hiding to avoid arrest. Davis would be acquitted of all charges on June 4, 1972.

1974

July 1. The largest single gift to date from a black organization was the $132,000 given by the Links, Inc., to the United Negro College Fund.

August 30. Guion (Guy) S. Bluford, Jr. was the first black American astronaut to make a space flight on board the space shuttle Challenger

1988

July 20. Jesse L. Jackson received 1,218.5 delegate votes at the Democratic National Convention. The number needed for the nomination, which went to Michael Dukakis, was 2,082.

1992

August 3. Jackie Joyner-Kersee was the first woman to repeat as Olympic heptathlon champion.

Source: https://www.fs.fed.us/people/aasg/calendar/timeline.html