Baptist Women in Ministry Month of Advocacy
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Baptist Women in Ministry are excited to offer a toolkit of resources designed for congregations to use during BWIM’s annual Month of Advocacy in March.
We urge you and your church to participate in the BWIM Month of Advocacy as part of your Christian witness. Supporting women in their calling is not a secondary matter for the church, it is a gospel issue. Jesus called women to proclaim the gospel, included them among his disciples, and uplifted them as examples of deep faithfulness. As Jesus’ followers, we should do the same.
With hope,
Paul Baxley, Executive Coordinator, CBF
Meredith Stone, Executive Director, BWIM
Use BWIM’s Month of Advocacy calendar for the month of March.
Learn more about BWIM Month of Advocacy on BWIM’s website.
Tell BWIM about your participation.
Resources for Worship
Hymns
- God of the Women, by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
- In Unity We Lift Our Song, by Ken Medema & Martin Luther
- No Longer, by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
- Woman in the Night, by Brian Wren
- Womb of Life and Source of Being, by Ruth Duck
Engagement Ideas for Clergy & Leaders
Holly Hatton’s Story
Called in Context
Holly Hatton’s story highlights how churches and female leaders may sometimes need to think outside the traditional path of calling.
Midwives of a Movement
Documentary
Midwives of a Movement features interviews with eleven women who were active in the early days of the women’s movement within the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Book Discussion Guides
Additional Reading
- Daughters of Thunder Black Women Preachers and Their Sermons 1850-1979, Bettye Collier-Thomas
- Baptists and Gender, edited by Melody Maxwell and T. Laine Scales
Public Recognition and Support
- Have Adults Acknowledge Women in Leadership either during worship, on a bulletin board, in church communications, or at a lunch.
- Consider adopting a formal resolution for your church in support of women in all areas of leadership, be sure to get it in the church minutes by making it a part of a business meeting. Example: Ridgewood Baptist Church
- Check out these two articles about how to treat and support female pastors and ministers.
10 things to never say to your female pastor.
7 way to support your female pastor.
Resources for Youth & Children
During the BWIM month of advocacy, our hope is that congregations will engage all ages in learning about and encouraging women in every aspect of leadership and ministry. To aid in this we have included several books and ideas for children, youth, and adults. The list is definitely not exhaustive and we hope that as you use these ideas or come up with your own, you will let us know how you engaged with the resource and the month of advocacy.
Book List for Kids
- Courageous World Changers: 50 True Stories of Daring Women of God, Shirley Raye Redmond
- When God Was A Little Girl, David R. Weiss
- Hildegard’s Gift, Megan Hoyt
- Dear Mama God, Daneen Akers
- But God Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land, Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso
- God Is Like a Mother Hen and Much, Much More, Carolyn Stahl Bohler
- Penny Preaches, Amy and Rob Dixon
Book List for Youth
- A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband ‘Master’, Rachel Held Evans
- Grit and Grace: Heroic Women of the Bible, Caryn Rivadeneira
- Black Girls Unbossed, Khristi Lauren Adams
- Portraits of Courage: Baptist Heroes, e-book and curriculum for children and youth, Rev. Julie Whidden Long, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Christ (free downloadable resource)
Engagement Ideas For Youth and Children
- Have youth and children Interview women in ministry and leadership in the congregation.
- Create a bulletin board of women who are ministers to them with pictures and descriptions.
- Write thank you notes to women in leadership in church – consider including deacons, Sunday school teachers, pastors, volunteers, and committee leaders.
- Teach about a woman in baptist history or have youth research one and teach the group about it.
Safe Church Resources
Safe Church
CBF and Baptist Women in Ministry have developed resources focusing on the prevention of clergy sexual abuse in our churches. These video and curriculum resources can help churches prevent and address abuse between adults.
Equally Called
A video and curriculum resource to help your church articulate the biblical and theological basis for affirming the calling of women and nurture a culture that more fully welcomes their leadership.
Baptist Women in Ministry
Baptist Women in Ministry has created and curated an excellent catalog of tools to resource clergywomen in their calling.
Abuse Prevention
Grace helps Christian communities to recognize, prevent, and respond to abuse. Learn more about their resources here.
Diane Langberg, Christian Psychologist, offers several books and websites to support minister’s supporting others through abuse. Read about them here.