I was recently asked, “What is the hardest part of leading a Women’s Ministry?”

It didn’t take me long to answer: “Finding a common ground that women from all ages and stages of life would want to be part of.”

My church is a multi-generational church, which is a strength. We have as many as five generations in our church. But trying to please every generation is challenging at times. Each segment has different views on how to do something or what’s most important based on their generation’s thinking.

I learned early on that it’s impossible to please everyone, and if I try to, I will become frustrated and discouraged. There’s one Person I need to please—and that’s the Lord. This has kept me sane in the midst of many opinions about how to do something.

When I was at Dallas Theological Seminary, Sue Edwards and Joye Baker taught a class on Leading and Developing a Women’s Ministry. We talked about the challenges of the ministry, particularly pulling together all the ages.

One thing Sue taught us has been the cornerstone of our Women’s Ministry here: make Bible study the hub of your ministry. All women, regardless of age or stage of life, need God’s Word and can learn from it. The Word of God can strengthen and direct everyone and is applicable to all regardless of what generation we grew up in.

So our women’s Bible study is the core of our Women’s Ministry. It would be the last thing I would do away with if I had to cut back on programs because my heart for this ministry is to see God change lives, drawing people to Himself and deepening their walk with Him. We need to be in His Word—in our time alone with God as well as in community with others. God’s Word transforms lives.

Sue wrote in her book New Doors in Ministry to Women:

“The Scriptures are God’s love letters to His children. They convey His heart and mind, and they are the primary way God communicates with us. God expects us to know His Word thoroughly and to apply it diligently. Through knowing His Word, we know Him. And when we know Him, we are transformed!”

We view our Women’s Ministry Heart to Heart Bible study as more than a Bible study. It is a place where women of all generations come together around the study of the Word of God, learning from one another. Relationships form, mentoring takes place, women walk alongside women in hard times and pray for one another. It is a community that brings women  of all ages together around the study of God’s Word. Lives are changed.

If you’re not part of a Women’s Bible study, I encourage you to find one.

I’d love to hear from you. How have you seen God bring women together from different generations in your church?