A Fun Theme Idea

Looking for a fun theme for your next event? This month the ladies at First Baptist Church of Raymondville, Texas, had a Purse-uit of Holiness purse-themed tea. Their “Purse-onali-TEA” featured handbags galore, prizes for the most unique purse items, and bags, bags and more bags. Fun time? Totally in the bag!

Adding Some Fruit

Looking to add some extra fruit to your next event? Add on support for a ministry project by having women bring items of need for a mission trip your church is taking, baby things for your local crisis pregnancy center, goodies for women in prison, or items for other worthwhile causes with needs your women can meet. Nothing like adding an extra level of ministry. Ministry on ministry!

Bagging Up Event Goodies

By adding just a few extra dollars to the ticket price of the event you’re planning you can send each attendee away with a reminder of the day. Just one fun item—or a bag-full. It’s fun going print-crazy over T-shirts, mugs, magnets, aprons, journals, and notepads—even cute bags to put all the goodies in. You can have them imprinted with your event’s logo, theme verse or some other significant reminder of what God is doing in your midst. A significant reminder to keep focusing on Christ? It could be in the bag!

Heart-Touching Theme

Looking for a heart-touching theme for your event? The theme “Heart Treasures” can offer a “wealth” of possibilities. Base your event on Luke 12:34:  “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Treasure chests and jewelry/keepsake boxes filled with hearts make great decorations.

Your ladies group can find all the best riches in focusing on the things our Heavenly Father wants us to treasure. This is rich!

Need an icebreaker?

Try this one. Provide a sheet of paper (including your ministry logo or a graphic/announcement for your next event makes it that much more fruitful). Have the ladies number the page from 1 to 10. Then ask these questions and have them score accordingly:

1. If you’ve ever left one of your children somewhere, give yourself a point.
2. If you’ve ever lost your car in the Wal-Mart parking lot, give yourself another point.
3. Give yourself one point if you’ve called one of your children the wrong name today.
4. Give yourself two points if one of those names was the dog.
5. If you’ve ever caught yourself in public with two different shoes on, give yourself another point.
6. If you’ve ever found something in your fridge that’s more than six months past its “Best if…” date, give yourself a point.
7. Give yourself a point if you have more than five loads of dirty laundry.
8. Another two points if you’ve ever fished something out of the dirty laundry basket, sprayed it with Febreeze, tumbled it in the dryer for 15 minutes, then put it on.
9. If you made your bed this morning, take off 2 points.
10. If your husband was still in it, put 3 points back on.

You can add or substitute your own questions and point values. Little prizes for the ladies with the lowest number of points can provide a fun ending.

Latch On to a Great Theme

Finding the perfect theme for your event is so important. According to Karen Porter in Secrets to Planning a Successful Big Event (Jubilant Press, www.jubilantpress.com), you’ll need to “be creative as you put together the wording of the theme. It should be like a headline, grabbing attention, yet telling what the event is about.” Consider brainstorming with your planning committee to spark some great theme ideas. And by the way, I’ve discovered that serving chocolate is like kindling.

Getting Crafty

More and more often we’re noticing event planners setting up an optional side table or two with quick craft projects. Picture frames, decorative keepsake boxes, refrigerator magnets and decorated notepads make great quickie projects. Two or three “come as you wish” tables made available during break times and meals make fruitful fillers. If you can provide materials for a mini-craft along the theme of your event—especially for a fridge magnet—you can send your ladies home with a reminder that will “stick” with them.

Slipping Into High Gear:

Want to start the morning events of your women’s retreat with a chuckle? How about a “Slipping into High Gear” fashion show? House shoes only on the runway! Big fuzzy bunny slippers, polka-dotted terry slip-ons, wooly monster socks—it’s all fun! Enlist several women beforehand to model their most outrageous slipper-wear and be ready, too, to add any last-minute entries.

We’re loving all the women’s events are using the theme “High Heels in High Places:  Walking Worthy in Way Cute Shoes.” This is a hoot of a “kick-off” for a shoe-themed event.

Ready, Set, PLAN
THAT SPECTACULAR WOMEN’S EVENT!

By Rhonda Rhea

Thinking about organizing a women’s conference, retreat or other special event? What ministers more to the collective hearts of women? We women love getting together, learning, fellowshipping—and maybe downing a handful or two of something semi-scandalously chocolate!

Get Ready to CONNECT

A women’s event is a powerful tool for helping women make those oh so needed connections. And do we need those connections? Yes, we do! Girlfriends are mentors and mentorees. Girlfriends are found on both ends of counsel, prayer support or a friendly ear when there are questions and concerns about marriage, child-rearing, job issues, heartaches, issues from the past, Bible questions and more. We need each other. Think about it: without good, godly girlfriends, who’s going to tell us that we should never wear those certain pants without a long jacket?

Get Ready, Get Set, But DON’T STRESS

Sometimes women simply need a conference or retreat break to set the blender of a calendar aside to laugh and learn together. A women’s event can do that for you and for the women in your church or community. It can be a day or two of sweet relief from the stress-grind.

A conference or retreat can also be a great day of equipping. We love learning more about our walk with Christ and concrete ways we can draw closer to him. We love offering an outreach to those who don’t know him yet.

Oh, and we love the food—boy, do we love the food. Haven’t we all heard that chocolate is a great stress-reliever? A women’s event can be a day or two in a delicious no-stress zone!

Commit to Gathering Capable Committees

Speaking of a no-stress zone, as you’re thinking about event preps, don’t try to do it all yourself. Now that would be stressful! Not only can you totally burn yourself out trying to run the entire show, but the more women you can involve in the planning and carrying out of an event, the more women you’ll have present at the event. It’s the girl-math of connecting and networking. Each woman has her own connections—people she’s more likely to invite if she’s invested in the event. Trade the mega-stress for the fun of working together with a capable team of women. Every planning meeting can be a party!

Here are some suggested “party” committees you can consider gathering, according to what kind of committee combo might be needed for your particular event:

• Prayer Team
  • Coordinates corporate prayer for all committees
  • Enlists prayer support outside the committee members
  • Each member commits to inordinate, special times of seeking God regarding the event (some pray through the names of those registered)
  • Each member understand the power behind a function that’s covered in prayer
    
• Planning Committee
• Chooses dates, times, locations, themes, program schedule and other core details
• Researches and contracts speakers, musicians, etc.
• Takes care of budget details and other duties of overseeing event planning

• Publicity/Promo Committee
  • Makes announcements in churches/community
  • Organizes production of flyers and other print media
  • Mailing or designation to mailing company
  • Oversees production of any promo video or audio media
  • Design and production of ad flyers, postcards, registration forms, etc.
  • Radio, TV, newspapers and other media contacts
  • Secures photographer to photograph event for use in promo for future events

• Hospitality Committee
  • Takes care of the various needs of the speakers/musicians for the event (transportation to and from hotel, as well as food, water and other needs)
  • Takes care of the various needs of the conferees

• Registration Committee
  • Organizes sign up
  • Keeps records of payment of conferees
  • Organizes registration table at the event (might also be in charge of creating and distributing nametags)

• Decorating Committee
  • Organizes, acquires and assembles decorations in main meeting area according to the theme of the function
  • Organizes, acquires and assembles decorations for any other areas as needed (ladies’ rooms, eating areas, etc.)

• Food Committee
  • Organizes catering needs or meal preps
  • Makes coffee/snacks available at appropriate times
  • Organizes food clean-up sub-committee

• Gift Bag/Door Prize Committee (if offered)
  • Contacts businesses and ministries for donations or purchases items (according to budget)
  • Takes care of making all door prizes appealing in their presentation (gathering into gift baskets and decorating, finding appropriate gift bags for door prizes, etc.)
  • Gathers the gift bags and gift bag contents for the bags offered to each conferee (tissues, pens, notepads, lotions, applicable books, etc.)

• Audio/Visual Tech Committee
  • Secures sound technician(s) for event
  • Secures technician(s) for visual or other technical needs (acquires and presents any PowerPoint or other presentations from speakers/musicians)
  • Asks speakers/musicians if recording is possible
  • Organizes recording distribution as needed

• Cleanup Committee
  • Organizes removal and return/storage of decorations
  • Takes care of all other cleanup needs not designated to another committee or sub-committee

• Follow-up Committee
  • Develops, distributes and collects evaluation forms
  • Reports evaluations to the Planning Committee and any others related to comments (such as the speakers or musicians)
  • Sends thank you notes or gifts to all planners/helpers

Within each committee, sub-committees may be especially helpful, depending on the size of the event. For instance, your Registration Committee may want to enlist a Name Tag Committee to purchase, design or create the name tags. Each committee should have a chair person and each chair should report in at designated intervals to the lead person on the planning committee.

A boatload of work? You betcha! But the impact of the ministry of a women’s event can’t begin to even be measured this side of Glory. Who can measure a changed life? Who can measure a soul touched? Who can measure a woman refreshed?

And, okay, who can measure the collective thighs after all that chocolate?

That’s okay. Let’s lay our thighs on the altar, as it were. Let’s sacrifice our thighs for the sake of ministry.

Ready, set, INVEST IN THE LIVES OF WOMEN IN THE NAME OF JESUS!