Ready to Serve: Encouraged & Equipped
This year’s Summer Sampler Series answers the question “What does by design do?” Each post will address an aspect of our ministry, as told by women who have been positively impacted. We hope that their stories encourage you and inspire you to take advantage of the support, training, and resources available to you from by design ministries.
For more information about the wide range of services offered by our ministry, please click here.
Ready to Serve: Encouraged & Equipped
By Krisie Brown
I recently wrote an article on “How to Use Our Imaginations Well” to help us GROW in our faith by meditating on Psalm 1. Looking back over the last 10 or so years, by design ministries has been a huge part of that growth for me.
I've appreciated attending at least six by design reTREATs. As a member of the Women's Ministry Team at my church it's lovely to be able to experience a retreat where we are blessed by soulful worship, informative sessions and great breakout discussion groups, none of which I had to plan.
These reTREATs also provided the opportunity to attend some of the Leadership Training Classes. Other opportunities arose to attend the classes as they were hosted at different churches in towns around the New England area. My own church has been blessed to host two different Leadership Training Classes.
These classes ranged from big-picture biblical overviews to very specific topical studies on how God’s presence manifested through the ages. I remember some very practical information, from how to build a team and start a women’s ministry to how to cultivate holy habits. I always came away feeling grounded in God’s Word, blessed by well-developed outlines of knowledge, and equipped with tools for practical use in my own life and church.
Knowing the by design ministries’ mission “to develop women who are servant leaders for the equipping of God’s church and the enlarging of His Kingdom” was freeing, as I wasn’t being recruited for something new but being fed, encouraged, and equipped to go back to my home church and serve where God had called me.
In addition to valuable knowledge, these classes gave me the opportunity to learn alongside like-minded women. We’d get to know each other at breaks and discussion times, sharing what God was doing in our lives, our churches, and the ministries God had called us to. Discussing these personal insights with women from different churches was freeing and encouraging as new ideas were shared.
These by design ministries Leadership Training Classes have helped me remain a lifelong student, open to teaching and humbled to see God at work in so many wonderful women and churches in New England.
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Lead with confidence and competence.
Ready to get equipped? We know that when you’re leading and serving in ministry, you have to be on your toes. Our culture is constantly changing, which means that the way we lead needs to be flexible and dynamic, adapting to the way that people think and learn. That’s where by design comes in.
Our Women’s Leadership Training program can equip you for everything from Bible basics to using your spiritual gifts to emotional intelligence. Come and learn … and return to your place of service confident in your God-given skills and prepared to take on the task.
To learn more about by design’s Women’s Leadership Training certificate program and to see a full list of classes, please visit https://www.bydesignministry.org/get-equipped/
Krisie Brown has been involved in both the Women’s and Children’s Ministries at First Congregational Church of Hamilton for close to 30 years. She and her husband live in Ipswich, MA with their three children (Morgan, Calvin and Sydney). Currently, she is on the board of by design ministries and the teaching team for the Women’s Bible Study at her church. Krisie loves to be involved at church and in her children’s schools, building community.
Krisie is a member of the board of directors for by design.