Networking is a good way to enrich your ministry leadership. You can build relationships with other leaders that will be a good resource for finding speakers, creating personal accountability, conference buddies, evaluation of things that have worked and not worked in their ministries, etc...

The toughest thing about networking is getting started! There may already be an organization in your area that encourages WM leaders to get together. They can be hard to track down but worth it when you do! If there is not a WM organization in your community, I recommend that you prayerfully consider starting one. As with all things, spend lots of time taking your heart before the Lord before you begin. Pray for God to bring women together in your community, that you would speak clearly as you share your ideas with the other WM leaders, and that God would help each woman to work together to build the kingdom of God.

The simplest way to start networking is to open up the yellow pages and begin calling churches. Tell them who you are, what church you are with and ask if you may speak with, or leave your number for the WM Director or coordinator. In larger churches you will probably find that they have someone in the office. Medium to smaller churches will probably take your name and number and pass it on to the coordinator.

Another great place to research churches is the internet. If you type in "churches in (your town/state)" in any search engine you will find a list of churches in your town and links to ones that have websites. Sometimes there will even be a list of staff members with their e-mail addresses or phone numbers... then you can contact the WM person directly! Once you establish a contact, and let them know about your desire to start a WM leadership network in your area. You can make an appointment to meet with them one-on-one or arrange a meeting with several women at once. I have done this both ways and there are advantages to both methods. One- on-one, you get to know each lady more personally... but it takes more time, and if your personalities don't mesh... it can be a little uncomfortable. In a group setting, there is not as much personal contact, but you are able to present your ideas once and receive immediate feedback from all of the women.

If time is a factor, the group meeting is easier to negotiate than 5- 10 separate meetings. See what interests and needs the other leaders have and decide how often you would like to meet and where. With a bunch of strong personalities, and let's face it ladies, there are a lot of us around, it will also be important to establish yourself or someone else as the main contact person.

Down the road you may even find a name for your organization and incorporate as a 501(c)3 or (c)6... but that is a whole different article! However your networking experience progresses, if you keep the Lord in the center of it, you will create friendships, get some creative new ideas, and explore new resources. It can feel risky to put yourself out there, but will definitely be worth it when you build a support network.

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