Last night was the final monthly session of my in-home ladies group ApronStrings Home Edition...until next September.
I love this group of gals. We have a variety of ages, interests and denominations amongst us, which makes it fun and interesting. We do have the common denominator of loving Jesus and wanting to grow in our relationship with the Father which bonds us together.
Some of this bonding takes place during our chatty time over goodies in my kitchen. Some of it takes place as we dive into the Word and still some occurs as we get the privilege of praying for one another at the close of each session.
What started out in my kitchen in California years ago has grown to encompass two other groups here in Idaho. These two groups are hosted by women from my home church. Good Housekeeping magazine has a test kitchen for the recipes they feature. These groups are my 'test kitchen' so to speak. For years I have written Bible study/discussion and retreat/teaching material for my own use. It's a completely different thing to write for others...the don't have anyway of knowing what's in my head if it's not on paper! ;)
I have had other ladies, (outside of my home church as well as within), express a desire to start their own ApronStrings Home Edition group. So, I will be spending my summer doing a rewrite on the nine lessons that I produced this last year...ironing out the wrinkles, so to speak.
I was thinking that you could help me with this process by answering a couple of questions for me...
1) If you are looking to lead a women's group, what type of help and information are you hoping for in the leader's guide?
2) If you are attending a women's Bible study/fellowship what are you looking for and wanting to gain from the experience?
I would appreciate all the input that you can give me...and hey, if you are interested in hosting your own ApronStrings Home Edition group, let me know that too! =]
Great topic, Michelle :)
ReplyDelete1) If you are looking to lead a women's group, what type of help and information are you hoping for in the leader's guide? Next fall I'll be leading a 6-week Life Group for women. My plan, as usual, is not to reinvent the wheel. I'm going to dig out some old studies and review the leaders' guide in the back of the books. I also have some great leadership resources which I'll review. So, I guess I'm suggesting reading what others have written and tweaking it to fit your topic.
2) If you are attending a women's Bible study/fellowship what are you looking for and wanting to gain from the experience? I haven't attended a group study for awhile, but when I did, I wanted to (1) learn something, and (2) develope relationships. I guess that fits what you wrote (Bible Study/fellowship). I think the most important thing is balancing those two things. Also defining if you want it to be a Bible Study or prayer group because so often sharing prayer requests ends up eating into the study time. That's okay, but then it should be called a prayer group.
Yay for Apron Strings :) What a great, great ministry God has given you!