Every once in awhile we will be posting some list posts that we think you need to know about in regards to girls ministry. Today’s list post is for women leaders in your church that are trying to figure out how to raise these young women to take their places.

So here it is: 5 things women leaders need to know in order to raise young women to take their places.

1. Pray for girls in your church. Remember what it was like to be a girl, and know that even with all the technology and advancement that these girls are familiar with—they still need the same basic things you did when you were their age. They need to belong. They need to be loved. They need to know God has a plan for their lives even when they don’t have the attention of the cool crowd or the boy they are crushing on. They need to know their identity, significance, and purpose through Christ. Before you say one thing to mentor a girl, speak her name in prayer to God—and commit to continuing to be her secret prayer warrior.

2. To commit themselves to walk along-side of girls in your church for a consistent amount of their teen-aged journey.
The reasons that I am doing what I am doing now is a direct result of the influence of my mother, and 3 key women leaders who committed to walk alongside of me through life, speak God’s truth into my life, and encourage me while challenging me to be the woman God was calling me to be.

3. Give them opportunities. When you spend time with girls, you will begin to see characteristics and gifts beginning to emerge that may seem rough at first, but if they are given opportunities to lead and try out those gifts, they can begin to see how God made them that way for a purpose. It saddens me greatly that some of our schools allow students more opportunities than our churches. Sure they will mess up, but don’t we? Sure they will need direction, but so do we. If we can build leaders now, they will be able to seize opportunities on their own upon graduation and beyond.

4. Invite them into your world. Do not be afraid of these girls, or belittle yourself because of your age. They need you! I cannot tell you how many girls have told me that they want to hang out with another older woman so that they can see what a Christian home looks like, or to hang out with a solid Christian College student so they can figure out how to live boldly on their campus when they get ready to go to college, or to spend time with a Career woman who is a Christian. They want to know what to prepare for. They want role models, and we need to be those for them or else they will find them in worldly examples.

5. Equip their mothers. Find ways to support and encourage the mothers of girls, long before the girls become teenagers. When they do become mothers of teenagers, connect them with a mother who has been there/done that for support. Pray for the moms as this is the primary Girls Minister.