January – Think “outreach”:  Personal idea – Invite a neighbor or co-worker to your home simply to get to know her better.  Share a hobby or interest together.

Group idea – Evaluate your group’s yearly goals. Design at least one group event that will be “seeker-friendly’ where you can each invite a non-Christian to be comfortable among you.

February – Think “fellowship”:  Personal idea – Write a note or phone a former Sunday School teacher or student, or someone you’ve lost touch with to tell them what good has resulted from your relationship with them.

Group idea – Brainstorm ideas for “conversation starters” for different age groups. Try them in small groups.

March – Think “spiritual growth”:  Personal idea – Ask a friend you can trust to covenant with you this month to ask you once a week, “How is it going with you and the Lord?”  Try to be open and honest with each other.

Group idea – Have a meeting, or host a day retreat designed to “dig deeper.” Have a speaker gifted in Bible teaching. Or break into small groups to study a short passage of scripture and share truths gleaned with the larger group. Share testimonies of God at work in you.

April – Think “service”:  Personal idea – “For the sake of the cross,” do an act of service for someone. Plant flowers, Dig their garden, Defrost a freezer. Bake a pie. Invite them to Easter services with you.

Group idea – Do a special fund-raiser or offering appeal and designate it for our Women’s Ministries (WMCLB) budget, which includes projects for World Missions, Home Missions, Youth Ministries, Hillcrest, and our Seminary Wives.

May – Think “outreach”:  Personal idea – If “The Passion” is still showing in your area, invite a neighbor or co-worker to see it with you, then discuss it over coffee.

Group idea – Invite friends to a Giant Birthday Party. Try a “breakout” time in your meeting to cluster in small groups according to their birthday month, with each sharing with the small group about a favorite gift they’ve received. Have two or three prepared to tell the large group about their “spiritual birthdays.”

Partnering idea – Plan an outreach event together with the women of a nearby LB church, brainstorming ideas with what has worked for each of your groups in the past.

June – Think “fellowship”:  Personal idea – Visit a woman at a nursing home, or a shut-in from your church, and ask her to share her memories of God at work in her life.

Group idea –On Saturday, June 11, fly or carpool to Tuscarora Inn, Mt. Bethel, PA for the Women’s Ministries Annual Convention.

Partnering idea – Invite a neighboring Lutheran Brethren women’s group to join you for a picnic. Share ways that God has blessed each of your groups.

July – Think “spiritual growth”:  Personal idea – Set aside a day (or even just one meal) to fast and pray for our nation, our leaders, the needs of our synod, and our women’s groups.

Group idea – Don’t stop meeting together during the summer. Try an informal meeting focused on praising God for His creation and meet at the beach, in a backyard, or a park.

Partnering idea – Gather a few cars of women and spend a day at a Bible Camp, or make plans to go as a group for a whole week!

August – Think “service”:  Personal idea – “For the sake of the cross,” ask your pastor’s wife or other church leader what you can do to help her this month.

Group idea – Hold a “stamping” party to make birthday cards or encouragement cards to be sent to all of the missionaries, home mission pastors’ families, and seminarians during the coming year.

Partnering idea – Co-operate with a smaller church in your district to use the same VBS curriculum so you can share your decorations, videos, tapes, etc. with them.

September – Think “outreach”:  Personal idea – Observe homes that are “for sale” or “sold” in your neighborhood. Bring a batch of cookies to share as new neighbors arrive, with the specific intent to offer friendship. A map and a list of convenient stores to buy groceries, clothing, and gas is also very helpful to someone new to the area.

Group idea – Invite a local Christian teacher to share “back-to-school” tips for helping students adjust to school easily, homework pointers for kids and parents, and child development profiles for helping moms of pre-schoolers, grade-schoolers, and teens. Invite your friends.

Partnering idea – Find out when Christian speakers or musical groups are performing in your area. If you are in a large city, or have a large church, arrange to be the “host” and provide housing for women who may want to attend from smaller LB churches farther away.

October – Think “fellowship”:  Personal idea – Go apple-picking, or leaf-gazing with a friend you haven’t had time to visit with for awhile.

Group idea –Have a multi-generational fall theme night. Divide the evening into 20-minute segments and form three groups that will rotate through these three “stations”:

1) Ask a young mom to give ideas for fun fall activities for kids and grandkids. 2) Ask an energetic grandmother to share stories of harvest time when she was a girl and bring some memorabilia to display. 3) Provide materials to make a quick craft, or dried flower arrangement. Finish with someone’s testimony of God’s bountiful grace to them.

Partnering idea – Plan a one-day retreat, or overnight activity with a neighboring LB church. If your district has a fall retreat, carpool with a neighboring church to attend, or arrange to meet them for lunch and conversation at a spot along the way.

November – Think “spiritual growth”:  Personal idea – Find out who your town, state/province and national government representatives are, and begin to pray for them regularly, as well as for your local church, district, and synodical leadership.

Group idea – Have an “all-women prayer night.” Divide into a number of small prayer circles and spend 10-15 minutes praying for each of these areas. Pray for the world, using recent world and national newspaper headlines. Pray for LB prayer concerns using LBWM Prayer Notes, Home Missions Prayer Letter, and other missionary letters. Pray for local prayer needs. Pray for personal requests.

Partnering idea – “Adopt” a Home Mission church, or sister church in your district and email your prayer requests to each other. Pray for each other at every gathering.

December – Think “service”:  Personal idea – Invite a young mom to leave her children in your care while she shops for their Christmas gifts. Offer to wrap the gifts.

Group idea – Pre-arrange to meet in several homes this month, each with someone to demonstrate her favorite Christmas baking. Bake together, and deliver a batch to someone needy.

Partnering idea – If you are a smaller church, or located in a smaller community, contact a larger one, and combine a shopping trip to the city, with a project to volunteer at a soup kitchen, food pantry or homeless shelter.

Matthew 25:40b: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.”