Cultivate Belonging
Developing Leaders & Discipling the Next Generation
Developing Leaders
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Allow us to ask a simple question: who is the leader of Ministry to Women in your corps? If you are able to name a leader (other than yourself), congratulations! Someone has stepped up, and you can invest in her, as she invests in women connected to the corps.
If you are not able to name a leader (other than yourself), here is a challenge for you: Is someone emerging who could possibly, with some encouragement and intentional coaching, take that step into leadership?
Investing in leaders means investing in the future. Belonging goes deep when someone takes on responsibility and thereby ownership. Sometimes this level of belonging is initiated by a woman who steps up and offers to take on a leadership role. Most times, though, it happens when a Corps Officer sees potential in someone and approaches her about opportunities for service.
Have you seen potential in someone?
There is power in connecting potential with opportunity. Whereas training is valuable and needed; for any training to come alive, an actual opportunity to lead is key.
All leaders grow into leadership. Someone believed in us and offered us a place; a place of learning, grace, collaboration, growth and direction.
There is no substitute for what can be learned from other leaders. As you invest in those around you, what are they learning from you? And what are you learning from others?
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It is a territorial goal that every corps has a commissioned or warranted Corps Ministry to Women Secretary by Fall 2027.
The Corps Ministry to Women Secretary is not the only position to fill, but it is a critical one. This position serves as the coordinator, encourager, and spiritual leader (alongside the Corps Officer) for planning with a vision for all Ministry to Women activities and groups at the corps. Spiritual depth and maturity is vital for the Corps Ministry to Women Secretary, as she will help set vision, as well as provide leadership to the wider Ministry to Women team.
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The Ministry to Women Local Officer positions are listed below. Please refer to the document “Corps Ministry – Local Officer Position Descriptions” for further details on these positions.
Corps Ministry to Women Secretary
Assistant Corps Ministry to Women Secretary
Corps Ministry to Women Chaplain
Corps Ministry to Women Recruitment Chairperson
Corps Ministry to Women Treasurer
Corps Ministry to Women Group Leader*
Assistant Corps Ministry to Women Group Leader*
Corps Home League Secretary
Corps Home League Program Chairperson
* Denotes that more than one person can hold this warrant/commission as there may be several groups to be led.
If you would like to propose a leadership position in your corps that is not listed above, please contact your DHQ.
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As you identify your leaders, consider what their strengths are, and how they can best contribute to the whole.
Don Clifton in Strengths Based Leadership says, “Effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and build on each person’s strengths. Yet in most cases, leadership teams are a product of circumstance more than design.”
Rarely do we in our local Corps have the luxury of being able to place an abundance of leaders in positions that match their strengths; but being intentional about the leaders we have, and how we utilize them, can help us build a stronger team.
These four broad domains of leadership strength offer a practical lens for looking at the composition of a team:
Executing (know how to make things happen)
Influencing (can sell the team’s ideas both inside and outside)
Relationship Building (the glue that holds the team together)
Strategic Thinking (focused on what could be, helping to make better decisions)
(Strengths Based Leadership, Don Clifton)
Consider your team for this season of Ministry to Women at your Corps:
Who is already on your team?
Who might be a good addition?
Is someone needed more on another team?
Is anyone positioned to retire?
Is your team balanced? (executing, influencing, relationship building, strategic thinking)
Does your team know and care for one another?
Is your team focused on the mission?
Does your team pray together?
If you do not have a team around you, start now by praying for that first person to come alongside. As part of growing disciples and developing leaders, a spiritual gifts assessment is a powerful tool. Facilitating teaching on spiritual gifts followed by an assessment can be a catalyst for spiritual growth not only in individual lives, but also as the body of Christ.
Discipling the Next Generation
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The future of the Church does not happen by accident. It is formed. It is cultivated. It is intentionally passed on from one generation to the next. If we are not actively raising up the next generation of women, we must be honest about what that means. The spaces we are building today will not continue tomorrow. The impact we long to see will not outlive us. This reality must awaken us to our responsibility; because all around us, there are young women and girls who are searching. Searching for identity. Searching for truth. Searching for belonging. And if the Church is not present in that search, something else will be. The question is not if the next generation is being formed. The question is who is forming them.
This is where we have the opportunity to step in. Not as distant leaders, but as present ones. Not as experts, but as guides. Not as perfect examples, but as faithful ones. This work requires intention, humility, and a willingness to invest in what may not immediately be seen.
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Before we can mentor the next generation, we must first become the kind of women who are prepared to walk with them. Healthy mentorship requires healthy leaders. Not perfect leaders, but leaders who are growing. Leaders who are self-aware. Leaders who are rooted in Christ and committed to their own spiritual and emotional formation. We cannot lead others where we are unwilling to go ourselves. Developing leaders begins with discipleship.
It looks like:
Investing in women who are already showing faithfulness
Creating spaces for spiritual growth, not just service
Encouraging emotional health, not just outward leadership
Teaching women how to listen to God, not just how to lead others
It also requires multiplication. We are not called to do all the ministry ourselves. We are called to raise up others who will carry it forward.
Ask yourself:
Who am I investing in right now?
Who is walking closely enough with me to learn how I lead, how I pray, how I respond?
Am I creating opportunities for others to step into leadership, even if it means releasing control?
Leadership development is not about filling roles. It is about forming people. People who know who they are in Christ. People who are grounded, steady, and equipped. People who are ready to walk alongside others with wisdom and care.
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Can we all simply agree to take the word “program” out of our vernacular when regarding Ministry to Women? If we believe words matter, which we absolutely should, then we understand that subtle changes in language makes big impact because it repositions the heart posture in our approach to ministry.
It is the intentional act of coming alongside a younger woman or girl and saying, “You don’t have to figure this out alone.” The next generation does not desire perfection; they desire steady presence. As transient leadership is a prevalent model in our organization’s ecosystem, faithful intentionality within a mentorship is of high value.
They need women who will:
Show up consistently
Listen without judgment
Speak truth with love
Model what it looks like to follow Jesus in real life
Many young women today are navigating a world that is louder, faster, and more complex than ever before. They are forming their identity in the middle of constant messaging about who they should be, how they should look, and what they should value. And in the middle of all of that, they are asking questions:
Do I matter?
Do I belong?
Is there more than this?
Mentorship creates space for those questions to be met with truth.
That can look like:
Inviting a young woman into your life, not just into an event
Sharing your own story honestly, including your struggles and growth
Helping her understand Scripture and apply it to her life
Encouraging her gifts and calling
Walking with her through both victories and challenges
Discipleship is not about having all the answers. It is about pointing consistently to Jesus.
“Therefore go and make disciples…” Matthew 28:19
This call is not reserved for a few.
It is an invitation for all who follow Him.
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If we want the next generation to belong, we must make room for them now. We must see them, invest in them, and walk with them. And we must be willing to raise up leaders who will do the same. Because the goal is not simply to sustain ministry.
The goal is to see a generation of women who:
Know who they are in Christ
Walk in confidence and truth
Lead with wisdom and compassion
And invite others to belong
This is how the work continues: by intention.