Making the Church a Safe Place for Hurting Women - Part 2
Ann Marie Goudzwaard
For too long women, rather than feel safe, women often feel shame in their local churches, so much so that they will not ask the leadership for help. The idea of speaking about her personal needs and hurts to any man, let alone being in a room alone with a group of men fills her with fear. This conversation with Ann Maree Goudzwaard, Sharon Betters and Jane Anne Wilson fills us with great hope as we learn about a Shepherdess ministry designed to not only create a safe place for women in crisis but also act as a preventative balm. This ministry is a picture of the spiritual mothering described in Titus 2. Older women are trained to come alongside a hurting woman, learning how to speak “woman” to the pastoral leadership when the hurting woman cannot speak for herself. Ann Maree describes the responsibilities of a Shepherdess and how this ministry changes the atmosphere of a local church as women – and their friends – discover the church is a safe place. And the bonus – older women realize they have much to share from their own life journeys and Scripture.
HelpHer – a Churchwide Response for Women in Crisis. This conversation acts as salty peanuts – we hope you want more! To satisfy your craving for more information, check out the following links. Not only is the book packed with practical information on how to start this ministry but there are also training videos.
Biography of Ann Marie Goudzwaard
Ann Maree is the project manager for the training series Help[H]er :A Churchwide Response for Women in Crisis, based on the book she co-authored (CDM, 2020). She has served as project manager and contributor for multiple biblical counseling training resources including the Institute for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship’s Domestic Abuse Observation Series and for its joint project with Shepherd Press, Intro to Messy Care & Discipleship. In addition, she has trained counselors at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte and PeaceWorks University and blogs regularly for enCourage and the Biblical Counseling Coalition.
