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Women's Ministry Charter

MAYFLOWER CHURCH

Women's Ministry Leadership Team Charter

Streamline System 06 — Team Charters

DRAFT for consideration by the Servants Council at its meeting on July 11, 2026. Not yet ratified. Upon ratification this becomes a standing charter, reviewed at each August Leadership Summit and re-ratified on material change.

Governing Principle

We disciple the women of the church in the Word, in friendship, and in care.

The women of Mayflower grow as the whole church grows: under the Word, alongside one another, and held in care. This team leads that work and raises up the women who carry it. The aim is women who are formed in Scripture and known by name.

1. Oversight (the home)

Overseeing board: Elders. [The oversight map places this team under elder discipleship oversight as a recommendation; confirm with the elders.] Day-to-day point person: Senior Pastor. Every team has a home; this team works first with the elders.

2. Purpose

This team exists to disciple the women of the church through Bible study, fellowship, and care, led by a women's leadership team. It serves the formation of the women of Mayflower: that they are grounded in Scripture, joined to one another in genuine friendship, and held in care through the seasons of life. Its concern is not a calendar of events but the spiritual growth of women in the body.

3. Priority-ministry link

This team serves Disciple-Making Pathways (System 01). It carries the discipleship of the women of the church within the church's wider work of forming believers.

4. The Commission

The elders commission this team to disciple the women of the church through Bible study, fellowship, and care, led by a women's leadership team. The work has a steady scale through the year. First, study: convene women's Bible study so that the women of the church are formed under Scripture on a regular rhythm. Second, gather: create occasions for genuine fellowship and friendship among the women of the body. Third, care: attend to needs that arise among women and surface them to the elders and the church's care. Fourth, lead: a leadership team carries this work together and raises up other women to share it, so the ministry does not rest on one. The measure is women formed in the Word and known to one another, not a full event calendar.

5. In scope / Out of scope

In scope:

  • Convening women's Bible study on a regular rhythm through the year.
  • Creating occasions for fellowship and friendship among the women of the church.
  • Attending to needs among women and surfacing them to the elders and the church's care.
  • Raising up and mentoring women to share the leadership of this work.

Out of scope:

  • The ongoing Bible Fellowship Groups, including women's groups. Those are the Bible Fellowship Groups' charge (see Coordination); this team coordinates with the BFG ministry rather than running a parallel group network.
  • The structured discipleship cohorts and curriculum. Those belong to EQUIP Discipleship, whose pathways this team points women toward.
  • Formal counseling and care that exceeds what the team can carry. Those bridge to the elders and biblical counseling.
  • Treating the count of events or attendance as the measure. The measure is women growing in the Word and known in the body.

6. Scale

Shape: a women's leadership team that leads the work together, expanding through the women it raises to carry studies, gatherings, and care, drawing commitment categories from the Volunteer Chapter (System 06). The team mobilizes other women rather than leaning on one or two. Leadership is one appointed Women's Ministry Leadership Team Leader (System 07).

7. Key responsibilities

  • Convene women's Bible study on a regular rhythm.
  • Plan occasions for fellowship and friendship among the women of the church.
  • Attend to needs among women and surface them to the elders and the church's care.
  • Raise up and mentor women to share the leadership of the work.
  • Point women toward the church's wider discipleship pathways and groups.
  • Communicate plans, encouragements, and needs to the elders.

8. Coordination

  • Bible Fellowship Groups (Elders): clean boundary. Women's groups belong to the BFG ministry; this team coordinates with it and points women into groups rather than running a parallel network of its own.
  • EQUIP Discipleship (Elders): this team points women toward the structured discipleship cohorts and pathways EQUIP carries.
  • The elders and biblical counseling: care needs among women that exceed the team are surfaced and bridged here.

9. Resources

Budget line: [no budget line is specifically named for this team in the source; confirm whether women's ministry draws on a discipleship line administered by the Elder Chair, or is funded per event.] Facilities needs for studies and gatherings are coordinated with the Trustees. Scheduling and registrations run through Planning Center.

10. Health indicators

Faithfulness-shaped signs the team is alive, not an event or attendance scoreboard. The year's specific targets live in the System 11 annual goals, set with the elders each August.

  • Women's Bible study is running on a steady rhythm and handling the Word well.
  • Women report genuine friendship and being known within the body.
  • Needs among women are noticed and brought into the church's care, not left unseen.
  • A widening group of women is being raised to share the leadership of the work.
  • Women are being pointed into the church's wider groups and discipleship pathways, not held in a silo.

11. Review and approval

Standing charter, reviewed annually at the August Leadership Summit. Re-ratified by the Servants Council on material change. Escalation beyond the team's or elders' authority follows the Decision-Making Framework (System 09). Leadership succession follows the Leadership Handoff Guidelines (System 12). Review note: the oversight map places this team under elder discipleship oversight as a recommendation; confirm the home board with the elders at ratification.

Commissioned by: Elder Chair ____________________________ Date __________

Ratified into the operations documentation by: Servants Council ____________________________ Date __________

Sources

  • Mayflower Church Constitution and Bylaws, Art. II §B 1.c.2 (board oversight of ministry); Art. II §B 4.c.7 (Servants Council receives and approves Ministry Team charters).
  • Streamline System 01 — The Five Priority Ministries We Guard (Disciple-Making Pathways).
  • Streamline System 06 — Team-to-Board Oversight Map (women's ministry placed under elder discipleship oversight as a recommendation); Volunteer Chapter.
  • Streamline System 07 — Role Clarity, "31 — Women's Ministry Leadership Team Leader."
  • Streamline System 09 — Decision-Making Framework; System 11 — Annual Goals; System 12 — Leadership Handoff Guidelines.
  • Bible Fellowship Groups Charter and EQUIP Discipleship Charter (sibling forms for parallelism); Team Charter Standard, this folder.
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