Last summer I took on the leadership of Women’s Ministry alongside the K5-5th grade ministry with children and their families. Our goal was to move from event planning to intentional disciple-making. Disciple-making means we’re getting into building new and deeper relationships with Jesus and with other disciples of Jesus. Secret Hallelujah Sisters is a new ministry to do just that. SHS started last October completing it’s first season in March.

I prayerfully recruited a young adult woman A to come alongside a high school young lady O to partner as co-leaders. They worked together to come up with the survey of interests to be completed on a registration form. We used our church registration database, set a start date, set an ending month, decided how to get the information out there, and what the parameters would be. As the ministry lead, I took care of the promotion, calendaring, and lovingly coached them through the process. A talked it up at all the areas she served in and was the communication lead through the SHS season. O made sure the high school girls were included and so much more.

Goal of Secret Hallelujah Sister: to create prayerful, intentional, intergenerational relationships with the women of our church family.
Start Date: October 2nd, World Communion Sunday
End Date: March (exact date TBD) Reveal: offsite (place TBD) and bring an item to share for multiple charcuterie boards.

August & September: planning and advertising
SHS pairings this first go-round had A the SHS for B and B the SHS for A to more easily manage any sister who dropped the ball or moved during the season. Only the 2 co-leads knew the SHS pairings. Pairings for high school ladies were with adults to set the table for promoting inter-generational partnerships.
Promotion info:
Want to raise a hallelujah with a sister in Christ?
You are cordially invited to be part of a new ministry: Secret Hallelujah Sisters! Please share with other ladies in your circle of friends before September 18th.
Sign up to secretly pray and encourage another McEachern lady for a 6-month season of Oct-Mar creating delightful, prayerful, intentional, intergenerational relationships with other Christian women.
Signups expire on Sept. 18 to give time for pairings.
Pairings will be available for pickup on Sunday Oct 2.
Secret Hallelujah Sisters is open to all ladies high school age through adult.
Expectations: 
1. Pray regularly for your Secret Hallelujah Sister, and
2. Deliver by mail or on a designated table on campus a SMALL gift/note at least monthly, and
3. Attend a reveal event in March
Sponsored by McEachern Women’s Ministry, led by A & O
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.” Ecclesiastes 4:9

Secret Hallelujah Sister drop-off table – This turned out to be the challenge. A small space already in the church Narthex, but unassigned, served our purposes well and delightfully made the space much more colorful. Table placement encouraged people to come to church since that space was typically locked except on Wednesdays and Sundays. This gave the women two days each week to drop off a note or an item valued less than $5 at least once a month. Every single week the table was filled with colorful packages, plants, and more.

SHS Reveal – We chose a March Sunday afternoon immediately following a youth ministry retreat which took place at the church knowing we’d have a greater likelihood of the busy high school girls attending. Though tired, they came and were so glad they did. The location was the empty parsonage within walking distance of church where a new senior pastor will be moving into this summer with his/her family. Our current pastor is retiring and does not live in the parsonage. One women’s Bible study group cleaned and prayed through the parsonage the week before the event. Part of the reveal event included the SHS praying through the home for the new family to come closing with a congregational prayer. Lovely visuals of women in prayer while laying hands on the doors, washing machine, and counters. The last part of the event was the SHS reveal and was made with scriptures attached to flowers. The women were encouraged to find their partners matching the scriptures and were surprised to discover the pairings.

Last October 67 women chose to be Secret Hallelujah Sisters to one another. Investing 6 months in prayer and expressing the love of Jesus in all the five love languages in quiet service to one another. My greatest delight of the reveal event was the joyful chatter of the women with their now-known SHS. My greatest delight over the SHS season was the multi-generational partnership between the two co-leaders.

We’ve debriefed and the two co-leaders are prayerfully considering who to invite alongside them to coach in the next season come the fall to take on some of the tasks and spread the service opportunities. A & O are chatting it up already for how to set the table for growth and more disciple-making.

“But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:5