The Cupcake Connection…Connect Up!
Suggested Décor and Supplies
- Gifts of appreciation and certificates for leaders
- Tablecloths in varied colors
- Dollar store white doilies for each place setting
- Cupcake decorating supplies for each table (frosting, food coloring, cupcake holders, confetti, toppers)
- An unfrosted cupcake for each person
- Decorate smaller tables with the leaders’ photos and titles and set them around the room
- Photo booth supplies
Best Cupcake Theme Challenge
Have each table work together as a team to decorate their cupcakes. Award prizes for each table and declare one table the winner. Possible themes include: unicorns, circus, flowers, patriotic, baby, beach, holidays, ice cream, sports, snowflakes. Invite a guest soloist, or ensemble from the corps to provide background music during the event. Place conversation starter cards at each table.
Welcome (15 minutes)
Welcome to our cupcake party! There are conversation starter cards at each table. Take a minute to chat with one another to get better acquainted. Don’t eat your cupcakes just yet. Connect and enjoy each other’s company.
Cupcake Challenge (10-15 minutes)
Work together as a team to decorate your cupcakes based on the theme assigned to your table. You will have 10 minutes to complete the challenge. When the challenge is over, the judges will come around and look at your creations. There will be an award for best cupcakes at the end of the event.
Recognition of Leaders (15-10 minutes)
This should be handled by both the WM Secretary and the Corps Officer. Call each person to come up individually and present them with their certificates/gifts. Use the following as a guide, but be sure to personalize this recognition, giving specific examples of ways each leader has demonstrated her service to Christ and members of your group.
Membership Chairperson
An important role of women’s ministries is to maintain member information, recruit and engage members, and help them understand and experience the benefits of belonging to this fellowship. You help us stay connected by keeping detailed records of our members and weekly statistics. Thank you for this unique expression of God’s love to the women in our fellowship.
Welcome Committee/Greeters
Another important position in our Women’s Ministries is the head of our Welcoming Committee and our team of greeters. It is vital that the women feel welcome, connected and know that they belong to our group. As the head of this committee, we thank you for organizing the greeters each week. You are intentional in selecting individuals who will create a warm, social atmosphere to promote camaraderie in our fellowship. Greeters, you are the first persons the women see when they enter the building. You offer smiles, words of welcome, handshakes, and hugs. Thank you for your example of hospitality and welcoming attitude of love.
Chaplain
One of the key roles in connecting us together is our chaplain. Thank you for your encouraging and uplifting words in the devotions you have prepared. Thank you for interceding on our behalf, for remembering us in prayer. You help us connect to the Father and to one another. Thank you for your spiritual leadership and sensitivity and for guiding us toward a better understanding of who Christ is.
Sunshine Sergeant
This is a very unique job in maintaining our fellowship. You help our members stay connected by sending cards of encouragement, making phone calls, sending emails, and making in–person visits to those who are not well or who are unable to attend for various reasons. You are our resident prayer-warriors. Thank you for your beautiful testimony of God’s love by sharing that love with others.
Treasurer
A less visible, but no less important role—we say thank you to our Treasurer. Thank you for your service to us by keeping our financial records organized and helping us to be good stewards of God’s funds. You connect us by spurring us on to use our resources to bless and serve others.
Program Chairperson and/or Committee
We would like to say a big thank you to our Program Chairperson/Committee. You have done an amazing job coming up with creative ways to keep us connected, growing and learning. Thank you for your vision and leadership, for helping us address needs through the women’s ministry programs.
Focus Group Leader(s)
(If you have multiple focus groups, call each one individually and be specific to their leadership for their particular group.)
The next leader we would like to recognize has been responsible for the _____ group. She has brought others alongside her to run this group and brought others into women’s ministries through their participation. Thank you for seeing this need and for helping others by your leadership.
Outreach Leader – Evangelism
Thank you for creating special programs to attract women from the community into our corps fellowship. You help women connect and find spiritual comfort, fellowship, and purpose through The Salvation Army.
Hospitality and Food Service Support
We are so blessed to have coffee, tea, and various other refreshments and snacks provided for us each week and for special events like this. A lot of work goes into the set-up, service, and clean up each time we meet. We want to thank our head of hospitality and food service and crew members who help with this important ministry. Thank you for connecting us through hospitality.
Additional: Insert here any other Local Officer positions specific to your corps Women’s Ministries.
Women’s Ministries Secretary
Last but not least, we say thank you to our Women’s Ministries Secretary. You connect us all together by encouraging the growth of our programs. You bring us all together to be unified in our purpose of serving Christ. You help to plan and coordinate events, and you lead us by your example of service. Thank you for your passion for the growth of the women in our corps and community.
Conclusion
Thank you all for your wonderful love and support of Women’s Ministries. We are so grateful for you, our members, who faithfully attend each of our programs as together we bring honor and glory to God.
Prayer of Dedication
Connect Up!
Devotional (10 minutes)
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
Have you watched the Great British Baking Show? This is a television series that features some of the best bakers in the UK. They come together in a tent on the grounds of Welford Park in Berkshire, England and compete for the title of Champion Baker.
Each day they are tasked with completing three baking challenges: The Signature, The Technical, and The Show-stopper Challenge. To say that these bakers are tested is an understatement. The pressure for perfection is very high. If the desired result isn’t reached, it could mean that they are out of the running for “star baker” or worse, sent home and forfeit the title all together. Very few ever receive the coveted “Paul Hollywood Handshake.” It is intense.
All of the bakers (even the champions) have struggled through one or more challenges. They rely on recipes and years of practice. They follow the instructions very carefully. If one or more ingredient is off even a little, it could result in a disastrous bake.
Most of us may have never been a “star baker” except maybe in our homes. But if you’ve ever attempted to bake something, you know there are many steps involved in making a recipe come together to create the perfect bake item, including the correct temperature, careful measuring, the right ingredients and method.
On their own, some ingredients taste sweet, like sugar or vanilla. Others taste bitter like salt or baking chocolate. Still others can even be harmful if eaten raw. But when you put them all together and bake them, they connect and make something incredible. The same is true of our lives. The Bible tells us in Romans 8:28 that God connects all things together for something good. God is our “Master Baker” and He works in us to create something wonderful.
Thanks to Jesus, we don’t have to worry about perfection. His sacrifice on the cross provides us with the perfection needed to complete the recipe. The Holy Spirit guides us through the sweet and the salty ingredients of life and keeps us on track during those “technical challenges.” Following God’s plan doesn’t mean there won’t be any difficulty or pain, but it does mean that we can trust that good will come out of it. Our job is to stay connected to God through Bible study and prayer. We “connect up” to God so that He can connect everything in the recipe of His plan for our lives.
The point to remember is that God is doing the work. The “good” comes as He combines and connects all of the “ingredients” of our lives—the good, the bad, the bitter, and the sweet into one beautiful bake—His perfect will for our lives. Now that is the ultimate handshake—a “Holy Handshake!”
Closing Prayer
Announce the winners of the Cupcake Challenge.
