A Letter for You from our Leadership

Ever had a moment when overthinking made you feel paralyzed — even when you kept moving? We’ve been there, and we just wanted to take a moment to be super transparent with those of you here:

Some of what has kept us back has been good intentions. We’ve stayed away from using the word “discipleship” because some of what we offer requires payment, and we’ve battled how we would respond to any pushback over “charging” for discipleship.

So we’ve used various phrases over the years to describe our community: we’ve called it work wisdom. We’ve called it business training. We’ve called it Christ-centered coaching. None of those are untrue.

But they’re not the best description of what happens here. And none really communicate the main mission of this ministry.

We believe the local church is God’s Plan A for gospel community, and that’s why over and over again, you’ll hear us point you back to your church and elevate the local church. You’ll see us partner with pastors + ministry leaders whenever we can. And we’re up front about our belief that if if you only have time for your local church or she works His way — you should choose your church.

We look at SWHW the same way we look at taking a vitamin — it’s a supplement for optimal health. There are two sides to this analogy, and both are true:

1. It’s not best to take a vitamin on an empty stomach and you cannot be sustained long-term on supplements alone.
2. If you have a deficiency or you’re simply looking to be as healthy as possible, vitamins are extremely beneficial alongside real nutrition.

Over the last month or two, you may have heard us refer to SWHW as a discipleship community for working women, and today, we wanted to take the time to explain why. Although we still expect we may encounter pushback at some point, we are confident of two things:

1. Discipleship is what God has called us to do here.
2. We’re not charging for discipleship; we’re charging for the services required to make discipleship possible (webinar platform, email service, website, etc.)

So if we were to continue holding back from using the word “discipleship” based on our personal convictions God has shown us (full transparency here), that choice would be rooted in people pleasing, not obedience. And that would make this ministry a performance more than a service. And as uncomfortable as making this public is, frankly: disobedience would be worse.

No matter how you’re connected to us, we’re grateful you’re here. If you’re ready to join a discipleship community for working women, our doors remain open for you all the time. No scare tactics. No marketing tricks. Just an open invitation for you whenever God prompts your heart that this would be a valuable place for you.

In Him,
the SWHW leadership team