Women's Ministry Icebreaker Questions

Press Next card for one question the whole table can answer before the study starts.

Women's Ministry Icebreaker Questions

Sweet table or savory table: where will we find you?

Read the card out, then go round the table.

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Next step Icebreakers for any Bible study

How it works

These 120 women's ministry icebreaker questions are sorted by the occasions of a year: a brunch or tea table, the first night of a Bible study, a retreat. None asks about marriage, children, age or health.

Read the full guide

Icebreaker questions for women's gathering, by occasion

Brunch or tea table is quick and mostly about food. Retreat, in pairs asks for longer answers. Across the generations holds cards that a twenty-year-old and an eighty-year-old can both answer. Light and funny is for the night the chairs need stacking.

Get to know you questions for a women's ministry table

Getting to know you suits women who met tonight: Which path, street or trail do you walk most? The cards that begin with a woman of the Bible tell her story first, so nobody needs to know it: Paul called Phoebe "a helper of many." Who has been that for you?

  • The list under the tool names the chapter behind each Bible card.
  • No card asks for a testimony, so a first-time visitor can answer any of them.

Questions and answers

What are good icebreaker questions for a women's ministry event?

Ones every woman at the table can answer in a sentence: Which recipe do you know by heart? What is tucked between the pages of your Bible? Which story do you get asked to tell again?

Which women of the Bible are in the deck?

Ruth and Naomi, Miriam, Deborah, Abigail, Esther, Mary and Martha, Lydia, Priscilla, Phoebe, Huldah and more. Each card tells her story in a line and then asks about you. Every reference was read in the World English Bible at ebible.org.

Which questions are left out?

Anything about marriage, children, age, health or how someone came to faith. No card asks for a testimony or a confession, so a visitor and a lifelong member answer on equal terms.

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All 120 questions

Brunch or tea table 20

  • A widow's jar of meal and jar of oil never ran out. What is always in your pantry? 1 Kings 17:12-16. The widow has a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil; the jar of meal does not run out and the jar of oil does not fail.
  • Abigail loaded two hundred loaves in a hurry. What can you get on a table fast? 1 Samuel 25:18. Abigail hurries and takes two hundred loaves of bread, with parched grain, raisins and fig cakes among the rest, and lays them on donkeys.
  • Esther invited the king to a banquet she had prepared. What do you cook to impress? Esther 5:4. Esther asks the king and Haman to come to the banquet that she has prepared.
  • Flowers, candles or whatever was growing in the yard: what is your centerpiece?
  • In Esther, people send presents of food to one another. What would you send next door? Esther 9:19 and 9:22. The days are kept with feasting and gladness and with sending presents of food to one another.
  • Lemon, honey, milk or plain?
  • Lydia urged her guests, "Come into my house and stay." What makes a guest feel at home? Acts 16:15. Lydia begs Paul and his companions to come into her house and stay, and she persuades them.
  • Miriam picked up a tambourine and the women danced. What song gets you moving? Exodus 15:20. Miriam takes a tambourine in her hand, and all the women go out after her with tambourines and dances.
  • Scone, muffin or cinnamon roll?
  • Sweet table or savory table: where will we find you?
  • What do you always run out of when company comes?
  • What do you put on a table to make it feel special?
  • What is in your cup this morning?
  • What was the last thing you baked?
  • What would you name a tea blend made just for this group?
  • Which dish do you always hope someone else brings?
  • Which dish on this table would you ask the recipe for?
  • Which end of the brunch table do you start at?
  • Which recipe do you know by heart?
  • Who was the first to greet you when you walked in?

First night of a Bible study 20

  • Do you settle on the sofa, a hard chair or the floor?
  • "For such a time as this," Esther was told. What are you well placed to do right now? Esther 4:14. Mordecai's message to Esther: who knows if you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
  • How did you hear about this group?
  • In a group, are you a question asker or a quiet thinker?
  • Luke names Joanna, Susanna "and many others" who served. Who serves unseen here? Luke 8:2-3. Mary called Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna and many others serve from their possessions.
  • Martha served while Mary sat and listened. Which one are you at a party? Luke 10:38-40. Martha receives Jesus into her house; her sister Mary sits at his feet and hears his word, and Martha is distracted with much serving.
  • Morning study or evening study: when is your mind awake?
  • Pen, pencil or highlighter: how do you mark a page?
  • People came to Deborah under her palm tree for judgment. Where do you think best? Judges 4:4-5. Deborah, a prophetess, judges Israel; she lives under Deborah's palm tree, and the children of Israel come up to her for judgment.
  • Ruth told Naomi, "Where you go, I will go." Who would you follow to a new town? Ruth 1:16. Ruth will not leave Naomi: where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay.
  • What do you hope to know by the last week that you do not know tonight?
  • What is one thing you hope this group laughs about?
  • What is tucked between the pages of your Bible?
  • What should we write on your name tag?
  • What tipped you into signing up for this study?
  • What went right on the way here tonight?
  • Which chair in your house is the reading chair?
  • Which snack makes a study better?
  • Which subject would you gladly take an eight-week class on?
  • Which woman of the Bible would you like to have tea with?

Retreat, in pairs 20

  • A widow in a parable kept coming until the judge listened. What are you persistent about? Luke 18:3-5. A widow often comes to a judge, and because she bothers him he decides to defend her.
  • Describe a walk you remember well.
  • Five sisters stood before Moses and asked for what was fair. When did you speak up? Numbers 27:1-7. The daughters of Zelophehad (Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah) stand before Moses and ask for a possession, and they are told that they speak right.
  • Mary's song begins, "My soul magnifies the Lord." What would your song's first line be? Luke 1:46-47. Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
  • Proverbs 31 says she "laughs at the time to come." What are you looking forward to? Proverbs 31:25. Strength and dignity are her clothing. She laughs at the time to come.
  • Sunrise or sunset: which would you get up or stay up for this weekend?
  • Tell your partner about a place where you feel most at rest.
  • Tell your partner about a time a stranger was kind to you.
  • What did you make this year that you are glad about?
  • What did you pack that you did not need, and what did you forget?
  • What do you do most days that steadies you?
  • What do you hope to leave behind this weekend, and what do you hope to take home?
  • What is something you are learning slowly?
  • What question do you wish someone would ask you this weekend?
  • What would you do here if the schedule were suddenly empty until supper?
  • When were you last somewhere with no clock in sight, and how did it feel?
  • Where on these grounds would you put a chair, and what would you do in it?
  • Which book, talk or song has stayed with you this year?
  • Which part of your week would you like someone to ask about?
  • Who has encouraged you this year, and what did they say?

Across the generations 20

  • A card, a recipe or a note: which handwritten thing do you keep?
  • A phone call, a text or a card in the mail: which do you like to get?
  • Five men went to Huldah the prophetess for a word. Who do you go to for wise words? 2 Kings 22:14. Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan and Asaiah go to Huldah the prophetess, who lives in Jerusalem, and talk with her.
  • Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months. Whose house feels like a second home? Luke 1:39-40 and 1:56. Mary goes with haste into the hill country and greets Elizabeth, and she stays with her about three months.
  • Paul called Phoebe "a helper of many." Who has been that for you? Romans 16:1-2. Paul commends Phoebe, a servant of the assembly at Cenchreae, and says that she has been a helper of many.
  • Priscilla and Aquila took Apollos aside to explain. Who taught you gently, in private? Acts 18:26. When Priscilla and Aquila hear Apollos, they take him aside and explain the way of God more accurately.
  • What did you once do by hand that a machine now does for you?
  • What do you admire in the person sitting on your left?
  • What do you do the old-fashioned way on purpose?
  • What have you lately asked someone younger to show you?
  • What should every home have?
  • Which game could you play with anyone, whatever their age?
  • Which job do you refuse to rush?
  • Which outing should go on this group's calendar for next spring?
  • Which saying of an older woman do you now catch yourself repeating?
  • Which skill would you happily teach anyone at this table?
  • Which skill would you like someone here to teach you?
  • Which story do you get asked to tell again?
  • Which word or saying of yours makes other people smile?
  • With whom in this room would you like to trade a recipe, a book or a skill?

Getting to know you 20

  • A woman in Shunem furnished a guest room: bed, table, chair, lamp. What would you add? 2 Kings 4:8-10. A woman of Shunem plans a little room on the roof for Elisha, with a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp stand.
  • Garden, kitchen, workshop or desk: where are you happiest?
  • How do you like to spend twenty free minutes?
  • In Exodus, wise-hearted women brought what they had spun. What did you last make by hand? Exodus 35:25. All the women who were wise-hearted spun with their hands, and brought that which they had spun.
  • Mountains, a lake or a city street for a day out?
  • Rachel kept her father's sheep. Which animal would you gladly look after? Genesis 29:9. Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she kept them.
  • Recipe follower or pinch-of-this cook?
  • What are you the one to call about?
  • What do you collect, even by accident?
  • What grows on your windowsill or by your front step?
  • What have you always meant to learn to make?
  • What is your idea of a perfect afternoon?
  • Which flower would you choose for the table?
  • Which hobby would you take up tomorrow if you had the supplies?
  • Which of your interests would this group never guess?
  • Which path, street or trail do you walk most?
  • Which place nearby do you love to show visitors?
  • Which radio station, podcast or playlist keeps you company?
  • The woman in Proverbs 31 goes looking for wool and flax. What do you love to shop for? Proverbs 31:13. She seeks wool and flax, and works eagerly with her hands.
  • The woman in Proverbs 31 rises while it is still night. Early bird or night owl? Proverbs 31:15. She rises also while it is yet night.

Light and funny 20

  • A woman in a parable hid yeast in three measures of meal. What do you bake from scratch? Matthew 13:33. The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened.
  • Folding chairs: carry two at a time or supervise?
  • The neighbor women named Ruth's baby. Who gave you a nickname that stuck? Ruth 4:13 and 4:17. Ruth bears a son, and the women, her neighbors, give him a name; they name him Obed.
  • Sarah said, "God has made me laugh." What made you laugh out loud this week? Genesis 21:6. Sarah said, God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.
  • What do you write down when the sign-up sheet comes round?
  • What is the most ambitious thing you ever brought to a bake sale?
  • What is the worst craft project you ever attempted?
  • What is your secret talent that has no use at all?
  • What should this group's team name be at a trivia night?
  • What turns you competitive fastest: a quiz, a bake-off or a parking spot?
  • What would the title of your cookbook be?
  • What would we find at the very bottom of your tote?
  • What would your entry be in a talent show tonight?
  • Where does your name tag end up by the end of the night?
  • Which committee would you start just for fun?
  • Which household job do you do only when company is coming?
  • Which hymn or chorus do you hum while you do the dishes?
  • Which of your recipes would you enter in a contest without blinking?
  • Whose name is on the dish you still need to return?
  • The woman in Proverbs 31 is not afraid of snow. What is your snow day plan? Proverbs 31:21. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet.