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Photo courtesy of Girl Talk.
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Girl Talk, a ministry for middle school and high school girls, is expanding into the Birmingham metro area.
The ministry began in Montgomery in 2013, led by Amy Cate, who felt the call to lead Bible studies and write related material during her summer back home from Auburn University.
Cate said the ministry continued to grow over the next six years, with groups picking up in Enterprise, Auburn and Birmingham, and Cate eventually handed off some groups to other leaders.
In 2019, Cate said she felt the Lord was leading her into something bigger for the ministry.
“God really began moving a lot of pieces and making it pretty clear he had something big planned for Girl Talk Ministries. I just wasn’t sure what it was,” Cate said.
Cate reached out to Lindsey Curl, whose daughter attended one of the Montgomery Bible studies, and asked if she had time to catch up.
“As we talked, like I said, I knew God was stirring something in me, but I didn’t know this was it,” Cate said. “Lindsey shared her heart for girls and moms to understand how much Jesus loves them. And she said, ‘Have you ever thought about doing ministry together?’”
Curl said she and her family had just moved from Montgomery to Birmingham and she was looking for opportunities to speak into the lives of young girls she had met through her daughter.
“I really want to be able to help these girls,” Curl said.
Cate was, once upon a time, like many of the girls she now helps. After her father died when she was 11-years-old, she grew up without someone telling her she was loved or valued. She realized she needed a place that would give her a “foundation of truth,” she said.
The goal of Girl Talk is to build communities of girls who love Jesus and want more of him, Cate said. There are now groups in 21 cities, including a Homewood middle school girl’s group that started over the summer, with more coming, she said.
Cate said they have longtime connections and have also made new connections with girls and moms in the areas of Mountain Brook, Hoover, Trussville and Chelsea.
“We are looking forward to how the Lord is going to continue growing and building Christ-centered communities for girls and moms across our city of Birmingham,” Cate said.
In addition to Bible studies and mentoring younger girls, there are fun activities as well. Each summer ends with paint fights, which help bring new girls in.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cate and Curl worked to create a lot of written material, podcasts and more, and the movement continued to grow.
“It’s been really cool just to see what can happen,” Cate said. “Everybody needs community.”
With mothers increasingly scared of the world, Girl Talk helps, Curl said.
The pair are actively writing curriculum for the Bible studies while expanding and adding more groups. The curriculum covers one of nine topics during each fall, spring or summer semester: worship, identity, relationships, fear, joy, purpose and more. Girls go through all nine topics in a three-year period.
“There are middle school and high school groups, and groups will also form in college, with those girls eventually coming back to lead,” Curl said.
Mothers are more than welcome to stay with their girls during the study. Curl said she always encourages girls to go to their moms with any issues they are having and to strengthen that relationship. But in cases where that relationship isn’t strong enough yet, the pair can step in and be a good friend and older mentor, Cate said.
“There is an application process for potential leaders, which includes references and a review by people outside of Girl Talk,” Cate said. “The groups have gone on mission trips together and there is hope that will expand.”
Curl said she has learned the joy of obedience in helping expand Girl Talk.
“When we choose to obey, it does something in us and for others,” Curl said. “Obedience to the Lord has been the biggest blessing.”
Cate said she always wanted a big family. While she never had that and never felt like she had a safe place to be herself, she said she’s now able to create that for other girls. It’s been a joy to see what God does with “one small yes.”
“They feel like Girl Talk is a place to belong,” Cate said.
More information will be posted on the ministry’s website, girltalkministries.info.
