When “LC” Means “Lay Care”
27 September 2009
Don C. Warrington
“They don’t care what you know until they know that you care” is the motto of many pastors and evangelism directors, but it also describes well the ministry of Mr. Joey Blake, Local Church Lay Coordinator of the Harvest Temple Church of God in Montgomery, Alabama. Brother Blake is the “Pastor’s Partner” for Pastor Rich Deem, and together they have seen normal Sunday morning attendance double.
Part of this success can be attributed to the new “Care Ministry Team” program which Brother Blake heads up. Started at the beginning of 1998, the program has its Biblical basis in Matthew 25:42-45 and Matthew 28:19-20. Its object is to minister to new people in the church from the time they first step in the door. It accomplishes this with a four part program:
- Greeters
- Ushers
- Visitation
- Altar Workers
The first group of people to swing into action are the greeters. There are about twenty of them; they staff every entrance of the church during the Sunday morning and night services and during Wednesday night as well. Their task is to welcome everyone into the house of the Lord. Brother Blake uses the Lord’s guidance in recruiting the greeters. He wants to make sure that those who are chosen are faithful, and he seeks the approval of the Pastor for every appointment. He also trains them in their task and organizes their rotation schedule to prevent burnout. He began the whole “Care Ministry Team” with the greeters before organizing the rest of the program.
At an appropriate point in the service, the greeters seek visitors, and hand them a packet which includes: a brochure describing the ministry of the church, a tape, a letter from the Pastor, and a visitor’s card. The ushers—who help the visitors find a seat—collect the completed cards and pass them along to the visitation teams.
As with the greeters, there are about twenty people at this time involved with visitation, and Brother Blake provides them with training and organization. Once a visitor’s card is received, the visitor is ministered to with a seven step process:
- A phone call from the Pastor.
- The visitation team visits their home and brings them baked goods.
- A visit from the Pastor.
- For the men, a contact from a LifeBuilders® Men’s Ministry representative.
- For the women, a contact from the Ladies Ministry representative.
- Contacts from the appropriate Sunday School classes.
- An invitation out for a meal.
In this way visitors have no doubt they are wanted by the church.
The altar workers are trained to minister to people at the altar and to help them receive what they are seeking from God.
With such a program in place, visitors (and present members) are not only wanted by the church; they are needed too.
In speaking of the Care Ministry Team program, Brother Blake emphasizes that one of the main benefits is that it involves people in the life of the church, and in doing so, ministers to them. In the past, lay people had the idea that unless they taught Sunday School, sang in the choir, ushered, or served on the Church and Pastor’s Council, there was really nothing for them to do. Now they can get involved in vital ministries of the church, and in doing so, their attitudes–and indeed the attitude of the church in general–change, from a group of spectators to a team of participants.
Brother Blake never forgets that without the Lord behind him, his ministry wouldn’t amount to anything. With the Bible as his guide he depends on Jesus Christ who ultimately saves, calls and equips all of us to the advancement of His kingdom and the salvation of souls.
Why Your Church Needs a LifeBuilders Men’s Ministry
23 July 2009
Ray H. Hughes, Jr.
According to a recent study by George Barna, noted church pollster, most unchurched men believe that church has nothing of value to add to their lives. There simply is not enough return on their investment of time and energy to warrant affiliation with a church.
What are these unchurched men looking for from churches? Barna’s survey of 2,000 unchurched men revealed five things:
- Men are looking for understanding. Those surveyed said they would like a church that helped them understand the Bible in a systematic way rather than from sermons and Sunday school. This bodes well for them to be introduced to a small group Bible study sponsored by the local LifeBuilders Men’s Ministry.
- Men are seeking relationships. Though men find it hard to admit, many of them are lonely. According to Sonderman, author of How to Build a Life-Changing Men’s Ministry, “men like to hang out with men just like them.” They want to feel connected in a non-threatening setting.
- Men want instruction for their children. Strangely enough many unchurched men would like for their kids to have a positive Christian learning experience. In the survey men cited a poor or mediocre church experience growing up as the reason for not sending their children to church. Most fathers are in a constant struggle raising their children and want help from the church; however, if they feel the church experience is not positive or does not seem to work for their children they will not keep them in church.
- Men are seeking solutions. In the struggle to be successful in life, millions of men are suffering from stress. They want to find a church that will help them solve the difficult problems they face on a daily basis. They are more interested in what makes life work than spiritual principles.
- Men want to know God. Although millions of men have given up on organized religion, they still express that they want to know God. They simply do not know how to go about finding Him. Since most of their peers share the same dilemma, they have no one to turn to for answers.
Sharing the Christian faith with skeptical men who reject the Bible as the Word of God, contend that there are no moral absolutes, deny the Resurrection, and do not embrace the basic tenets of the faith, is the enormous challenge we face. What can the church do to reach these millions of unchurched men? They are frustrated with life’s problems, turned off to organized religion, seeking understanding, relationships, and solutions; yet, they refuse to turn to the church for help. We must attempt to recognize the special needs of men in the ’90s and meet them at their point of need. Then and only then can we begin to address those needs and reach them for the Kingdom.
George Barna in a recent article titled “The Battle for the Hearts of Men” offers several suggestions how this might be accomplished:
- Make the atmosphere friendly. Learn to respond properly to male visitors. Guide them into male oriented programs. Men will gravitate to churches where they feel safe and the programs are sensitive to the needs of men.
- Put your beliefs into an understandable context. Often we assume people understand church talk such as “washed in the blood,” “born again,” etc. We should take the extra time to make sure that those who have not grown up in the church are presented the Christian theology in meaningful terms.
- Pray that God will replace our weaknesses with His power. In order to combat the spiritual void among men it will take the zeal and wisdom that only Christ can supply. As believers we must bond together in prayer and face the forces of spiritual darkness.
If your church does not have a LifeBuilders Men’s Ministry this would be a good place to start developing programs to meet the specific needs of men. For those who already have a men’s ministry start the Pastors Prayer Partners program. The time is now to become serious about reaping this vast harvest of millions unchurched men.
Click here for more information on organizing a LifeBuilders Men’s Ministry
Symposium on the Great Commission
4 June 2009
Click on the graphic for more details. We will be posting more information in the coming months.
Laity Ministries Now on Facebook
2 March 2009
Church of God Laity Ministries is now on Facebook! For those of you who are on, you can visit our page, become a fan, and more! Click here to visit our Facebook page.