Mobilizing Laity in Ministry

Goal: The objective of this consulting relationship is to guide local church leaders in developing an effective system to train and deploy lay members in an appropriate and productive ministry through their church.

Process: Prior to the first on-site visit, the pastor is responsible for recruiting a team of 5 - 7 people who are willing to serve on a task force that will be responsible for overseeing the planning and implementing the lay ministry strategy in the church.

The process of building an effective lay ministry strategy which results in a large number of members actively involved in using their spiritual gifts requires a systematic approach of addressing appropriate steps in the appropriate sequence. The consultant is on-site with the sponsoring church four times over the course of this relationships. The focus of each visit is listed below:

Visit #1 (one day)

• Developing a Theology and Philosophy of Lay Ministry
• Inventorying Available Roles and Tasks
• Evaluating Current Lay Involvement and Satisfaction Levels

Visit #2 (one day; 4 - 6 months following first visit)

• Communicating a Theology and Philosophy of Ministry to Laity
• Categorizing Church Roles by Spiritual Gifts
• Setting Measurable Lay Ministry Goals

Visit #3 (one day; 4 - 6 months following second visit)

• Identifying Members’ Spiritual Gifts
• Creating Job Descriptions for Existing Roles & Tasks
• Recruiting and Training a Director of Lay Ministry

Visit #4 (one day; 4 - 6 months following third visit)

• Identifying Members’ Spiritual Gifts (cont.)
• Developing a New Member Placement System
• Creating New Roles and Eliminating Old Roles
• Computerizing the Lay Ministry System

The normal length of time between on-site consultant visits is six months. Dates and times are flexible depending on church goals, current status of the Lay Ministry process in the sponsoring church, speed with which assignments are completed, and calendar requirements.

Each consultant visit includes presentation of research and proven guidelines for mobilizing laity in ministry, as well as individual assessment of the sponsoring church’s particular situation.

A component of all "Special Topic Consultations" is free telephone consultation for one year surround the visit/s.

Cost: This Special Topic Consultation for developing a Lay Ministry Deployment System is available only as a package of four (4) on-site consultations. Total cost is $2100, plus travel & accommodations for one person from Los Angeles, California.