Men's team ministry is like a beautiful vine climbing a trellis. It will take you in many directions if you let it.
These are the questions pastors, elders, men's ministry leaders, and church members ask us most often after learning about men's team ministry to widows, single moms, and fatherless children.
That depends on how many floors the "elevator" is going to!
But briefly, New Commandment Men's Ministries helps churches recruit, train, organize, and deploy teams of four men who adopt and serve widows, single moms, fatherless children and others with long-term pressing needs in their churches and communities.
The men donate three hours one Saturday morning each month. They all meet at 7:00 am at their church for a devotional and for last-minute planning. Then they split up into their teams and go out to serve their care receiver for two hours. They do whatever their care receiver needs to have done around her home. Then the team returns each month to the same care receiver for years-long relational ministry.
Yes, some churches have ministries that focus on widows.
For example, a church may have deacons who serve their widows, as we see in Acts 6:1-6. But the Bible also teaches that ministry to widows is everyone's responsibility, as we see in Acts 2:44, 45; 4:32; 20:35 (Where Paul is speaking to elders, not deacons); Romans 12:13; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Galatians 6:10; Philippians 2:4; Titus 3:14; 1 John 3:16-18; etc.)
Some churches may do project ministries for their widows. They create a list of people who have skills in certain areas, such as carpentry, plumbing, and electricity. They then send out volunteers whenever someone in their church has that particular need. But New Commandment, while having an emphasis on completing projects for care receivers, also focuses on long term, relational ministry between the care receiver and their team, not just doing one-off projects for them.
Some churches may utilize a parachurch ministry called Stephen Ministry to serve people going through traumatic circumstances. But while Stephen Ministry is an excellent ministry, its focus is different from New Commandment Men's Ministries' focus. Stephen Ministry's focus is on one-to-one emotional and spiritual care for people experiencing crises such as grief, divorce, illness, job loss, or major life transitions, while New Commandment Men's Ministries' focus is long-term practical, social, spiritual, and relational support for widows, single moms, fatherless children, and others with ongoing pressing needs that may last for years. (Titus 3:14)
Churches of many sizes and denominations have organized men's team ministries using New Commandment's free training. Here are just a few examples: (Note how some of these churches incorporate their men's team ministry into other aspects of their men's ministry.)
Don't see a church like yours? Keep in mind that the principles are biblical rather than denominational, allowing each church to adapt the ministry to its own leadership and traditions.
Nothing. Through the generosity of our donors, we can provide all training material free of charge. And we will never upsell you.
Churches can start this ministry at their own pace. Because we are assuming in our training that a layperson with no experience is starting the ministry, we have made a schedule of six months and encourage the layman to take his time and read/veiw the material slowly. Church staff or laymen with leadership experience can easily cut that schedule down to two or three months, and maybe even six weeks.
New Commandment Men's Ministries is a consulting ministry, not a franchise ministry.
New Commandment simply provides a men's team ministry model that has been successfully field tested for many years under many different circumstances in hundreds of churches worldwide.
Churches are welcome to modify this model according to their own needs. Churches can also name their men's team ministry anything they want.
It's not. Or, at least it does not have to be. We have organized the training so any layman can start and lead this ministry in his church. Rather than being one more responsibility in your already overloaded scheduled, this ministry will make your congregational care load much easier.
New Commandment Men's Ministries is first and foremost a ministry to men, and only then a ministry through men. New Commandment teaches men what it means to practice the love of Christ and then it gives them a practical way to express it. As such, New Commandment fills a gap in men's ministry by showing men how to meet critical needs in their congregation and community.
We have used only men on teams for over two decades now and it has worked well for several reasons.
Men's team ministry suits men particularly well. Men tend to be task-oriented and relate well with each other while doing things together.
It also seems more appropriate to have just men in teams, since they will be spending a lot of time together over the months and years.
Some churches have weak men's ministries, if they have one at all. New Commandment Men's Ministries provides a simple way to start a men's ministry in a church, or provide an already existing men's ministry with more focus and purpose.
Of course, a church is welcome to form their teams any way they want.
Two. So long they both go to their care receiver's home together and never go alone. By serving the neediest person in your church on a regular basis (once a month is what we recommend), they can be an example to the entire church.
The goal of men's team ministry is to provide consistent and long-term care that lasts for years, if necessary. Teams of four men ensure consistency, because generally, only 3 men show up on any given service day (due to illness, vacations, family responsibilities, etc.). Teams of four men also ensure longevity, because there will always eventually be attition due to death, moving away, and other reasons. When someone leaves a team, there are still three men on the team and it can continue functioning until the ministry leadership finds another volunteer to take the absentee team member's place.
This is covered very thoroughly in the training, but briefly, the men's team ministry ledership should work with their pastoral staff in determining who should receive this kind of care. And potential care receivers should not be contacted until you know how many teams you have.
No, the ministry can include anyone with a long-term pressing need, such as widowers, single dads, people with disabilities, etc. But demographically speaking, most care receivers wind up being adult females.
New Commandment Men's Ministries deals with these concerns at length in its training.
But briefly, we address accountability by asking churches to require team members to only go to their care receiver's home as part of their team, never by themselves. We also ask churches to do background checks on all team members.
New Commandment also dedicates a section in its training to safety.
With regard to liability, we ask churches to discuss this with their insurance agency. Most churches have insurance that covers them for offsite church activities, like transporting children to summer camp.
No. New Commandment Men's Ministries will do just the opposite. You will see a renewed energy and zeal for all types of work in the church.
Men's team ministry refreshes and infuses a church with love and joy. As a result, men want to do more for the Lord, not less. Care receivers often respond by asking what they can do for the church as well.
Scripture tells us to emphasize needy people within the church first, followed by those outside the church.
"Let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10)
Having focused first on those in your church, you will find that over time there will be many opportunities to take men's team ministry to people in your community as well. After all, what widow or single mom wouldn't want their own dedicated team serving them every month?
New Commandment Men's Ministries provides alternate models that will fit any size church, large or small.
Contact Herb Reese directly by email (herbreese@newcommandment.org) and he will give you some suggestions.
More questions? Email Herb Reese at herbreese@newcommandment.org.
