One of the first questions all churches who are considering doing men’s team ministry for their widowed and single parents ask is how much it costs.
The short answer is very little.
The long answer relates to the three different types of costs a church may incur.
Funding the Startup?
The cost for starting a men’s team ministry can range from nothing to one or two hundred dollars, depending on how the church starts the ministry.
Because New Commandment isn’t a “franchise” ministry, any church is welcome to take the men’s team ministry idea and start the ministry from scratch. Many churches have done exactly that.
If a church wants to use our training material, the best way is to join our training site, Meeting to Meet Needs, for a $1/one week trial period and download our training DVD, workbook and devotional study guide for free. You can make as many copies of the workbook for your men as you want. Just be sure to quit the membership site within a week, or your membership will automatically upgrade to a $14.99/month membership.
If you want to spend more time on the site and utilize all the resources available, you can keep your monthly membership or join as an annual member for $149/year. You can also share your membership with your entire church.
Whatever option you choose, the expense any church incurs when starting a men’s team ministry is extremely low.
Funding the Ongoing Ministry
I know it may be hard to believe, but almost all churches have no ongoing expenses with their men’s team ministry. The ministry is very easy to execute and whatever expenses are incurred are normally handled by individual teams.
Some churches do establish a line item in their budget for men’s team ministry. Normally, these funds are set aside for larger projects or needs when they occur.
Funding Individual Projects
Most projects that teams do around the home of their care receiver cost nothing, such as cleaning or yard work. If there is an expense for smaller projects, usually the care receiver and/or the team covers it.
But sometimes teams encounter larger and more expensive projects. In these situations, our training material encourages team members to “advocate” for their care receiver when the need exceeds their ability to meet it. This process involves contacting relatives of the care receiver, researching charities and government social welfare agencies, and, as a last resort, contacting the church benevolent committee.
As an example, my team set out to replace our care receiver’s backyard fence. We asked the neighbor on the other side of the fence to help out with the cost and he agreed to cover half (and donate some labor!). Then we did one fence section a month, spreading out our costs over time. This made the fence affordable and doable. It also enabled us to get to know the neighbor really well.
When it comes to men’s team ministry, then, financing should never be an obstacle, especially when we consider God’s promise in 2 Corinthians 9:8:
God is able?to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need,?you will abound in every good work.
How about you? What has been your church’s experience with financing your men’s team ministry?
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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Learn how to form teams of men for every widow, single mom
and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.
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