Be an advocate for their widowed and single parents in your church
You’ve been attending your church for years. But you’ve never really gotten involved much. Your wife does most of the volunteering at your church. You play second base on the church softball team, but that’s about it.
Well, I have great news for you. God loves to use men just like you to move the body of Christ in new directions. One of those directions might possibly be helping your church see its need to minister to their widowed and single parents among you. Those widowed and single parents need someone to plead their cause (Isaiah 1:17). What better way to help your church become more closely conformed to the Word and will of God than to do just that.
“But I’m just a layman,” you may be thinking. “I have no special training or experience and I’ve certainly never done anything like this before. Why should I expect my church to listen to me?”
Educate your church leadership about the widowed and single parents
I can’t guarantee that your church will listen to you. But if you take this step of “pleading the cause” of their widowed and single parents in your church, at least your church leadership will learn about important needs in your church that they may not be meeting and how they can address those needs. Your role is to bring the issue to their attention.
If, as you read this post, you sense that God may be moving in your heart to mention this ministry to your church leadership, here’s what I suggest you do.
- Pray and ask God for guidance, clarity and boldness.
- Review Mobilize Your Men to Meet Pressing Needs in Your Church.
- Make sure you understand the basic men’s team ministry model. You can learn about it by watching the orientation DVD.
- Set up an appointment with your pastor, or relevant staff member, such as your men’s ministry director. (It’s always nice to let your pastor know why you’re meeting so he doesn’t have to wonder for days if you’re upset about something.)
- Meet with your pastor and tell him what you’ve learned about men’s team ministry to the widowed and single parents. Present the idea as an option for your pastor and church to consider, not as something you expect the church to do.)
- Give your pastor the link to watch the DVD.
- Check back with your pastor in a few weeks to see what he thinks.
- If your pastor says he likes the idea, don’t be surprised if he asks you to lead the ministry. If you don’t think you can, tell him you’d like to help by talking with other men in your church about the ministry and seeing if the Lord raises someone up.
- If your pastor says no to the whole idea, don’t be disappointed. Accept his decision as God’s will for your church. And be patient, over time maybe the Lord will have a whole new way of addressing the needs of their widowed and single parents in your church.
By following these simple steps, you might just be the catalyst your church needs so that it can finally say, “There is no needy person among us.”
Imagine that.
This post first appeared at 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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