Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions About Churches Planting Ministries

1. What is Churches Planting Ministries?

Churches Planting Ministries is an initiative of the Evangelical Covenant Church designed to renew congregations and communities with ministries of compassion and justice. The vision of Churches Planting Ministries is to see:

. . .every congregation planting ministries of compassion and justice,
. . .every ministry seeking God's transformation for the poor and those at risk,
. . .every congregation finding renewal as it reaches out with the love of Christ.

Check the "Mission" page for more information.

2. Who is Part of This Initiative?

Churches Planting Ministries partners with Covenant Conferences to offer resources to local churches. Five conferences launched their partnership with Churches Planting Ministries at their 2002 conference annual meetings: Central, North Pacific, Northwest, Pacific Southwest, and Southeast. In 2003, two more Covenant Conferences joined the initiative, the East Coast and Great Lakes. Each Conference has a Churches Planting Ministries Coordinator with information on that region's specific work.

Check the "Your Conference" page for more information.

3. How Can Churches Planting Ministries Help Us?

Churches Planting Ministries Conference offer financial grants, process consultants, and educational opportunities to local Covenant Churches who want to start or improve a ministry of compassion or justice designed to reach poor or at risk people in their communities. For example, if your church is just beginning to reach out to its community, you could request that a consultant visit with your church to help process possibilities with you and to bring some additional resources that might help you as you plan. Or, if your church has a viable ministry idea for a new community ministry but lacks the funds, you could apply for a one-time grant. Churches Planting Ministries also collects and distributes resources about specific ministries topics (like youth, urban issues, homelessness, and prison ministry) and about general information like how to get a 501c3, how to handle legal issues when working with kids, or how to set up a leadership board for a community ministry.

Check the "Grant Information" or "Practical Resources" pages for more information.

4. What Types of Ministries are Included?

Churches Planting Ministries focuses especially on ministry with people who are poor or "at risk" - that is, at imminent risk of poverty or other fundamental threat to life and health. Jesus called us to reach out to the least of these, and Churches Planting Ministries is designed to help churches carry out that outreach mission.

5. What are Ministries of Compassion and Justice?

The Churches Planting Ministries initiative is about ministries of compassion - helping hurting people, and of justice - ending what hurts people. A church engaged in compassion ministries might have a food pantry or a neighborhood shelter for women and children fleeing abuse at home, ministries that directly meet needs in a helpful and often short-term manner. That same church might be engaged in justice ministries if they worked to change the systemic issues that create the problem of hunger or of family abuse, for instance. Examples of these justice ministries might be working with city officials or local business owners to increase the minimum wage in the city to a living wage, so that less people needed the food pantry, or might be starting an education program in a nearby high school that teaches what abuse is, why it is wrong, and how to escape the cycle of violence.

6. Who is Eligible for Receiving Grants?

Your church must be an active Evangelical Covenant Church in order to apply and receive grant monies from Churches Planting Ministries. Please contact the Churches Planting Ministries Coordinator in your region or the Churches Planting Ministries national staff if you have questions about the initiative or the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Check the "Your Conference" page for more information.

7. Will This Make Any Real Difference?

By the grace of God, yes! This work is ultimately done through the work of God and the Spirit, enabling and inspiring local congregations to be involved in sustainable, viable ministry with those outside the walls of the church. Covenant Churches are already experiencing renewal as they engage in community ministries across the country. "Our church is an example of how a small, struggling, old downtown church can be revived through serious neighborhood ministry of compassion, justice, and evangelism," says Grant Clay of First Covenant Church in Spokane, WA. "A new member of our church confided that his reason for coming was that he could tell we cared about the community," explains Mary Ann Owens of New Life Covenant Church in Atlanta. "We didn't just go there to bring the gospel, we stayed in the neighborhood!"

8. Why Are We Doing This?

Because Jesus calls us to. We are told in Mark 12:29-31, that "The first [commandment] is, 'Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Because God cares deeply about those who are poor and in great need. The Bible is filled with stories of God's care for the poor, widows, orphans, aliens, strangers, lepers, prisoners, and those who are hungry and in serious need. Today we see these people in the homeless, single mothers without income or on welfare, young people without education or family support, refugees, disabled, victims of domestic abuse, prisoners, and others looked down on by society.

Because giving ourselves to others in ministry is part of our own Christian faith and growth, as individuals and as churches. We find great potential for renewal when we open ourselves to serving and learning from others.

9. How Can I or My Church Get More Involved?

You could talk to others about starting or expanding a ministry in your community. You might want to volunteer with a ministry that is already meeting the needs of the poor to learn more from them and to help out. You could offer your expertise from your profession to the church pro bono, such as legal advice, psychological expertise, etc. Or you could give money or time in prayer or other resources in order to help your church begin or expand a community ministry.

To get involved with the Churches Planting Ministries initiative, look over the website or contact your Conference Coordinator