I would highly recommend reading this blog from TGC entitled Finding a Better Way for Mercy Ministry. I’ll do my best to sum up the article. Churches doing mercy ministry tend to lean toward one of two directions: programmatically or organically:
In the first category, which I’ll call “programmed ministry,” churches build a mercy ministry into their institutional life. They will fine-tune their budgets, staff, and vision statements to make sure that the ministry is integral to who they are as a church.
In the second category, which I’ll call “organic ministry,” the church simply leaves responsibility for mercy ministry in the members’ hands.
The first category wires mercy ministry into the institutional church; the second leaves it to individual Christians. While both of these approaches may be appropriate in different situations, both can at times fall short.
The article then goes on to draw out the pros and cons of each approach but culminates in offering up a third way, a responsive or free market
approach:
Therefore, it’s worth considering a third level of support, which I’ll term “responsive ministry.”
In this model, we lead with the preaching of the Word, including commands like “love your neighbor.” Then as church leaders we watch to see where that Word is taking root and flowering into action, and we respond by using church resources to support the most strategic pieces of that work. Resources could include:
- budget dollars;
- coordination of volunteer resources through a weekly prayer meeting or online bulletin board;
- highlighting member initiatives in sermon application;
- creating a deacon position to facilitate that work.
If interest wanes and members determine that a different initiative or ministry would bear greater fruit, the church may slowly reallocate its resources in response.
Although the article deals with mercy ministry, all of it can pertain to evangelism/outreach and particularly sports outreach. In fact, I offered up a similar idea regarding sports ministry over a year ago. This “free market” system may not work at every church engaged in sports ministry but I would encourage you to mull it over. I believe the sports ministry world could benefit from being less programmatic and more organic/free-market oriented.
