Are you a ministry leader trying to plan and reach people for Christ with a low or no budget? Money drives everything...except the Gospel (Luke 16:13). God is fully capable of using you to reach others for His Kingdom without a dollar.
Don't ever say, "If only we had more money, we could ________." The deception of money is that it always makes you believe you need more of it. Jesus warned us to guard ourselves about thinking this way (Luke 12:15).
Here are 4 proven ways for you to run a ministry/class/church/mission on little to no funds:
1). Do not fundraise people to death. I hate fundraisers. I would ban them if I could. If I was a public school principle, I would run a fundraiser a week...but in a church they hurt. You can only draw so much water from a well. Fundraisers give the impression you only want money and they take from people's weekly tithe. Also, if you have a fundraiser a month or more, people will start complaining, or worse - they'll quit attending.
If you do have a fundraiser, go outside the church. Even non-church attenders will support a good cause.
2). Piggyback on church events. For example, if your church is about to hold a churchwide BBQ, have your middle schoolers play a kickball game afterwards. Teenagers eat lunch in 5 minutes, then they're bored - go outside as a class and have a 4 square tournament.
Make a mission out of the leftover BBQ. Instead of everyone taking home the extras - your men's ministry can deliver plates to people in need. Everyone loves a free hot meal.
3). Carpool to other church concerts/revivals/conferences. If the Baptist church 8 miles up the road is having a free youth conference - you need to be there with a carload of teenagers. You can enjoy all the benefits of the conference, while planning none of it.
Sunday nights are frequently used for concerts - your senior adult Sunday School class should hear the Gospel quartet down the road. Church leaders must move beyond their insecurity of members attending other churches. You don't own people, Jesus does.
4). Play team sports on the county's facilities. I'm fortunate to live in a county that offers multiple team sports. First Baptist Moreland plays men's softball, women's softball, coed softball, youth softball, coed volleyball, and youth basketball - and not a single sport is on our church's campus. We don't even have a gym.
Team sports allow numerous people to play and cheer at the games. This can also be an outreach - if someone wants to join your team, they must attend church. There is a cost for registration and jerseys. Look for a local business to pay for the jerseys if they can advertise their company on the back. We use the same jersey for every sport, every year. Its nice using county facilities - no set-up, no clean-up, and no power bill.
Don't ever say, "If only we had more money, we could ________." The deception of money is that it always makes you believe you need more of it. Jesus warned us to guard ourselves about thinking this way (Luke 12:15).
Here are 4 proven ways for you to run a ministry/class/church/mission on little to no funds:
1). Do not fundraise people to death. I hate fundraisers. I would ban them if I could. If I was a public school principle, I would run a fundraiser a week...but in a church they hurt. You can only draw so much water from a well. Fundraisers give the impression you only want money and they take from people's weekly tithe. Also, if you have a fundraiser a month or more, people will start complaining, or worse - they'll quit attending.
If you do have a fundraiser, go outside the church. Even non-church attenders will support a good cause.
2). Piggyback on church events. For example, if your church is about to hold a churchwide BBQ, have your middle schoolers play a kickball game afterwards. Teenagers eat lunch in 5 minutes, then they're bored - go outside as a class and have a 4 square tournament.
Make a mission out of the leftover BBQ. Instead of everyone taking home the extras - your men's ministry can deliver plates to people in need. Everyone loves a free hot meal.
3). Carpool to other church concerts/revivals/conferences. If the Baptist church 8 miles up the road is having a free youth conference - you need to be there with a carload of teenagers. You can enjoy all the benefits of the conference, while planning none of it.
Sunday nights are frequently used for concerts - your senior adult Sunday School class should hear the Gospel quartet down the road. Church leaders must move beyond their insecurity of members attending other churches. You don't own people, Jesus does.
4). Play team sports on the county's facilities. I'm fortunate to live in a county that offers multiple team sports. First Baptist Moreland plays men's softball, women's softball, coed softball, youth softball, coed volleyball, and youth basketball - and not a single sport is on our church's campus. We don't even have a gym.
Team sports allow numerous people to play and cheer at the games. This can also be an outreach - if someone wants to join your team, they must attend church. There is a cost for registration and jerseys. Look for a local business to pay for the jerseys if they can advertise their company on the back. We use the same jersey for every sport, every year. Its nice using county facilities - no set-up, no clean-up, and no power bill.
RSS Feed