Presenting DivorceCare to your church leaders:
The 30-minute appointment
Here are a few tips on how to make a request to begin DivorceCare at your church.
Schedule a 30-minute appointment
This is key. Otherwise, you’ll ambush your pastor with information he may not be ready to process. Plus, during an impromptu meeting, you’ll likely feel rushed and forget to make key points.
During the meeting
Here’s what you’ll want to communicate during your meeting.
Explain what DivorceCare is
If your church leadership isn’t clear about what DivorceCare is, they probably won’t give you a green light. So communicate that:
- DivorceCare is a Christ-centered, video-based ministry. It helps divorced and separated people.
- DivorceCare is designed to reach and help people inside, and outside, the host church.
- DivorceCare does not encourage divorce. It helps those who’ve been hurt by it, encouraging reconciliation whenever possible.
Explain what DivorceCare consistently does
- DivorceCare helps churches grow. This is due to the fact that DivorceCare draws people from outside of the host church. These “guests” often join the host church.
- DivorceCare introduces people to Christ. About half the people who attend a typical DivorceCare group don’t have an active spiritual life and are not followers of Christ.
- DivorceCare empowers your church to minister to multiple divorced and separated people simultaneously.
- DivorceCare leads to healing and, at times, the restoration of marriages.
Explain why you want to begin this ministry at your church
- Share why you have a passion for this ministry, and what you think could happen if your church supports it. Be sure to articulate your vision and commitment. Church leaders need to know that you will be around to follow through and build the ministry.
Share your plan
- Explain that you’d like to form a team to lead DivorceCare at your church.
- Let your pastor know what you think your role will be on the team, the number of other people you’ll need and what you envision their responsibilities to be (a person for publicity, someone to be a greeter, a person to possibly co-facilitate the group with you, etc.).
- Give your pastor a proposed budget for running DivorceCare at your church. Remember that DivorceCare participants typically pay for the workbooks, so make sure that your leadership understands that you will generate income to offset the cost of the books.
Explain why you think the program will be a success
- The kit comes with a free training video and detailed Leader’s Guide.
- DivorceCare offers free phone support and an online LeaderZone to help you troubleshoot potential problems. So even though you’re doing something new, you won’t have to bombard the church leadership with questions about how to make it work.
- DivorceCare comes with publicity materials (posters, promotional videos, press releases and more).
Tell your pastor what you need
- Support: Let your pastor know that if he allows you to begin DivorceCare, you’ll need the church to provide an adequate meeting space, and the time and resources to promote your group inside and outside the church.
- A kit: Ask your pastor if it’s possible for the church to purchase the kit and your initial order of workbooks. (Be sure to have an idea of how much that would cost before your meeting with him.) Let your pastor know that many churches charge a registration fee to offset the cost of workbooks and refreshments for meetings.
- Ask your pastor if he can give you a date as to when he’ll let you know of the final decision.
What to leave with your pastor
The “Introducing DivorceCare” sheet — Make sure you leave this with your pastor. It contains a summary of what you’ll have shared with him, plus instructions on where he can go to find more information on DivorceCare.
Need more help?
Contact us. We have DivorceCare consultants standing by to answer any questions you have about DivorceCare and to help you begin this ministry at your church. Just give us a call at 1-800-489-7778.
