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Launch an Orphans Ministry in Your Church

If you are like so many others, you have a passion to help mobilize your local church on behalf of the orphan but may not be sure where to start.  If so, we want to help.  The following represents an overview of eight steps you can use to help your church get involved in caring for orphans.  This overview is adapted from a Hope for Orphans resource entitled Launching an Orphans Ministry in Your Church.

STEP 1: Approach a key leader with your vision

In order to start the process, someone in a key position of leadership needs to know your intentions and have the opportunity to guide your efforts.  You will need to find the right leader in your church and help them to understand both your desire to start an orphans ministry and your intentions to assemble a team of people and a plan of action.

The Big Ideas

• Identify the right church leader to approach
• Cast a vision for orphans ministry
• Ask this leader for ongoing insight as you proceed

STEP 2: Identify passionate families to join you in prayer

There are likely people in your church right now who would love to give their time and talents to the needs of the orphan.  Your job is to identify them and then lead them to earnestly seek God’s direction for their next steps.

The Big Ideas

• Consider likely candidates
• Invite them to come together
• Pray together for God’s invitation for your church in orphans ministry

STEP 3: Dream together about the possibilities

Through the process of seeking God’s will and talking with your team, there will be many ideas and dreams that come to mind.  Collect those ideas and prayerfully begin to determine what God has put on the heart of your team.

The Big Ideas

• Ask “What if?”
• Identify common themes
• Learn the God-given passions of your team

STEP 4: Determine your channels of orphans ministry

At this point, some ideas will have surfaced regarding the general direction your ministry will go.  You will find yourself moving toward at least one of the three channels of orphans ministry, if not all three: (1) orphan care, (2) adoption – international private domestic, and (3) foster care and foster-care adoption.

The Big Ideas

• Evaluate your church’s current situation as it relates to orphans ministry
• Investigate the three channels of orphans ministry
• Identify points of synergy with other outreaches in your church

STEP 5: Plan for the strategies of your ministry

Look at your current situation and your long term goals and determine the strategies that will best accomplish the objectives God has given you.  These strategies can be categorized into five modes: (1) prayer, (2) physical needs, (3) financial assistance, (4) education, awareness, and recruitment, and (5) support ministry.  Each of these modes can be executed in the context of the three channels discussed in step 4.

The Big Ideas

• Begin with the end in mind
• Set objectives and strategies for the next three years
• Don’t stop praying!

STEP 6: Establish a leadership structure

Now it is time to formalize the leadership structure of your proposed ministry and to assign specific leadership roles.

The Big Ideas

• Discover if your church has a prescribed leadership structure for new ministries
• Investigate other ministries in your church that are led effectively
• Build your structure and your team

STEP 7: Develop a formal proposal for church leadership

You have the basic building blocks to assemble a good plan for your church leaders to consider.  Now you need to merge everything you have developed into one cohesive and well-conceived plan that you will present to the key leaders in your church for their approval and blessing (pastoral staff, elders, deacons, board of trustees, etc.).

The Big Ideas

• Craft your proposal
• Carefully plan your presentation
• Ask for your leadership’s blessing

STEP 8: Implement first initiatives, engage the entire church and watch God work

The launch of your church’s orphans ministry is an exciting time.  Engaging the entire church at this stage is key to gaining momentum and building your ministry.  Once you have launched, it is time to implement your first initiatives, work in partnership with others, and celebrate what God does.

The Big Ideas

• Plan your “launch Sunday”
• Announce a church-wide orphans project
• Do the small things with excellence, keep praying and get ready to hang on!

A  full discussion of these eight steps and some tools that will help you implement them can be found in the book Launching an Orphans Ministry in Your Church produced by FamilyLife’s Hope for Orphans.  This book also includes a vision casting DVD that you can use to help others understand how God is working in churches across the country on behalf of orphans.  To order your book and the included DVD, order online now or call 1-800-FLTODAY.