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• What is the "Feed the Sheep" campaign?
• Isn't one person enough? Will we still need Jayme?
• Why can't Chad just delegate more?
• What will it take to bring on a Director/Pastor?
• Why now? What's the history of GAMe like?
• Why $150,000?
• What if we can't raise the money?
• Can we sell a pool table, do without the "little things", go greener, cancel events, don't serve dinner on Monday & Tuesdays, etc to save money?
• What tangible things can we do if we are already giving what we can give and over and above?
• Can we have a detailed list of what needs to be completed on the building?
• Where are we at now?

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What is the "Feed the Sheep" campaign? back to top

GAMe's biggest need right now is a full-time Director/Pastor - someone that can oversee conflict resolution, counseling, leadership development, shepherding, vision casting and strategic planning. We have full confidence that Chad is currently fulfilling these roles, but his responsibilities to the ministry combined with his outside work responsibilities have created an unhealthy burden on him and the ministry. The Board of Directors believes it is our responsibility to help Chad make changes to alleviate this burden for the long-term benefit of him and the ministry.

Life change happens best and most easily within our small groups. Running a small group based ministry is harder and more time intensive than a "preaching ministry". With an attendance of 130+ on Monday and Tuesday nights and 16 small groups, we've reached far beyond the place where one man can lead and direct the ministry in the evenings.

Isn't one person enough? Will we still need Jayme? back to top

Jayme's coming on staff has highlighted even more he need for a Director/Pastor. There is now someone looking at the things that have been neglected and no longer can be. - Yet, she's not in the position to make decisions on many things as she isn't the Shepherd of the ministry, nor can she get access to enough of Chad's time to move forward effectively on different initiatives. Her efforts have helped us manage the growth that we have had, but one person on staff is not enough. One option is to replace Jayme with a pastor. It's a move that she's even willing to make. However, that could leave things unstable by burdening one person with both the task of leading/shepherding and the administrative delegation. Our ministry is big enough to need both roles filled.

Why can't Chad just delegate more? back to top

When looking at Chad's schedule, we quickly see why we have the need for someone full-time. Chad's ultimately responsible for:

• Delivering a consistent vision to our people.
• Addressing conflict to avoid division.
• Overseeing Monday and Tuesday nights, which includes organizing the volunteers.
• Preparing a message to deliver from up front
• Making sure the Bible study leaders are prepared to lead
• Covering any groups missing male leaders
• Meeting any new visitors that need to meet the Shepherd of the ministry
• Counseling anyone who seeks his opinion
• Studying the Scripture to be spiritually healthy and in a position to give good counsel
• Helping with practical needs that are presented to him - needs for jobs, food, vehicle issues, etc.
• Developing new leaders inside small groups
• Meeting with potential new leaders to decide suitability
• Overseeing the selection of the next Bible study

These may not seem like time-consuming tasks and Chad does try to delegate as much as possible - for his own well-being, but also for the spiritual development of others. Yet, it's not always possible. In one week, Chad worked with a man who has just lost his job, admonished a woman who was involved in inappropriate relationships with men, helping her to identify a female to work with her, asked a man to leave the ministry due to his behavior with women both inside and outside the ministry, encouraged a new Bible study leader, handled general questions about the ministry, warned someone who is divisive in their small group, and met with a handful of men to encourage them in their leadership. It's just not possible to delegate enough of these duties along with the coordinating of the details of just running a ministry.

What will it take to bring on a Director/Pastor? back to top

In order to bring on a director/pastor, there are two financial considerations to make:

• Reserve funds. We need funds in reserve to be able to honor any contract we would make with a pastor. We would offer a pastor a commitment that they would be able to do singles ministry for at least two years, even if the ministry struggled in order to allow him to be successful and to be healthy. It's very typical when planting a church to be able to offer the pastor starting the church two years of salary to give him time to create their own stable environment. Our goal would be to set that money aside and never touch it - the same procedures that we use for the building rent funds in compliance with our no-debt policy. GAMe always has money set aside to honor any contract obligations we make.
• Ongoing Income. We also need consistent income coming in sufficient enough to pay a pastor's benefits and salary. We don't want to be in a position where we have to use reserve funds to pay for a recurring expense

Why now? What's the history of GAMe like? back to top

August 2004

The ministry started as an official 501(c)(3) ministry, using funds given to us by an individual. We met in houses in the downtown area. Held a "Dream Big" campaign, which raised $23,000 using a matching challenge. Attendance: About 30-40.

April 2006

Held a Swing Dance at 1316 Jones Street to see if we could reach people by being in the Old Market. 200+ people came. Started meeting at 1316 Jones Street and parts of the 1314 Jones Street basement on Mondays instead of the houses. Started a specific study for '25 & under'. Really only had 2 people in that age group until that time. Attendance: Averaged about 45 people.

December 2006

Buffons Comedy Club closed at 1314 Jones Street. We entered into a long term lease on the space and began renovations. Attendance: About 70 people.

September 2007 - December 2007

Held the "Beyond These Walls" campaign, which raised $75,000 needed to finish the building project. Attendance: About 90 people.

May 2009

Moved to 2 nights/week. Kicked off the "Feed the Sheep" fund to be able to build the ministry relationally like we've done physically. Attendance: About 135 people/week, with almost half of them being '25 & under'

Why $150,000? back to top

The $150,000 "Feed the Sheep" figure is what we need to do ministry for 6 months and build the reserve fund. It includes 4 different categories:

• Operating expenses (events, dinners, printing, advertising, building maintenance)
• Building expenses (just what's needed to finish the building enough to pass inspection)
• Fixed costs (rent and salary)
• Building the reserve fund

The breakdown is as follows:

What if we can't raise the money? back to top

Aka: "Did Chad's message mean that the ministry might actually shut down/close its doors?" Yes, if we don't have ownership we could not afford to be open, so we would need to close the ministry. However, we need to define what it means to "afford to be open" as the question isn't just "Can we write the rent check without it bouncing?"The question is really "Can we have the staff we need to be healthy?" If we just "let ourselves go" until the money runs out, but don't have the necessary leadership structure, we become a free-for-all environment where the Bible isn't taken seriously, people will get hurt, we'll ignore the needs of singles and no one wants that.

Can we sell a pool table, do without the "little things", go greener, cancel events, don't serve dinner on Monday $amp; Tuesdays, etc to save money? back to top

We love the heart behind this question- the fact that people would rather sit on the floor instead of couches, play cards instead of pool, or drink water instead of coffee if that meant we could be open. Yet, when we raised the money for the building fund, people gave specifically for that vision for the building - meeting room furniture, pool tables, coffee bar. We would be dishonoring their gifts by then selling those items without really thinking it through or then causing ourselves to have to re-buy the items later. People also gave towards specific things for some of those items. We have a coffee bar because someone gave money specifically for it. We could also cancel some of our events, but we aren't spending money on events like we used to. Our swing dances this summer are really fundraisers for this campaign. The trips that we're taking this summer aren't sponsored by the ministry. Dinners on Monday & Tuesdays are critical to our ministry's where fellowship begins. Selling those items, canceling all events of all kinds, and forgoing dinners wouldn't buy us 1-2 more months of operating expense, which won't make the difference between having a director/pastor and not having a director/pastor. And a director/pastor is really what we need to be healthy.

What tangible things can we do if we are already giving what we can give and over and above? back to top

Talk to Jayme - she has plenty of things that will need organizing. Events that need owners, duties that can be done. Unfortunately, it isn't simple things like "put away chairs" - It's things like planning events, entering attendance, helping run sound and video on Mondays and Tuesdays, vacuuming upstairs after Mondays, running a Connecting team.

Can we have a detailed list of what needs to be completed on the building? back to top

Fire system, sprinkler system and a security system are the big things that are needed in order to pass inspection.

Where are we at now? back to top