📝 Worksheet 7.4 — Choose One Ministry Role Your Church Could Develop First

Purpose of This Worksheet

In Topic 7, you explored three ministry roles that can help a local church multiply care and leadership: officiants, chaplains, and life coach ministers. The master template identifies these roles as practical ways churches can serve families, strengthen community care, and support discipleship through the CLI/CLA ecosystem.

This worksheet will help you choose one ministry role your church could begin developing first.

You do not need to build everything at once. A wise church begins with prayer, discernment, training, local endorsement, and a simple first step.

Part 1 — Identify Your Church’s Current Care Needs

Prayerfully review your church and community. Check any areas where your church currently sees a need.

Wedding and Funeral Ministry Needs

☐ Couples ask our church for wedding help.
☐ We need more trained people to serve brides and grooms.
☐ Families ask our church for funeral or memorial service help.
☐ Our pastor carries most or all wedding and funeral responsibilities.
☐ We need better follow-up care after weddings or funerals.
☐ We serve many people who are loosely connected to the church through ceremonies.

Chaplaincy and Community Care Needs

☐ We have members in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice, or assisted living.
☐ We have community members who need prayer, visits, or spiritual encouragement.
☐ We have people in our church gifted for listening and presence-based care.
☐ We see ministry opportunities in workplaces, schools where permitted, clubs, first responder settings, or community events.
☐ Our pastor cannot personally visit every care setting.
☐ We want our church to become more present in the community.

Life Coach Ministry and Discipleship Support Needs

☐ People in our church need encouragement between Sundays.
☐ Members need help with habits, calling, relationships, conflict, confidence, or spiritual growth.
☐ We have mature believers who could be trained to ask wise questions and support faithful next steps.
☐ Our pastor receives many formation conversations that could be supported by trained leaders.
☐ We want to build a stronger discipleship support culture.
☐ We need clear non-clinical ministry support that knows when to refer.

Part 2 — Choose the Role That Seems Most Needed First

After reviewing the needs above, which role seems like the best first step for your church?

Choose one:

☐ Wedding or Funeral Officiant Ministry
A good first step if your church needs help serving brides, grooms, grieving families, ceremonies, premarital conversations, funeral preparation, or follow-up care.

☐ Church-Based Chaplaincy Ministry
A good first step if your church needs trained people to visit, listen, pray, encourage, and serve in hospitals, nursing homes, workplaces, schools where permitted, clubs, community settings, crisis settings, or care ministries.

☐ Life Coach Ministry
A good first step if your church needs trained people to help believers take faithful next steps in discipleship, habits, relationships, calling, communication, confidence, and spiritual formation.

Our church’s first ministry role to develop is:

Role: ___________________________________________

Why this role seems most needed now:

Part 3 — Name the Ministry Opportunity

Describe the real opportunity this role could address.

Examples:

“Our pastor needs help with funerals and grief follow-up.”

“We have several nursing home residents who need regular visits.”

“We have young adults who need discipleship support and calling discernment.”

“We have couples preparing for marriage who need more care.”

“We have members gifted in listening who need training and a role.”

Ministry opportunity:

Who would be served?

Where would this ministry happen?

Part 4 — Identify Possible Leaders

List three people in your church or ministry network who may be suited for this role.

Look for people who are:

• Faithful

• Teachable

• Spiritually mature

• Relationally steady

• Respected by others

• Humble under oversight

• Willing to receive training

• Able to respect boundaries

Part 5 — Discern Readiness

For the person or people listed above, answer these questions.

Character and Calling

1. Does this person show spiritual maturity?

☐ Yes
☐ Not yet
☐ Unsure

Notes:

2. Is this person teachable and willing to be trained?

☐ Yes
☐ Not yet
☐ Unsure

Notes:

3. Does this person already show care for people?

☐ Yes
☐ Not yet
☐ Unsure

Notes:

4. Does this person respect church leadership and accountability?

☐ Yes
☐ Not yet
☐ Unsure

Notes:

5. Would others in the church likely trust this person in a ministry role?

☐ Yes
☐ Not yet
☐ Unsure

Notes:

Part 6 — Training Pathway

What training would this person need before serving publicly?

Check all that apply.

☐ Wedding Officiant Skills
☐ Funeral Officiant Skills
☐ Chaplaincy Foundations
☐ Life Coach Ministry training
☐ Biblical studies
☐ Prayer ministry
☐ Listening skills
☐ Pastoral care basics
☐ Ministry ethics and boundaries
☐ Grief care
☐ Marriage preparation
☐ Communication skills
☐ Referral awareness
☐ Local church orientation
☐ Other: ___________________________________________

First CLI course or training step to recommend:

Who will encourage or mentor this person during training?

Part 7 — Oversight and Accountability

A ministry role should not operate alone. Write down who would provide oversight.

Oversight could come from:

☐ Pastor
☐ Elder board
☐ Deacon team
☐ Ministry director
☐ Soul Center leader
☐ Church leadership team
☐ Other: ___________________________________________

Name of oversight person or team:

How often should this person check in during the first season?

☐ Weekly
☐ Twice per month
☐ Monthly
☐ Quarterly
☐ As needed
☐ Other: ___________________________________________

What should be discussed during check-ins?

☐ Training progress
☐ Ministry opportunities
☐ Boundaries
☐ Prayer needs
☐ Difficult situations
☐ Referral concerns
☐ Personal spiritual health
☐ Feedback from those served
☐ Next steps

Part 8 — Boundary and Referral Awareness

Every ministry role needs clear boundaries.

What should this person be allowed to do?

Examples: lead a wedding, assist with funerals, visit nursing home residents, pray by permission, offer discipleship support, ask formation questions, help with follow-up care.

What should this person not do?

Examples: diagnose mental illness, provide therapy, give legal advice, give medical advice, handle emergencies alone, promise absolute secrecy, pressure people spiritually, serve without permission.

When should this person contact the pastor or leadership team?

When should this person refer to a professional or emergency service?

Part 9 — Local Endorsement and Commissioning

If this person continues to grow, your church may consider local endorsement, CLA credentialing or ordination, and public commissioning.

What would need to be true before endorsement?

☐ The person completes appropriate training.
☐ The person demonstrates spiritual maturity.
☐ The person understands role boundaries.
☐ The person is respected by church leadership.
☐ The person is willing to serve under oversight.
☐ The person has a clear ministry opportunity.
☐ The person is affirmed by a local endorser.
☐ The church is ready to commission them publicly.
☐ Other: ___________________________________________

Possible endorsement or commissioning step:

Part 10 — First 90-Day Action Plan

Use this section to create a simple 90-day plan.

First 30 Days — Discern and Invite

What will you do in the first month?

☐ Pray about the ministry role.
☐ Discuss the need with church leadership.
☐ Identify one to three potential leaders.
☐ Invite one person into a discernment conversation.
☐ Recommend a CLI course or pathway.
☐ Clarify the ministry opportunity.
☐ Other: ___________________________________________

Notes:

Days 31–60 — Train and Prepare

What will you do in the second month?

☐ Begin CLI training.
☐ Assign a mentor or oversight leader.
☐ Discuss boundaries and referral awareness.
☐ Observe an existing ministry situation.
☐ Create a simple role description.
☐ Pray with the person about calling.
☐ Other: ___________________________________________

Notes:

Days 61–90 — Test and Evaluate

What will you do in the third month?

☐ Let the person assist in a supervised ministry setting.
☐ Review training progress.
☐ Meet for feedback and prayer.
☐ Decide whether more training is needed.
☐ Consider local endorsement or commissioning later.
☐ Create a next-step plan.
☐ Other: ___________________________________________

Notes:

Part 11 — Simple Role Description Draft

Use this space to draft a basic role description.

Ministry Role Title:

Purpose of the Role:

Who This Role Serves:

Main Responsibilities:

Required Training:

Oversight Structure:

Boundaries and Referral Expectations:

Part 12 — Final Reflection

Complete these sentences.

The ministry role our church should consider developing first is:

This role matters because:

The first person we should invite into discernment is:

The first training step should be:

The oversight person or team should be:

The first 90-day goal is:

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus,

You are the head of the church and the Shepherd of your people. Thank you for giving gifts to your body and calling ordinary believers into meaningful service.

Help our church discern wisely. Show us who may be called to serve as an officiant, chaplain, or life coach minister. Give us patience, humility, and courage as we train and multiply leaders.

Protect us from rushing ahead without wisdom. Protect us also from burying gifts that should be developed. Help us build ministry roles that are biblical, accountable, compassionate, and useful for your kingdom.

May more brides and grooms be served with dignity.
May more grieving families be comforted with hope.
May more lonely and hurting people receive presence and prayer.
May more believers be encouraged to take faithful next steps.

Use our church to multiply Christian leaders for the spread of Christianity.

In Jesus’ name, amen.