Have You Ever Wanted to Become a Church Consultant?

Orginally published on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 7:19 AM
by Todd Rhoades

Have you ever considered a future as a church consultant? My friend Tom Harper has recently written this piece to help those who may be considering entering the consultation area of ministry...

If you have a passion to revitalize churches, Christ can use you in exciting ways to turn around hurting congregations.

Are you a veteran of the business world? Your experience and skills may be sought after by the church. Is an extensive pastorate in your background? Your wisdom could help a pastor deal with the challenges in his church.

But many consulting veterans urge a slow approach to exploring a consulting career. It’s not for everyone. Obstacles like lack of money or experience can cripple a promising consultant before he or she accepts client number one.

If you’re currently in the marketplace, keep your current job for a while. If you’re a recent seminary grad, find a way to pay the bills. If you work on staff at a church, stay there. Lucky you if you’re retiring and have a nest egg to cover expenses.

Financial concerns aside, starting a consulting ministry isn’t easy. But the rewards can be rich.

Before you chase your dream, pause to consider the following strategies that may increase your chances of success.

1.  Get professional training.  By now you know about the consulting courses offered by the Society. I also recommend theology classes if you’ve never worked in a church. Many seminaries and universities offer convenient distance-learning courses.

2.  Read leadership and consulting books.  You can browse Amazon.com or visit any book store and peruse the business section for titles by the likes of John Maxwell, Bill Hybels, Ken Blanchard, Jim Collins, and others. Also check out these books on building a consulting practice by Karl Weiss: How to Acquire Clients, How to Establish a Unique Brand in the Consulting Profession, and Value-Based Fees. Also helpful are The Interventionist by Lyle Shaller and Biblical Church Growth by Gary McIntosh.

3.  Find a guinea pig.  In the Society’s Level 5 training, you’ll be coached as you work with a real church. Even if you don’t enroll in the formal training, find a willing church that could use some free help (but don’t make any promises you can’t back up). When you create your own personal case study, your learning accelerates. You’ll develop a valuable repertoire of anecdotes that will serve you in future consultations. If you succeed in this first exercise with a real church client, you’ll know whether to pursue consulting.

4.  Write a business plan.  Now that your calling is a little more sure, it’s time to strategize. Approach your plan this way: “If I went into consulting full-time, what would my practice look like? What kinds of churches would I work with? What would be my area of expertise?” Think about how you would promote your services and find clients. Consider how much you’d charge (I don’t recommend charging by the hour; it’s better to start off quoting on a project basis). Flesh out every aspect of your dream as if you were jumping into it full force. Now scale it back and fit a separate paying job into the picture. If you build a profitable practice on the side, rather than putting full-time financial pressure on it right away, you’ll find more joy and success.

5.  Get a mentor.  If you’re serious about this, get advice from people you trust. Talk to pastors and other consultants. Some people build a personal advisory board and have formal meetings. If you don’t know anyone who’s currently consulting, join the Society to meet certified members and talk to the instructors. Ask them tough questions and listen to their war stories.

6.  Get published.  The Society offers its certified members a mini-Web site and a personal blog. So getting published is easy. But writing stuff people want to read is the tricky part. Once you feel confident in your writing, submit articles to ChurchCentral.com (which publishes general articles on church health), or query the publications and Web sites you read often.

I applaud you for your interest in church consulting. It’s an exciting calling for anyone with experience leading businesses or churches. But a final (repetitive) word of caution. If your resume doesn’t boast years in either ministry or the marketplace, I urge you to delay your dream. That doesn’t mean cancel it – but first invest time in getting some real-world experience. Dr. Glen Martin, one of our instructors, says you need “blood on your tunic” before you’re qualified to work with a church. War wounds signify wisdom. Experience ultimately benefits the churches you’ll work with.

After all, church consulting is not a hobby. It is a calling worthy of your highest efforts. It requires diligence, experience, education and excellence. Advising a church can cause a ripple effect throughout eternity.

When you realize God has a dream of greatness for his church, your heart should quicken at the thought of participating in it.

I pray the Lord gives you a personal dream of fortifying the church. If he does, may he also inspire you with a perfect plan for your consulting ministry.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Tom Harper is author of Career Crossover: Leaving the Marketplace for Ministry (B&H, May 2007). He is president of Church Central, which has trained more than 800 church consultants (www.churchcentral.com), and maintains a marketplace job as president of NetWorld Alliance, which publishes business magazines and news portals.

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Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.

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