Church-based Career Ministries

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Brian Ray visits with Crown Financial CEO, Chuck Bentley, and shares how churches can help its members and local community to combat unemployment and help with career transition. Below you’ll find a summary of the MoneyLife career podcast that aired on October 12, 2009. 

Church-based Career Ministries on MoneyLife Radio Career Podcast

Our guest today is Brian Ray, Founder of Crossroads Career Network.

A lot of people are being hurt today by unemployment. I hope today’s program will help.

Many people are already thinking about what they’re going to be able to spend for Christmas. Belt-tightening will be in, so don’t feel guilty.

You can do lots of fun and thoughtful things with family and friends without spending a lot of money.

Plan ahead and make sure you live within your means.

According to the latest government report, 9.8% of the workforce is currently unemployed. That means over 15 million people are looking for jobs.

Brian says the average length of unemployment is almost 6 months. The more specialized the job or the higher the salary needed, the longer it takes to find it. Professional managers can take more than a year to find a similar job.

He also encourages people who are unemployed to stop trying to find a job on their own. You need to pray and network. Church is ideal for both. If you’re not in a church, you need a small group of friends who are on the same journey and can support you.

Some churches have career ministries. They are Christ-centered. Christ knows everyone and their needs, knows about all the jobs and has a plan to put them together.

The Christian’s goal should be to hear and follow God’s calling to the next step. Prayer is a big part of that. This is not praying just to get a job but heartfelt and honest intercessory prayer that allows God to change hearts. The Church is made to encourage that journey.

Crossroads Career® Network program for churches offers online resources for job search and career transition. The program also offers churches practical help about networking, resume writing, and interviewing. It also offers spiritual encouragement to help people to keep going on their journey. It’s dangerous to be isolated during a time of unemployment even though some men tend to do that because of shame.

Help for California Churches

Right now, California has over 2 million people unemployed. Brian is participating in an event there to share with church leaders how they can minister to people in their community who are unemployed, and to start career ministries.

It’s called the the Career Transition Ministry Leaders Conference and it will be held on Saturday, October 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at New Covenant Community Church in Fresno, California. This is the last event for this year. Any church leader on the West Coast is invited to attend. 

The organization also has information to help you start a Christ-centered career group that is comprised of six people who gather weekly to pray, network encourage one another and hold each other accountable.

Additional Help for All Christian Churches and Organizations 

Crossroads Career Network has online resources available to help the unemployed. One category of resources is for job seekers, career explorers. Another category of resources is for employers who are hiring adn want to post jobs. A third category is for churches who want to minister to the unemployed.

A church-based career ministry can grow quickly. Brian’s church ministers to 300. This creates a great networking environment, where people tell each other about available jobs.

Some pastors are hesitant to start a new ministry because they and church resources are already stretched. But this is a ministry where if a person is helped and gets a new job they will likely give back to the Lord through the church so more people can be ministered to.

The ministry is actually done by volunteers in the church, so a limited amount of church resources are involved. Pastor support is critical for any ministry. There’s a $600 annual membership for unlimited use and a free trial is available.

If you can’t go to the conference Saturday, a DVD of a past conference in Dallas is available for purchase at ctmlconference.org.