FAQ:
What experience does Good News Ministries have in conducting missions?
Having traveled over 1,500,000 miles proclaiming the Gospel since January of 1991, I have conducted almost 500 missions in 30 states and in 3 foreign countries including Canada, Central America, and Ireland.
What does Good News Ministries charge to conduct a mission?
Good News Ministries does not charge stipends or fees to conduct its missions, seminars, or retreats. We ask for permission to take an offering at the end of each mission, seminar, or retreat from those attending the event. In addition, almost all churches contribute to the work of this ministry by giving a generous honorarium.
Why doesn't Good News Ministries charge to do missions?
We decided in the beginning of this ministry that we would never charge to proclaim the Gospel because the price of the Good News has already been paid for with the Blood of Jesus.
What, if any, are the financial responsibilities of the church?
Because we operate as we do, we ask that the church assume the responsibility for our transportation costs. We will notify the church contact person approximately 3 months prior to our coming with the exact costs. We ask that these expenses be paid prior to the purchase of our tickets. We work at least 3 months ahead to try and minimize these expenses to the church. We recognize the fact that most churches conducting missions usually plan for these expenses as well as for stipends in their budgets. As earlier stated, since Good News Ministries does not charge a stipend, should the church decide to give a financial gift into the work of the ministry in addition to the offering taken by the people, it will be received and used to proclaim the Good News.
What about housing needs?
We attempt to be as low maintenance as possible. We come to serve the needs of the parish and not to be served. If at all possible, we would like to stay with the pastor for various reasons. It allows being close to the church should anyone attending the mission like additional time to talk during the day. It decreases the burden to the parish to provide additional housing for us. It allows us to share time with the pastor, who is important in our own spiritual growth and journey and hopefully it is a time of encouragement for the pastor.
What mission formats do you offer?
This question is best answered by reviewing the information on the Mission Formats page. We are extremely flexible in any format that is desired since are purpose is to serve the various needs that we encoutner thoughout the Church.
How many are involved in conducting the mission?
The maximum number would be two as Jesus sent them out two by two. However, there are factors which may affect this such as the size of the church, the mission format and the most important, the needs of the parish. This is determined through discussion at the time the mission date is finalized.
How does Good News Ministries help in the promotion of the mission?
Good News Ministries provides all of the written materials necesary for the promotion of any of the missions, seminars, or conferences that we conduct. This material includes posters, flyers for duplication, bulletin blurbs, letters for mail stuffers, etc. To minimize the work involved in promoting the event on the parish level, we have included only those things that we have found to be most effective throughout the life of our ministry. Along with these materials is a plan as to how and when they should be used to produce the best results.
What else can we do as a parish to help promote the mission?
There are three very important things that the parish can do. The first is to promote it heavily from the ambo. The more important this event is to the pastor, the more important it will be to the people. The second is to cancel all other parish functions during the mission week if at all possible. The more the people realize that this is an important function to the spiritual life of the church community, the greater will be their response. The third is to use all the materials sent by Good News to help in the promotion of the mission.
11/28/2010 - 11/30/2010