Catchers, Pushers and Litigators at the Altar

By Raul Rivera

There are few moments as exciting in the life of any church or ministry as when God touches and changes a life by His presence and power. These are things that we live for in our gatherings and much of that life transformation happens around the "altar". It is a place and time where much of the hands-on ministry takes place.

CPR at the Altar?

When I was a pastor, we went through a season of growth that was highlighted by powerful, life-transforming altar calls.  On one occasion while at the altar, a young woman was greatly impacted by the presence of the Lord and she fell to the floor.  The woman next to her, being very young in the faith, did not know what had happened and without hesitation dropped to her knees and began to administer CPR.  Our ushers had to quickly intervene to successfully rectify the situation; thankfully, only a few pumps had been administered.  Looking back, I am grateful it was a time when lawsuits against churches were minimal.

The sacredness of the altar call

It seems not a month goes by that we at StartCHURCH do not hear of someone suing a local church or ministry for the activities and events surrounding the "altar time" in their services.  Shamefully, what is meant to be beautiful is often marred by the attacks of unscrupulous people. 

Jesus warned us to be "wise as serpents and harmless as doves". If we are going to lead our churches and ministries through these tricky legal times, while not quenching the Spirit's activity among us, we must learn to be both wise and sensitive to our surroundings, respectful in our approach, and thoughtful in our application.

A FREE resource

To that end, StartCHURCH is glad to introduce a new resource "The StartCHURCH Altar Ministry Policy Pack". This resource is filled with policies and procedures that will both protect and preserve your altar ministry time. It is the culmination of looking at the altar ministry from both the heart of a pastor and from the eyes of an attorney. In it you will find flexible procedures that will give your altar ministry a strong legal footing to protect this vital ministry.

You can adopt it as it is, or use it as a starting point to customize your own altar ministry policies and procedures.  Either way, we believe this resource will help you protect and value your altar ministry.

It is offered for a limited time...FREE!

If you register, between now and the end of April, for one of our upcoming "Church Compliance and Ministry Empowerment" conferences, you will receive the Altar Ministry Policy Pack as a FREE DOWNLOAD!

It's our way of saying "Thank you!" for investing into your ministry by attending a conference.