A Life Team is a unified, trained, trustworthy, gospel-driven group in your church that helps it grow as a gospel-driven champion of life. Because the gospel itself is a message of rescue, here is how we define the role of a Life Team:
A Life Team is a group of rescued people (congregants spiritually rescued in the gospel)
equipping other rescued people (other congregants spiritually rescued in the gospel)
to rescue people (those in grave peril both within and outside the congregation).
Think of a Life Team as a Missions Team dedicated to the sanctity of human life:
- Just as most church Missions Teams equip their church to syncronize with God's heart for those in spiritual peril, so too a Life Team helps their church syncronize with God's heart for those in physical peril. Both equip the congregation.
- Just as a Missions Team is trusted by church leadership, so too is a Life Team.
- Just as a Missions Team is the interface between the church and missionaries/agencies, so too is a Life Team the interface between the church and various life-affirming agencies.
- And like a Missions Team, a Life Team is populated and led by trusted church members. In other words, CFL does not lead Life Teams. We train indigenous leaders to lead them beneath indigenous pastoral oversight.
The simple table below shows the visionary journey CFL makes with Life Teams and churches regarding the life arena. The right-hand column in the table below shows the general character we instill in Life Teams. You can see that our destination, "Point B," is bliblical, beautiful, and honorable.
|
Point A
Stereotypical "old school, pro-life" ministry and everything CFL avoids in training Life Teams:
|
Point B
A vision for what CFL-born Life Teams and their ministries look like, and what we work hard to bring about:
|
|
1. Anger/other-driven
2. One/few operating in isolation
3. Sporadic initiatives
4. Single-facet (anti-abortion)
5. Mistrusted
6. No/few dedicated resources ($)
7. No agency interface
8. “The dedicated, exhausted few”
|
2. Team operating in unity
3. Consistent initiatives
5. Trusted
6. Dedicated resources ($)
7. Robust agency interface
8. Church-wide influence & engagement
|
Life Team FAQs
Q: What does a Life Team actually do?
Q: How is a Life Team built?
Q: What is CFL’s role in starting the Life Team?
A: We build a trust relationship with pastoral oversight, and once they fully grasp the vision, help them cast it in search of a trainable leader. CFL then works personally with the leader(s) to build the Team. For a more detailed roadmap, click HERE.
Q: What is CFL’s ongoing role with the Life Team?
A: We are a trusted coach and encourager. We especially invest in mentoring Life Team Leaders.
Q: What if we don’t have teams and committees in our church?
A: We can work with you to build a group that fits the culture and structure of your church.
Q: Do all Life Teams look and act alike?
A: Definitely not. We train Life Teams to reflect the unique gifts, talents and stories of the Team members, the unique culture and values in their church, and the unique sensitivities, needs, and opportunities of their local community. Your Life Team should fit comfortably within your church’s existing personality and direction, becoming a welcome and trusted part of your spiritual community.
Q: Is a Life Team a political action committee?
A: Absolutely not. We explicitly train Life Teams to not be political hotbeds within their churches. We coach them in this regard from a number of angles. At the same time, we affirm that a Christian worldview encompasses all parts of our world, including politics. If a legislative issue arises in our culture that overlaps the life arena, we train Life Teams to consider it in context of a trust relationship with their pastoral oversight, and from a posture of gospel-driven humility, grace, and truth.
Q: Is a Life Team only "anti-abortion"?
A: This is a common question. CFL works hard to help Life Teams equip the church in a holistic biblical ethic of life that includes a wide range of applications. We counsel Teams make it a priority to lean against the default perception that to be life-affirming only means one is anti-abortion. Click HERE for a list of the kinds of things a CFL Life Team might do to equip a congregation holistically.
Q: Is this CFL’s Team or our church’s Team?
A: It is definitely your Team. We are merely a catalyst and coach to help the Team start and grow. Your Team is led and populated by indigenous church members. Think of us as a trusted pastoral consultant for this very specific purpose.
Q: Is a Life Team only concerned about abortion?
A: Definitely not. We train Teams to work with biblical holism regarding the sanctity of human life. Click HERE for a list of potential areas a Life Team might consider.
Q: How long does it usually take to start a Life Team?
A: It varies, but in general it takes about one year from the time the vision is first cast with pastoral oversight to the time a Life Team is trained and has built enough trust and relationship with their pastoral oversight to implement approved initiatives to equip the congregation.
Q: How much time and effort with this require of me as a pastor?
A: Not much! On the front end, your help will be needed to champion the vision and identify a trainable leader(s). CFL trains the leader. Then, CFL and the newly trained Life Team leader will do most of the work. From beginning to end, someone on the pastoral team will need to be a Life Team liaison – a link between the Team and the rest of church leadership, and a person to provide input and/or approval for the Team’s ideas and progress. This liaison can be a pastor, ministry director, elder, or someone in a position of oversight within the church.
Q: Does CFL charge for their ministry?
A: No. We believe, however, that the Bible affirms that those who benefit from the ministry of the gospel should reciprocate financially to those who bring that gospel (1 Cor. 9:9 & 14, 1 Tim. 5:18). If your church partners with us in the journey of building a gospel-driven Life Team, it is honorable and reasonable to expect financial reciprocity as the ministry takes root. These specifics can be worked out in your ongoing relationship with us.
If you have more questions, please let us know at info@getintolife.org. It is very important to us that you understand and can fully embrace the vision for a Life Team at your church before beginning your journey to build one.