Melvin Feller Business Ministries Group Answers What Business Consultants do for You Melvin Feller Business Consultants Group Ministries in Texas and Oklahoma. Our mission is to call and equip a generation of Christian entrepreneurs to do business as ministry. We provide workshops and resources that help companies discover how to do business God’s way. When the heart of a business is service rather than self it can be transformed into a fruitful ministry. “Church consulting” is a process in which church leader’s partner with an outside “expert” to identify and address issues affecting the health, effectiveness, and direction of the church. There are some important words in the above definition: 1. Issues—It is often the presence of unusual or challenging circumstances that prompt church leaders to seek a consulting relationship in the first place. Not all such “circumstances” involve crises or problems. Sometimes, churches want to grow faster, church leaders desire to lead better and more proactively, church staff long to function more cooperatively and effectively. So, the issues prompting a consulting relationship can range from negative to positive, urgent to proactive, managing crises to building competencies. Usually, the issues facing a church tend to cluster around the classic SWOT acrostic: strengths (e.g., “We are a very loving and generous church. How can we be more effective in using those gifts to reach our community?”), weaknesses (e.g., “As elders, we seem to be stuck in the role of managing church business rather than shepherding spiritual growth. How can we be better “soul shepherds”?), opportunities (e.g., “Our pulpit minister just resigned. How can we the best person to take his place?”) and threats (e.g., “Our marriages are in trouble. What can we do, as a church, to encourage more intimate and stable relationships?”). The more focused and specific the issue, the more likely it is that the consulting relationship will prove effective. 2. Church leaders—When churches are blessed with elders, they are usually the ones who initiate a consulting relationship and form the primary leadership group with whom a consultant works. However, preaching ministers and staffs, leadership teams (who do the work of elders even if they do not wear the title), and/or deacons can also initiate this relationship. It is important—for a successful and effective consulting relationship—that the leadership of a church (whatever form that leadership takes) have the will and the congregational support to address issues affecting the health, effectiveness, and direction of the church.