Introduction

Here’s the short explanation: You will choose a ministry partner to be paired with the three-month period. You and your partner will choose a time and day of the month (e.g. second Wednesday, 5PM) to schedule your ministry sessions. Then when a PQ comes in that is right for your team, we will let the receiver know when their ministry time is. You will get the PQ and be informed that your session is scheduled.

It’s that simple. No more back and forth with your partner and the receiver to try and come up with a ministry time that works for all of you. In order to begin planning, we need each of you to fill out a scheduling form as soon as possible. Simply head over to this link: Fixed Schedule Signup and complete the form.

BOTH partners need to fill out the form, not just the primary minister. So get in contact with your ministry partner and choose a day and time that will work for you for Oct, Nov, and December. We will need these forms completed NO LATER THAN Friday, Sept 18, and earlier if possible. This will allow us to schedule the times and rooms, etc. and confirm your times with you prior to the training on the 27th.

Again, more information is available below, and if there are any additional questions, please email them to me and I will respond.

Frequent Questions

This will hopefully answer most of the questions you have regarding the switch to a fixed ministry schedule for RPM.

What is the Fixed Schedule?

Since we began RPM, there have been no fixed ministry times. This meant that it was always the responsibility of the ministers to work with the receiver to find a time that would work for the ministry session. While this was a very flexible arrangement, it often lead to confusions in schedule and was very difficult to keep track of. Additionally, meeting locations in the church would sometimes be more difficult to schedule and coordinate.

In fact at the very beginning of the ministry here at Grace, the intent was that most ministry sessions would be scheduled at the same time on Sunday afternoons.

The fixed schedule addresses these issues by letting you schedule fixed times for your ministry sessions over the coming months so that you will know exactly when they will be.

Why are we moving to a fixed schedule?

The fixed schedule makes planning for your ministry times MUCH easier. Now you can know several months in advance when your ministry time will be. You can get it on your calendar. You can be sure that when the PQ comes in, the receiver will already be available and there won’t be scheduling complications. No more back and forth between the ministers and the receiver.

How will the fixed schedule work?

We have chosen to start with a “once a month” schedule. You and your ministry partner will choose a particular time, day and week of the month (such as the second Tuesday at 4:00 pm) and that will be your time. That’s all you need to know to plan your schedule. Then when a receiver returns a PQ for ministry, the RPM administrators will work with them to find a time and a team combination that works for their schedule.

Once scheduled, the PQ will be delivered to the team as it is now for you to prepare ministry.

Does this change the current priority of matching receivers to team based on suitability?

Not at all. The main decision for how to assign PQs will remain the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the suitability of the team.

How much time will we get with the PQ?

At least as much as you get now, usually. In fact the set nature of the schedule means you may often get even more time with the PQ. We will be assigning based on the suitability of the team, so you will often be assigned a PQ weeks before the scheduled session.

We will do our best to make sure you know that you are scheduled and provide you with the PQ at least a week in advance. If you haven’t received a PQ by the week before, you will not have a session that month.

What happens if there is no receiver assigned to my team this month?

Then your time is free! However, we encourage you to take that time and meet with your ministry partner anyway for fellowship, intercession for other receivers, the ministry, etc. You could work on tune-ups for each other, minister to specific areas or issues, or just pray together generally. We may also from time to time provide devotionals, training material or other items that you and your partner could take that time to review.

Does this mean I’ll always be working with the same partner?

At least for the beginning, we’ll likely be in set pairs for the schedule. We anticipate being able to switch up every few months (we’re thinking quarterly, or every three months re-addressing the schedule). At that time, you could choose to continue in your team or switch around with another partner.

Can I sign up for more than one session per month?

Absolutely. Either you and your partner can both agree to do more than one per month, or you could work with multiple partners. We’d like to limit it to two per month for any individual to prevent overwork, however.

What happens if there’s a more urgent need for ministry?

Sometimes, receivers come along that need help more urgently. We’d like at least a few of our ministers to volunteer to be available for those more urgent appointments. When one of these receivers comes in, we’ll contact those who have indicated their willingness to help out in these cases and they will schedule with the receiver directly.

In those cases, the regular appointments for those ministers will usually be cleared for that month.

What if something comes up and I have to change my schedule?

Ideally, knowing the set schedule for three months at a time should mean you can plan around that as much as possible, however we know that life happens. If you’re not already scheduled for that month, just let the scheduler know as soon as possible and we can hold the slot open. Be sure to also communicate with your ministry partner.

I have another question or concern…

If there’s any other questions or concerns just let the leadership team know. We’ll do our best to answer them or address the concerns.