Starting a Christian Ministry in 2025: Our Journey So Far “Side”

Image: Ben Soyka via Unsplash

On July 15, 1987, Gary Larson published one of my all-time favorite Far Side comics. We see an old west sheriff, hands on his hips, standing on the porch outside the jail. He's looking down at his deputy, Matthews, and a pile of intermingled horses, men, guns, and ten-gallon cowboy hats. The caption reads, "And so you just threw everything together? Matthews, a posse is something you have to organize."

When I felt the call to start Faith in Action Ministry in January 2025, I didn't realize I was "throwing together" a Christian ministry. I can see God now, looking down on me, hands on His hips, saying, "Son, what do you think you are doing? Don't you need to organize that ministry?"

Fortunately, God provided exceptional team members who kept the ministry from resembling a real cartoon if I had been a solo act – now it just resembles a skit from Saturday Night Live, featuring John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Dan Akroyd, and a few other stars (one with four legs by the name of "Julie").

Why Starting a Christian Ministry Doesn't Require a Perfect Plan

I say this because you may also be feeling the call to start a Christian ministry. If so, I encourage you to throw yours together as well. It's a holy mess. Sometimes it's humorous, other times it's chaotic. Occasionally, it's painful, but it's always meaningful.

In our first eight months, we've faced uncertainty about funding and wrestled with how to measure "success" in kingdom work. 

We've celebrated our first nursing home partnership, been blessed with free access to a conference room, experienced the joy of seeing lives touched, and felt the sorrow of the loss of a veteran and Christian brother. 

But through it all, we've learned that showing up matters more than having it all figured out.

None of us on the team knows what we are doing. Still, we keep showing up week after week as "doers of the word." We continue to listen for Divine direction, praying for a new compass heading that establishes our marching orders as Christ's ambassadors. 

The Divine Wind just stays at our backs, blowing us along.

The reason I encourage the "Far Side" approach to starting a Christian ministry is that you keep a sense of humor. It also minimizes overthinking. Too much planning leads to analysis paralysis (I'm sure there's a good comic for that, too), and there's nothing funny about that experience.

It's not complicated. 

You just brainstorm about 500 ways to do God's work, write them on sticky notes, stand back, pray, and pick a few. If you can't decide, just close your eyes and randomly grab a few sticky notes, and you're on your way! Without oversimplifying too much, that's about how our Christian ministry started.

Perhaps there are sound reasons for making your Christian ministry "respectable" before you start. That is, secure an office, establish it as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit, and be recognized at the federal and state levels. 

You can legitimately carry your begging bowl around requesting funds and have letterhead stationery printed. You can write grants and develop anxiety disorders while awaiting the verdict.

Fortunately, the Board of Directors will keep the Executive Director (ED) straight and level, ensuring adequate mental health services are available if the grant proposal is rejected. The ED then ensures the posse is dispatched into the world (with or without external funding) to complete the work. 

Now THAT is an organized posse with all the benefits and bureaucracy associated with it.

Obviously, I'm having fun with formalizing a Christian ministry as a nonprofit. The official way is the "best" way for most who feel the call to start a Christian ministry or outreach. The benefits are numerous. However, not every ministry needs to follow the same well-worn path, especially if it isn't seeking financial support.

The Paper Airplane Revelation: God's Blueprint for Ministry

After eight months of prayer and asking for guidance, God answered my question and allowed me to answer His. Here's what happened.

A couple of days ago, I did my usual early morning walk with God. I returned to my home office to write a blog post and prepare for our afternoon Faith in Action Ministry meeting.

A question interrupted my train of thought. "What is a paper airplane?" Ah, the Holy Spirit wanted to make a point! 

I immediately saw the paper airplanes of my youth soar across my seventh-grade science classroom. My classmates and I felt the rush of experimenting with different prototype designs. Some flew better than others. It was a great way to learn the basics of aerodynamics.

Next, the Holy Spirit said, "Now make a paper airplane." I recreated the design I learned in that seventh-grade classroom. It flew as well as it did all those decades ago.

Next, I thought about Skunk Works, the pseudonym for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs. This program began in 1943, when the U.S. Army Air Force requested that Lockheed quickly develop America's first jet aircraft to counter the German jet.

Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was the project team leader. Along with a select team, they occupied a rented circus tent next to a plastics factory. It smelled. One of the engineers said it reminded him of the "Skonk Works" from the Li'l Abner comic strip.

The Skunk Works, with its unconventional approach to aerospace engineering, produced some of the most advanced aircraft the world has known. They did so, and rapidly, because they weren't bogged down by bureaucracy. They were highly autonomous and free from red tape.

God's Light illuminated my dark and foggy thinking. 

He wasn't asking us to establish a Christian ministry that conforms to the expectations of the nonprofit world. 

He wasn't asking us to restrict our approach to approved denominational outreach projects. 

He wasn't suggesting that we seek approval from a Board of Directors, a pastor, or a priest.

God was asking if we trust Him as our CEO/Director? Do we trust Jesus as our Chief Operating Officer? Will we accept the Holy Spirit as our Counselor and Helper? 

If the answer was yes, then I was able to answer the question God posed in our Far Side comic, "Don't you need to organize that ministry?"

The answer is NO! We don't need to organize this ministry in the way the world would expect. If we are "organizing," it is clear that God is offering us a Skunk Works opportunity to organize.

He wants us to trust Him, to honor Him, to glorify Him in all we do. He wants us to shine the Light of Christ in every interaction. He wants us to share the Good News. 

And, He is allowing us the freedom and responsibility as His ambassadors to bear good fruit as the opportunities arise.

Some opportunities may be in nursing homes, others with veterans, and still others with suicide survivors. But we are constantly engaged in His ministry. We serve our neighbors with love, our brothers and sisters in Christ, our pets, and even our adversaries. 

We are never NOT engaged in His ministry. 

If we adopt this unencumbered approach to Christian ministry, a Skunk Works philosophy, we are always prepared to adapt and adjust to the evolving needs of our community.

If the Holy Spirit calls us to disaster relief (as in the recent Texas Hill Country flood), we can respond as needed.

If we think we are called to one outreach and a door closes, it's God's will. We simply adjust our prototype model and see if it flies through another open door. 

There is always something to do when we work for God.

That approach to Christian ministry is what Far Side cartoons are made of. It's what yields a harvest 100-fold one day and minus ten the next.

Through the ups and downs, God's love stays constant, and so too does the encouragement we offer one another on the team.

So, if you're feeling that tug on your heart to start something—a ministry, an outreach, a simple act of service—don't wait for the perfect plan. Don't let the fear of disorganization hold you back. 

Throw together your holy mess of a paper airplane and see where God's wind takes it.

Starting a Christian ministry is an adventure, but not for those with a fragile ego or an ego of iron. It requires humility to admit you don't know what you're doing, and boldness to do it anyway.

Show up. Look up. Be doers of the Word.

And remember: God specializes in using imperfect people with imperfect plans to accomplish His perfect purposes. Your posse doesn't need to be organized - it just needs to be obedient.

We hope you’ll follow along with Faith in Action Ministry's journey. And if you've started your own "holy mess" of a ministry, we'd love to hear your story.